Góra Kalwaria
Góra Kalwaria | |
|---|---|
 Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Góra Kalwaria | |
| Coordinates: 51°58′24″N 21°12′52″E / 51.97333°N 21.21444°E | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship |  Masovian |
| County | Piaseczno |
| Gmina | Góra Kalwaria |
| Established | 1252 |
| Town rights | 1670 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Arkadiusz Strzyżewski[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 13.7 km2 (5.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2019) | |
• Total | 11,328 |
| • Density | 830/km2 (2,100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 05-530 |
| Area code | +48 22[1] |
| Car plates | WPI[1] |
| National roads |   |
| Website | http://www.gorakalwaria.pl |
Góra Kalwaria (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɡura kalˈvarja]; "Calvary Mountain", Yiddish: גער, Ger) is a town on the Vistula River in the Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is situated approximately 35 kilometres (22 miles) southeast of Warsaw. It has a population of around 11,328 (as of 2019) and a total area of 13.7km^2.[1]
The town was first mentioned in 1252, and was re-founded as Nowa Jerozolima in 1670. It obtained its Magdeburg rights thanks to John III Sobieski. It was modeled after the city of Jerusalem, and was intended as a centre for strengthening Catholicism. It became the seat of famous tzadiks such as Avraham Mordechai Alter or Yitzchak Meir Alter.
Hasidic Judaism appeared in Góra Kalwaria in 1859. It was an important centre of the Hasidic movement. Before World War 2, there were 3,000 Jews in the town. However, after the transports to the Warsaw Ghetto, the town ultimately ended up with only 2 Jews as of 2007.
The town is now led by Arkadiusz Strzyżewski. The main road of the town is Pijarska, and the town is laid out in the shape of a Latin cross. Notable landmarks include the Bernadine church and monastery, the church known as "Pilate's Chapel", and the chapel of St. Anthony. Part of the Chojnów Landscape Park can be found in this town.
History
[edit]This town was mentioned as early as 1252 in the documents of the Poznań bishop Boguchwał as "Góra".[2] In this year it was already collecting tithes from neighbouring villages. There was already a functioning parish school in 1617, proving that the village was a wealthy one. However, the Swedish Deluge caused the destruction and depopulation of the village.[3]
Stefan Wierzbowski, Bishop of Poznań purchased the ruined village. The town (initially called New Jerusalem) was founded in 1670 by Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki when he issued a founding document for "Nowa Jerozolima".[3] It belonged to Poznań bishops[4] until 1795.[5] It was founded at the site of two former villages, Góra and Wólka Górska, which were situated on the high Vistula scarp within the former Masovian Voivodeship.[6] It was a city on a cross-shaped plan, with numerous chapels, monasteries and churches,[4] mainly being based off images of ancient Jerusalem.[3] It was intended as a centre for strengthening Catholicism and became the seat of famous tzadiks.[4]
The town received the privilege of Magdeburg rights, afterwards confirmed by John III Sobieski, allowing the organisation of two markets per week and four annual fairs (the dates of these events correlated with Catholic holidays). In order to attract settlers, in 1672, Wierzbicki issued a privilege which waived burgers' rents, tributes and taxes for a period of five years and established the town's layout. Citizens were allowed to produce and sell alcoholic beverages, such as beer and vodka, deal with commerce and crafts and cater to visitors' needs.[3]
At the end of the 18th century, a paper factory was established in Jeziorna, expanded in the following century and is in operation to this day. From the beginning of Congress Poland until the end of 2001, Góra Kalwaria was a garrison town. After the January Uprising, the tsarist authorities stripped Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria of their city rights. By the Judicial reform of Alexander II in 1864, serfdom was abolished, and landed properties were severely reduced. The construction of a narrow-gauge railway from Warsaw to Góra Kalwaria occured at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It facilitated the transport of bricks from the Baniocha area to the expanding Warsaw, where clay was being exploited on a large scale at that time.[5]
