Lędziny

Lędziny
Farski square in Lędziny
Coat of arms
Lędziny
Coordinates: 50°7′37″N 19°6′44″E / 50.12694°N 19.11222°E / 50.12694; 19.11222
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	Bieruń-Lędziny
Gmina	Lędziny (urban gmina)
Area
• City	31.48 km2 (12.15 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• City	16,262
• Density	520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Urban	2,746,000
• Metro	5,294,000
Website	http://www.ledziny.pl

Lędziny [lɛnˈd͡ʑinɨ] (German: Lendzin) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million which is located in the Silesian Highlands.

It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously in Katowice Voivodeship, and before then, of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship. Lędziny is one of the towns of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the town is 16,262 (2008).

The town is subdivided into 9 districts:

The proofs of human habitation dating back to the Bronze Age have been found in a direct vicinity of the town - mostly period pieces of Lusatian culture. In the pre-Christian era, on the highest hill within present borders of the town - Klimont hill, place of worship dedicated to Slavic god Perun, (modern ablatives Piorun, Pieron - meaning Thunderbolt) was located. Much later, in 1769, Saint Clement Church was raised in exactly the same spot, where pagan place of worship used to be.

First mention of Lędziny village dates back to 1160, when Jan Długosz described it as a property of knight Jaksa of Miechów, who donated it to Order of Saint Benedict. Lędziny area was active skirmish field during Silesian Uprisings, especially so during II Silesian Uprising in 1920. During Nazi occupation, one of the sub-camps of Auschwitz concentration camp was located in Lędziny.