Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski
Encyclopedia
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski ɔsˈtrɔvʲɛt͡s ɕfʲɛntɔˈkʂɨskʲi ( listen) is a town in south-central Poland
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...

 with 74,211 inhabitants (2006).
Main industry is metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

. Ostrowiec is the capital city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski County, part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship
Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship
Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, or Świętokrzyskie Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is presently divided. It is situated in central Poland, in the historical province of Lesser Poland, and takes its name from the Świętokrzyskie mountain range...

 (since 1999), previously it belonged to Kielce Voivodeship
Kielce Voivodeship
Kielce Voivodeship is a former unit of administrative division and local government in Poland.-1921-1938:Kielce Voivodeship was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1921-1939. Back then, it covered a large chunk of central part of the country, including such...

 (1975-1998).

History

The oldest testimonies of human habitation date back to the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

 (ca 4000 BC). In that time, there were nomadic tribes belonging among others to Lengyel
Lengyel culture
The Lengyel culture, is an archaeological culture of the European Neolithic, centered on the Middle Danube in Central Europe. It flourished during ca...

 and Globular Amphora
Globular Amphora culture
The Globular Amphora Culture , German Kugelamphoren-Kultur , ca. 3400-2800 BC, is an archaeological culture preceding the central area occupied by the Corded Ware culture. Somewhat to the south and west, it was bordered by the Baden culture. To the northeast was the Narva culture. It occupied much...

 cultures. They came here from Danube river
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 region.

The earliest documents about Ostrowiec village, that gave beginning to the contemporary Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, come from 14th century. The city itself was built from scratch in 1597 by Jakub Gawroński of Rawa coat of arms on the left bank of the Kamienna river, situated in the Vistula river
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....

 basin. It received town privileges
Town privileges
Town privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...

 in 1613. It became a property of Janusz Ostrogski
Janusz Ostrogski
Prince Janusz Ostrogski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble.Janusz Ostrog - statesman of the Commonwealth...

, a statesman and one of the richest magnates of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Later it belonged to many Polish aristocratic families: Tarnowski family, Czartoryski family, Lubomirski family, Radziwiłł family, Zasławski family, Sanguszko family, Wielopolski family, Dobrzański family, Łubieński family. After the 2nd WW it was confiscated and became a property of the state.

In 19th c. metallurgical industry developed. Steel plant of Ostrowiec was second big in the whole of Congress Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...

 in 19th/20th centuries.
During Revolution of 1905 Ostrowiec was a place of massive demonstrations and industrial action.

During the 2nd World War, Ostrowiec was a lively centre of resistance activity against the Nazi German occupation. There was an underground weapon production, independent underground press etc. Jewish population was forced to live in a local ghetto, ca 11 thousand Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

 were murdered by the Nazi in 1943-1944.

In 1990-ties metallurgical industry experienced a big crisis. The steel plant was bought then by Spanish CELSA Group.

Culture

Inhabitants of Ostrowiec are known to be involved in many culture and arts activities. The town has a variety of cultural institutions including:
  • Municipal Cultural Centre
  • Office of Artistic Exhibitions
  • The Museum of History and Anthropology with the forest reserve in Krzemionki
    Krzemionki
    Krzemionki, also Krzemionki Opatowskie - Neolithic and early Bronze Age complex of mines of the Upper Jurassic banded flints, located in the eastern Poland near Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. It is the biggest complex of the prehistoric flint mines in Europe . .- History of mining :The mining area is...

  • Public Library- has locations in different parts of the town
  • Houses of Culture - children can get involved in the dance classes, drama classes, classes of art and modelling etc., literature and general knowledge competitions are also organized.


Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski also boasts a Musical School and the State Artistic Centre, both of which have had an important influence upon the cultural development of the town.

Education


Twin towns — Sister cities

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with the following cities:
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva is a city located on the Ros' River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine, approximately south of the capital, Kiev. Population 203,300 Area 34 km².-Administrative status:...

, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 Gennevilliers
Gennevilliers
Gennevilliers is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 9 April 1929, one-fifth of the territory of Gennevilliers was detached and became the commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne.-Transport:...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...

, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Pineto
Pineto
Pineto is a town and comune in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo, central Italy. It is a 20th century seaside resort on the Adriatic coast, with sandy beaches shaded by pine trees that give their name to the town.-Geography:...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Bekabad
Bekabad
Bekabad is a city in Toshkent Province, Eastern Uzbekistan.The city was founded in 1945 as Begovat and was renamed Bekabad in 1964. Population: 82,082 . Bekabad lies along both banks of the Syr Darya River at the extreme southern tip of the region. It is an important industrial center, with a...

, Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....


External links

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