Hasidic Judaism appeared in Góra Kalwaria in 1859. From the start of the 20th century and perhaps even earlier, Góra Kalwaria was an important center of the Hasidic movement, first under the leadership of the Gerrer Rebbe Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, who died in 1905 and then under the leadership of his son, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter. Hasidic pilgrims came to the town from around the world, due to which a railroad was constructed from Warsaw to help bring them. When Feliks (a jew who survived World War II, born on November 29, 1926) was a boy, he said that the town had two synagogues. One was open everyday and the other was open just for Sabbath services and for holidays.[7]
At the beginning of World War II, 3,000 out of about 7,000 residents were Jews. However, once the Germans took control of the town, they established a ghetto. It lasted until 1941, when most of Góra Kalwaria's Jews were transported to the Warsaw Ghetto.[8]
Urban design
[edit]The original plan
[edit]The layout of a new town was subordinated to the celebrations of the Way of the Cross. It consisted of two main streets forming a Latin cross with a church (Pilate's court) at the intersection. The plan followed medieval plans meant to resemble ancient Jerusalem. The Baroque composition extended far beyond the former village. The axes led to three monastery complexes: Bernardines, Piarists and Dominicans and the Saint Cross Church; their symmetrical distribution additionally emphasised the cross-shaped layout. The monastery of Oratorians, afterwards Friars of Holy Communion, supplemented the Saint Cross Church and enacted the ceremonies conducted in the sanctuary. Besides this, south-west from the town, two more monastery complexes were erected: Marians and Dominican Sisters, accessible from a side road which was con- nected to the main one next to the Dominicans Monastery. An attempt to emulate the ideal layout of Jerusalem had to be adjusted to local conditions. Not all the elements of the plan could be easily recreated, due to the local topography. For instance, Golgota Hill, which should have its location in the bottom left portion of the plan, could not be placed next to the embankment due to the lack of sufficient space for the required chapels there. The arrangement extended far into the open landscape, with numerous chapels situated in the surrounding forest. The longer axis, which used the existing ravine as a part of the terrain configuration, was defined with Kalwaryjska Street and the market square, its prolongation continued as the local road to Piaseczno.[9]
The perpendicular axis used a section of the former road from Warsaw to Lublin. The tracing of pilgrims' paths was done in a way which consciously opened vast vistas and framed views to enrich the content of the biblical stories. The landscaping efforts additionally upgraded the images pilgrims were intended to absorb while treading along the processional paths. For instance, to improve the quality of the visual experience, the Saint Cross Church, which closed the perspective and, at the same time, was the final destination for the pilgrims, was exposed against the slope of a hill on which stood a large-scale cross. The main market, in the form of a trapezoid, covered a large area: 270m long and 90 to 100 meters wide. The eastern facade hosted a church and a monastery of the Bernardines; in the west facade, there was Pilate's court. The two longer facades consisted of the townhouses of citizens. In the middle of the square, there were the stalls of merchants as allowed by the town charter. There was a wooden town hall from the beginning of the town; it was mentioned in the parish register and court archives. Initially, Kalwaryjska Street was much larger than it is now and opened perspectives on the whole of the arrangement located on the hill.[9]
The town hall was built in later times, at the turn of the eighteenth and the nineteenth century, at first in very modest form.[9]
Statistics
[edit]In 1970, the highest share of single-person households (23-33%) was recorded, apart from the districts of Śródmieście and Praga-Północ, mainly in the suburbs of Warsaw in Góra Kalwaria, Kobyłka, Józefów, Konstancin-Jeziorna and Ząbki, and in the western part of the city (Podkowa Leśna, Piastów, Żyrardów, Milanówek). In 1970, 1978 and 1988, this share did not change much and amounted to 24-34%. However, Góra Kalwaria along with Ząbki, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Kobyłka dropped out of this group, and their place was taken by the remaining districts of Warsaw and the cities of Brwinów, Pruszków, Zakroczym and Kałuszyn.[10]
Modern–day
[edit]In the Otwock County there are three main communication routes, one of them being the "National road no. 50 Mińsk Mazowiecki – Kołbiel – Góra Kalwaria" through which east-west transit bypasses Warsaw.[11] The largest concentration of monuments in this county from the Baroque period can be found in Góra Kalwaria. These are: a unique layout of the town in the shape of a Latin cross, the Bernadine church and monastery, the church known as "Pilate's Chapel" and the chapel of St. Anthony.[12]
