Skaryszew

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Skaryszew

Coordinates: 51°18′32″N 21°14′55″E / 51.30889°N 21.24861°ECoordinates: 51°18′32″N 21°14′55″E / 51.30889°N 21.24861°E

Country

Poland

Established

1198

Town rights

1264

Government

• Mayor

Ireneusz Kumięga

Area

• Total

27.49 km² (10.61 sq mi)

Population (2006)

• Total

3,989

• Density

150/km² (380/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal code

26-640

Area code(s)

+48 48

Car plates

WRA

Website

www.skaryszew.pl

Skaryszew [skaˈrɨʂɛf] is a town in Radom County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,922 inhabitants (2004). The town is located on the Kobylanka river, and belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. Skaryszew lies on a regional road nr. 733, and for most of its history was part of Sandomierz Voivodeship. In the past it was an important urban center of northern Lesser Poland, with town charter granted to Skaryszew as early as 1264.

First documented mention of Skaryszew comes from the year 1198, when the village belonged to the Abbey of Order of the Holy Sepulchre, located at Miechów. The monks opened here a branch of their abbey, and probably in the late 12th century, a wooden church of St. Jacob was built, together with a house for the monks. Due to the efforts of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, merchants and skilled artisans were attracted to the quickly growing village. Skaryszew was destroyed in the Mongol invasion of Poland, and soon afterwards, Prince of Kraków and Sandomierz Bolesław V the Chaste granted the village the so-called Środa Śląska town charter (Neumarkt-Magdeburger Recht), based on the charter of Nowy Korczyn (see also Magdeburg rights). The charter was confirmed by King Kazimierz Wielki in 1354.

Skaryszew prospered in the late Middle Ages and the Polish Golden Age, but in the late 16th century, it began to decline, at the expense of the quickly developing urban center at Radom. The town had a bath house (late 15th century), Thursday fairs, a brewery, a town hall (before 1618), and a hospital (1629). Like in almost all Lesser Poland’s towns, the period of prosperity definitely ended during the Swedish invasion of Poland, when Skaryszew was ransacked and burned, with most of its inhabitants murdered (1655). By 1670, the population shrank to 363, and Skaryszew did not begin to recover until the 1760s, when the population grew to app. 700. The town became famous for its horse markets, which still exist and which are very popular.

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Wikipedia