Skoczów
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| Skoczów | |||
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  Skoczów
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Poland |
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| Voivodeship | Silesian | ||
| County | Cieszyn | ||
| Gmina | Skoczów | ||
| Founded | 14th century | ||
| City rights | 1676 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Janina Żagan | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 9.79 km² (3.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2006) | |||
| - Total | 14,641 | ||
| - Density | 1,495.5/km² (3,873.3/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 43-430 | ||
| Car plates | SCI | ||
| Website: http://www.um.skoczow.pl | |||
Skoczów [ˈskɔt͡ʂuf] (
listen) (German: Skotschau, Czech: Skočov) is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants (2004). It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.
Situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship (1975-1998).
[edit] History
Skoczów is the oldest town in the area south of the Vistula river. The very first settlement had been established in a place called grodzisko about 2 km south-east of the town centre. Grodzisko was set up around the 5th century, and was inhabited until the 9th century. Settlement was situated at first on a naturally defensive hill over the valley of the river Bładnica. Later on the settlement was surrounded by an earth bank and moat. The settlement was destroyed in the end of the 9th century by Prince Świętopełek II and wasn't rebuilt again.
The current location of the town was set during the reign of Mieszko (1290-1315) because of his effort in the newly established Duchy of Cieszyn. The first written record of the town's name dates back to 1327 when prince of Cieszyn became a vassal of Czech king. At that time the wooden castle had been built. In the beginning Skoczów had been mainly an agricultural, craft and trade settlement. In 1470 Skoczów had been destroyed by the fire, which destroyed all chartered privileges and other documents. The same year prince of Cieszyn renewed and extended all civic priviliges. There was a school and hospital with a chapel recorded in a document from 1482.
According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 3,744 inhabitants, 3,705 of whom had permanent residence there. Census asked people for their native language, 1,803 (48.6%) were German-speaking and 1,794 (48.4%) were Polish-speaking. Jews were not allowed to declare Yiddish, most of them thus declared the German language as their native. Most populous religious groups were Roman Catholics with 2,443 (65.2%), followed by Protestants with 1,042 (27.8%) and the Jews with 247 (6.6%).[1]
The hill that overlooks the town is dominated by a chapel and a large cross. The Pope John Paul II visited Skoczów in 1995, holding a mass on said hill and generating a great deal of excitement.
The town has a market on Thursdays, situated next to the Vistula river.
Polish saint Jan Sarkander was born in Skoczów.
[edit] References
- ^ Ludwig Patryn (ed): Die Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 in Schlesien, Troppau 1912.
[edit] External links
- (Polish) Official gmina website
- (Polish)(English)(Czech)(German) Official town website
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