Education
[edit]Places for education include:[13]
- Secondary School named after Priest Zygmunt Sajna (Complex of General Education Schools in Góra Kalwaria)[14]
- Integration Kindergarten in Góra Kalwaria[15]
- Local Government Kindergarten No. 1 in Góra Kalwaria
- Primary School No. 1 (Complex of General Education Schools in Góra Kalwaria)[16]
- Primary School No. 2 named after Prince Janusz in Góra Kalwaria
- Municipal Nursery in Góra Kalwaria[17]
- School and Kindergarden Complex in Cendrowice Municipal Nursery in Góra Kalwaria[18]
- Vocational School Complex named after Marshal Franciszek Bieliński in Góra Kalwaria[19]
Culture, media and sport
[edit]Cultural Center in Góra Kalwaria
[edit]The Cultural Center in Góra Kalwaria is often used for many activities, such as art, music, pottery and theatre.[20]
Sport
[edit]One of the sports club of the town is Korona Góra Kalwaria with football, boxing and chess sections.[21] Another one is the Activity Zone with tennis, gym and fitness and football.[22]
Government
[edit]In 2024, Arkadiusz Strzyżewski became mayor of Góra Kalwaria again, approved in the second round of local elections by 54.34%. votes, defeating Aleksandra Fedynicz-Komosa who received 45.66 percent of the votes.[23]
Infrastructure
[edit]The building at Pijarska 5 is a former private prayer house (Bejt Midrash), built in 1903 by the Alter family of tzaddiks. During the occupation, the Germans carried out mass executions of Jews there. After the war, it was rebuilt into apartments and shops. Inside, two rows of cast-iron pillars supporting a flat ceiling have been preserved, and in the attic there is a unique matzah oven. The facility remains under the care of the Jewish community in Warsaw. In the yard on the opposite side of the street there is a red-brick synagogue built in 1905 after the fire of the earlier wooden synagogue. After the war, a carbonated water plant and a shop were located there. In 2000, the building was returned to the Jewish community. Inside, only the cast iron pillars of the gallery have survived. Right next to it is the building of the former court of Tzaddik Yitzchak Meir Rothenberg Alster and the residence of his successors.[24]
In this town there is a Hortex plant and a modern swimming pool.[2]
Demographics
[edit]| Year | Population | Population change | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | 5,496 | — | [25] |
| 1931 | 7,097 | + 29.1% | |
| 2010 | 11,428 | + 3.9% | [26] |
| 2015 | 11,597 | + 1.5% | [27] |
| 2016 | 11,586 | - 0.1% | |
| 2017 | 11,601 | + 0.1% | |
| 2018 | 11,659 | + 0.5% | |
| 2019 | 11,724 | + 0.6% | |
| 2020 | 11,516 | - 1.8% | |
| 2021 | 11,328 | - 1.6% |
In August 2007, there were only two Jews left in town, one called Feliks and the other a man in his nineties.[28]
Geography
[edit]The area covered by Góra Kalwaria is defined by coordinates from 21°00' to 21°15' eastern longitude and from 51°50' to 52°00' north latitude.[29]
The town is situated on the high left bank of the Vistula. At the foot of the town flows a small stream known as the Cedron.[2]
The Chojnów Landscape Park spans 6,796 hectars and its border zone 4,727 hectares, making the total 11,523 hectares. Part of it can be found in this town.[30]
Notable people
[edit]Notable people include:[31]
- Stefan Wierzbowski, the founder of Góra Kalwaria (Nowa Jerozolima)
- Stanislaus Papczyński, founder of the Congregation of Marian Fathers, the first male order established in Poland
- Franciszek Bieliński, the founder of the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Góra Kalwaria
- Avraham Mordechai Alter, for over 40 years, the tzadik, of the Jewish Hasidic dynasty (Alter dynasty), founded in Góra Kalwaria.
- Zygmunt Sajna, parish priest of the Roman Catholic parish in Góra Kalwaria in 1938–1940.
- Wolf Messing, famous clairvoyant, telepath and hypnotist.
- Adolf Dymsza, film and theatre actor, cabaret artist.
- Henryk Prajs, lieutenant of the Polish Army, participant in the Invasion of Poland in 1939.
- Witold Pyrkosz, an actor, buried in the parish cemetery in Góra Kalwaria.
- Yitzchak Meir Alter, the first rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty[32]
- Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, a Hasidic rabbi[32]
- Yisrael Alter, fifth rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty[33]
- Simcha Bunim Alter, sixth rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty[34]
- Józef Chaciński, Polish lawyer and politician[35]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Góra Kalwaria (mazowieckie) » mapy, nieruchomości, GUS, noclegi, szkoły, atrakcje, regon, kody pocztowe, wypadki drogowe, wynagrodzenie, bezrobocie, zarobki, edukacja, tabele, demografia". Polska w liczbach (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ a b c Kałuszko 2006, p. 178.
