Sierpc
Encyclopedia
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, in the north-west part of the Masovian Voivodeship
Masovian Voivodeship
-Administrative division:Masovian Voivodeship is divided into 42 counties : 5 city counties and 37 "land counties"...
, about 125 km northwest of Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. It is the capital of Sierpc County
Sierpc County
Sierpc County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Masovian Voivodeship, east-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and only town is Sierpc, which lies ...
. Its population is 18,777 (2004). It is located near the national road No 10, which connects Warsaw and Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
. Sierpc is a rail junction, in the town two connections cross - Kutno
Kutno
Kutno is a town in central Poland with 48,000 inhabitants and an area of 33,6 km2. Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , previously in Płock Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kutno County....
- Brodnica
Brodnica
Brodnica is a town in northern Poland with 27,400 inhabitants . Previously part of Toruń Voivodeship [a province], from 1975 to 1998, Brodnica has been situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999...
, as well as Nasielsk
Nasielsk
Nasielsk is a small town in Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is located on a major Warsaw-Gdańsk rail line and serves as a junction, with an additional connection to Sierpc....
- Toruń
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....
lines.
History
Among the most important dates in Sierpc history there are:- 1322 - Sierpc received city rights. The town then was a property of Płock bishops;
- 1509 - Zygmunt Stary granted the local cloth manufacturers a "protective make", placed on a lead seal on a cloth base, this privilege was given to the most significant towns;
- 1793 - the town started to fall into decline - Sierpc was under Prussian occupation;
- 1831 - after the November UprisingNovember UprisingThe November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
, Sierpc was destroyed during military operations and a plaque, but started to recover slowly; - 1867 - Sierpc regained a position of a district town. Start of the time of a fast economic development;
- 1939-1945 – Sierpc was under German Reich's occupation, destruction of town's Jewish community
The Museum of the Countryside
It is an open-air museum and is located in the suburbs of Sierpc in the valley of the Sierpienica River and its confluenceConfluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
with the Skrwa River. Though it looks like a separate and independent village because of its great area (about 60.5 hectares) and because it is fenced, the museum is included within the town's borders. The village is made up of 11 farms (houses - cabins, barns, cowsheds, granaries
Granary
A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...
, pigsties), an inn, a blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
's workshop, an oil - mill, a windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
, a manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, a small chapel and a wooden church. Everything was collected from different regions of Masovia. The architecture of houses reminds that from 19th or early 20th century. Also inside the houses there are pieces of furniture, utensils, equipment and hand-made decorations which are appropriate to the epoch. Each season there are exhibitions devoted to traditional Masovian customs i.e. "Christmas in Mazovie Region", "Easter in Mazovie Region". Also children can find something interesting for them : "Palm Sunday in Skansen museum", "Sunday in Skansen museum", "Cooking in the middle of the glade", "Children's Day in Skansen museum", "Honey harvest in Skansen museum" or "Harvest season in Skansen museum".
A few movies have used the museum as a location. The most famous are: Pan Tadeusz
Pan Tadeusz
Pan Tadeusz, the full title in English: Sir Thaddeus, or the Last Lithuanian Foray: A Nobleman's Tale from the Years of 1811 and 1812 in Twelve Books of Verse is an epic poem by the Polish poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz...
, Ogniem i mieczem and Szwadron.
The church under the invocation of the Holy Ghost
The church was built in the 16th century. At the beginning it was a chapel near a hospital. The church was built in the GothicGothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style and later rebuilt in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style. A fire in 17th century destroyed the church completely and after second rebuilt it lost its original form. The most valuable relic, not only of church but of the town are pieces of paintings from the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and a sculpture from the 16th century "Generosity's Throne" made by Stwosz's pupils. Now it's in main altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
.
"Kasztelanka" manor house
The manor house was built at the turn of the 17th and 18th century and, undoubtedly, it is one of the most important monuments in the Sierpc area and the oldest architectonic laic object in the town. It is a timber house with a thatched roof.There are plenty of mysterious legends and stories about "Kasztelanka" and the adjoining Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monastery which is connected to it via a corridor. The monastery is more massive and solid, indicating it may have had a defensive purpose, perhaps against a Swedish attack.
Notable residents
- Zbigniew GirzyńskiZbigniew GirzynskiZbigniew Girzyński is a Polish politician. He was elected to Sejm on September 25, 2005 getting 8734 votes in 5 Toruń district, candidating from Prawo i Sprawiedliwość list.-External links:...
- Politician - Jakub Chojnacki - Doctor
- Anna JagodzinskaAnna JagodzinskaAnna Jagodzinska is a Polish fashion model. She has appeared on the covers of American, Italian, Australian, Chinese, Portuguese, and German Vogue, L'Officiel, Revue de Modes, and Japanese Numéro. As of March 2009, she was ranked #8 among models at the website models.com.Jagodzinska was born...
- Model