Konin, Poland

Konin

Market Square

Coat of arms

Konin

Coordinates: 52°13′N 18°16′E / 52.217°N 18.267°E

Country

Poland

Voivodeship

Greater Poland

County

city county

Town rights

1284

Government

• Mayor

Józef Nowicki

Area

• Total

82 km² (32 sq mi)

Elevation

88 m (289 ft)

Population (2006)

• Total

80,618

• Density

980/km² (2,500/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

62-500 to 62-510

+48 063

Website

Konin [ˈkɔɲin] is a city in central Poland, on the Warta River. It is the capital of Konin County and is located within the Greater Poland Voivodeship. Prior to 1999, it was the capital of the Konin Voivodeship (1975–1998). In 2006, the population was 81,233.

The earliest evidence of human habitation in Konin has been dated to the Paleolithic Era. On the dunes near the Warta, various ancient flint tools and implements have been found, among them being knives, burins, and tanged points. These earliest artifacts are of the Swiderian culture (Kultura Świderska) of 9000 - 8000 BC.

A permanent settlement arose along the Amber Road, which led from the Roman Empire to the Baltic Sea, traversing the area of present-day Konin. A map drawn by Ptolemy identified the settlement as Setidava (or Getidava), a probable spot to wade across the Warta and containing an emporium of some importance to merchants travelling along the route. The settlement's primary burial ground, situated on the dunes west of the centre of today's Konin, dates back to the Przeworsk culture (Kultura Przeworska) of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

Toward the end of the early Middle Ages, Gród Kaszuba was the most significant of the fortified settlements near present-day Konin. Inhabited from the 10th through 12th centuries, Gród Kaszuba was situated on the meadows near the Warta. Its abandonment was likely a consequence of floods which damaged its fortifications. The remains of Gród Kaszuba are visible on the south bank of the river.

During the 12th and 13th centuries, in the high to late Middle Ages, a complex of settlements was centred on the location of today's Stare Miasto, where there existed a large settlement named Konin and a market place and a church built of sandstone. (The name Stare Miasto first appeared in use later, after Konin had been reestablished elsewhere.) What remains from that time is SS Peter and Paul's Parish Church, with its magnificent carved portal and a solar clock on the south wall, perhaps the oldest solar clock in Greater Poland. In 1331, the settlement was plundered and burnt by the Teutonic Knights. What remained was soon abandoned and the town of Konin was reestablished, six kilometres (3.7 miles) to the northeast, in the more defensible spot where the Old Town of Konin is situated today.

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Wikipedia