Leżajsk

Leżajsk
Town Hall and market square
Coat of arms
Leżajsk
Coordinates: 50°16′N 22°26′E / 50.267°N 22.433°E / 50.267; 22.433
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Subcarpathian
County	Leżajsk County
Gmina	Leżajsk (urban gmina)
Government
• Mayor	Ireneusz Stefański
Area
• Total	20.29 km2 (7.83 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	14,507
• Density	710/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	37-300
Car plates	RLE
Website	http://www.miastolezajsk.pl

Leżajsk [ˈlɛʐai̯sk] (full name The Free Royal City of Leżajsk, Polish: Wolne Królewskie Miasto Leżajsk; Ukrainian: Лежайськ, Lezhais’k; Yiddish: ליזשענסק-Lizhensk‎) is a town in southeastern Poland with 14,507 inhabitants. It has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodship since 1999 and is the capital of Leżajsk County.

Leżajsk is famed for its Bernadine basilica and monastery, built by the architect Antonio Pellacini. The basilica contains a highly regarded pipe organ from the second half of the 17th century and organ recitals take place there. It stands as one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated April 20, 2005, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland. Leżajsk is also home of the Leżajsk brewery. The town is crossed by a forest creek ‘Jagoda’.

The Jewish cemetery in Leżajsk is a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the world, who come to visit the tomb of Elimelech, the great 18th century Hasidic Rebbe. From the early 1500's until the advent of World War II and the Holocaust, there was a major Jewish presence in Leżajsk. After the Jewish expulsions from Spain in 1492, many Jews ended up in Leżajsk.  According to the census of 1764, the community numbered 909 people, and by the turn of the 20th century, there were 1,700 Jews in the community. When the Nazis arrived in Leżajsk in September 1939, almost all Jews in the town were brought to the Soviet-Occupied zone, where they were later massacred by the Einsatzgruppen.