Oleszyce

Coat of arms

Oleszyce

Coordinates: 50°10′1″N 23°1′51″E / 50.16694°N 23.03083°E

Country

Poland

Government

• Mayor

Maria Janowska-Placek

Area

• Total

4.98 km² (1.92 sq mi)

Population (2006)

• Total

3,168

• Density

640/km² (1,600/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

37-630

Car plates

RLU

Website

http://www.oleszyce.pl/

Oleszyce [ɔlɛˈʂɨt͡sɛ] (Ukrainian: Олешичі, Oleshychi) is a small town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,089 inhabitants (02.06.2009).

The history of Oleszyce dates back to the early 15th century, when the village belonged to Poland’s Ruthenian Voivodeship. It was first mentioned in documents from 1431, as Heleschicze; its name was also spelled as Olieschicze, Oleczyce and Olessicze, and probably comes from male name Olech or Olesz. In 1458, a wooden Roman Catholic parish church was built here by the Ramsza family, owners of the village.

In 1570, Oleszyce became property of Voivode of Ruthenia, Hieronim Sieniawski, who in 1576 established here a town named Hieronimow, based on Magdeburg rights. The town was located between the already existing village, and a manor house, and its charter was confirmed by King Stefan Batory on February 26, 1578. The name Hieronimow was seldom used, and by mid-17th century, disappeared, replaced by ancient name Oleszyce.

In the mid-17th century, Hieronimow/Oleszyce had 107 houses and over 1000 residents, with Catholic and Orthodox churches. In the early 18th century, Oleszyce became main center of properties of the noble Sieniawski family: here, in 1706, a secret meeting between Crown Hetman Adam Mikolaj Sieniawski and Saxon envoy named Spiegel took place.

Across centuries, Oleszyce was frequently raided and destroyed by Crimean Tatars (1498, 1624, 1672), Zaporozhian Cossacks (1610, 1629, 1648), burned in fires (1710, 1726), its population was also decimated by plagues (1626, 1641).

In 1731, Oleszyce became property of the Czartoryski family. After the Partitions of Poland, the town belonged to Austrian Galicia (1772–1918), but remained private property of the families of Dzialynski, Potocki, Potulicki and Sapieha. In 1880, Oleszyce lost its town charter.

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Wikipedia