- ^ a b c d Hanzl 2022, p. 258.
- ^ a b c Kałuszko 2006, p. 18.
- ^ a b Herz 2007, p. 29.
- ^ Antoniewicz 1973, p. 282.
- ^ Tammeus & Cukierkorn 2009, p. 208.
- ^ Tammeus & Cukierkorn 2009, p. 100.
- ^ a b c Hanzl 2022, p. 259.
- ^ Gałązka 1998, p. 28.
- ^ Kałuszko & Ajdacki 2006, p. 11-12.
- ^ Kałuszko & Ajdacki 2006, p. 45-46.
- ^ IDcom.pl. "Gmina Góra Kalwaria" (PDF). bip.gorakalwaria.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ "LO Sajny w Górze Kalwarii". lo.zsogorakalwaria.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ "Samorządowe Przedszkole Integracyjne". spi3.szkolnastrona.pl. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ "LO Sajny w Górze Kalwarii". lo.zsogorakalwaria.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ "Samorządowe Przedszkole Integracyjne". spi3.szkolnastrona.pl. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ "Zespół Szkolno-Przedszkolny w Cendrowicach". sp-cendrowice.edupage.org. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ "Zespół Szkół Zawodowych im.Marszałka Franciszka Bielińskiego". bielinski.edupage.org. Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ "Ośrodek Kultury w Górze Kalwarii - zajęcia ośrodka w Strefie Zajęć". www.strefazajec.pl. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ "Miejski Klub Sportowy Korona Góra Kalwaria" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Strefa aktywności Góra Kalwaria | Dla dzieci i dorosłych" (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ "Wybory w Górze Kalwarii. Wiadomo, kto wygrał [DANE PKW]". forsal.pl (in Polish). 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ "Miasto Góra Kalwaria". mazowsze.szlaki.pttk.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-01-30.
- ^ Wiadomości Statystyczne Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego (PDF) (in Polish). Vol. X. Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. 1932. p. 195.
- ^ Stan i struktura ludności oraz ruch naturalny w przekroju terytorialnym w 2010 r. (PDF) (in Polish). Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. 2011. p. 75. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2011.
- ^ Raport o stanie gminy [Report of the state of the gmina] (PDF) (in Polish). 2021. p. 10.
- ^ Tammeus & Cukierkorn 2009, p. 98.
- ^ Objaśnienia do mapy Geośrodowiskowej Polski [Explanations to the geoenviromental map of Poland] (PDF) (in Polish). Warsaw. 2010. p. 4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Herz 2007, p. 20.
- ^ "Postacie". gorakalwaria.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ a b "Alter Family". www.eilatgordinlevitan.com. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ "Tzadikim". dailyzohar.com. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ Press, The Associated (1992-07-11). "Simcha B. Alter, 95; Rabbi Often Played A Key Role in Israel". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
- ^ "Józef Chaciński". timenote.info. Retrieved 2025-02-01.
Works cited
[edit]- Herz, Lechosław (2007). Chojnowski Park Krajobrazowy [Chojnów Landscape Park] (in Polish). Oficyna Wydawnicza "Rewasz"". ISBN 9788389188670.
- Gałązka, Andrzej (1998). Sytuacja mieszkaniowa ludności aglomeracji warszawskiej w latach 1970-1988 [Housing situation of the population of the Warsaw agglomeration in the years 1970-1988] (in Polish). Continuo.
- Kałuszko, Jacek; Ajdacki, Paweł (2006). Otwock i okolice [Otwock and (its) surroundings] (in Polish). Oficyna Wydawnicza "Rewasz". ISBN 9788389188496.
- Antoniewicz, Jerzy (1973). Studia i materialy do dziejów Piaseczna i powiatu piaseczyńskiego [Studies and materials on the history of Piaseczno and the Piaseczno district] (in Polish). Polish Scientific Publishers PWN.
- Tammeus, Bill; Cukierkorn, Jacques (2009). They Were Just People. University of Missouri Press (published August 2009). ISBN 9780826218766.
- Hanzl, Małgorzata (2022). Jewish Culture and Urban Form. Taylor & Francis (published 26 August 2022). ISBN 9781000684674.