Strachocina - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Strachocina s village in Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Podkarpackie Voivodeship , or Subcarpathian Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, or province, in extreme-southeastern Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów...

, the southeastern part of Poland. During partitions

Partitions of Poland

The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

this region of the country (it belonged to Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

in those times) was called Galicia. It contains about 300 houses and 1100 inhabitants, and is about 12 km² It is the birth place of St. Andrew Bobola

Andrew Bobola

Andrew Bobola was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the apostle of Lithuania and the "hunter of souls".-Biography:...

.

Strachocina belongs to the Podkarpackie voivodship

Subcarpathian Voivodeship

Podkarpackie Voivodeship , or Subcarpathian Voivodeship, is a voivodeship, or province, in extreme-southeastern Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów...

county with the capital in Rzeszów

Rzeszów

Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...

. In earlier times the region was called Ziemia Sanocka (The Land of Sanok). Its capital was Sanok

Sanok

Sanok is a town in south-eastern Poland with 39,110 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. It's the capital of Sanok County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. Previously, it was in the Krosno Voivodeship and in the Ruthenian Voivodeship , which was part of the Lesser Poland province...

, which is still the largest town in the close neighborhood. Strachocina is situated almost seven miles west.

Its foundation act, issued by King Casimir the Great

Casimir III of Poland

Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...

is dated on May 10, 1369. Further history of the village is unclear. At the place of today's Strachocina once there were as much as four villages at the same time: Strachocina, Strachocina Wola, Szwanczyce and Meszewa.

Local tradition has it that there lived three kinds of people in the village: serfs (persons in a condition of feudal servitude, required to render services to a lord and attached to the lord's land), tenants of the estate, and szlachta zaściankowa

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

(village noblemen).

In 16th-17th centuries tenants of the estate were Bobolas. One of their sons, Andrzej, was recognized a saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

(a martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

) by the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

. He was born in Strachocina in 1591. Today they are showing in the local church an old baptismal basin made of stone and are asserting that it was used during for the baptizing of the future saint. In a field chapel that was built in 1990s there are celebrated solemnities dedicated to Saint Andrew.

At the border of the village there is a parish church of St. Catharina

Catherine of Alexandria

Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...

from the turn of 19th and 20th centuries. Near it one can find a monument of the Saint Andrew, 600-years old oaks, a St. Maximilian cloister for Nuns, and a new-built pilgrim's hostel. The church is neo-gothic.

Since the end of 1980s Strachocina has been the local center of the cult of St Andrew Bobola

Andrew Bobola

Andrew Bobola was a Polish missionary and martyr of the Society of Jesus, known as the apostle of Lithuania and the "hunter of souls".-Biography:...

. Every May 16 there is a celebration attended by many pilgrims.

In woods of Strachocina there is a natural gas mine

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

, which is now used for underground gas storage, maily for natural gas

Natural gas

bought in Russia.

See also