About commune
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- About commune
LOCATION
The self-governed community of Powidz is a real gem of the Greater Poland province, with landscapes of ravishing beauty, impeccable nature, good conditions for practising water sports as well as contemplating the beauties of clear waters of the lakes.
The Powidz commune is one of the smallest self-governed communities in the Greater Poland province (województwo wielkopolskie), amounting to approximately 2,200 residents. It is attractively located between the largest lakes in the region – the Powidz Lake (Jezioro Powidzkie) and the Niedzięgiel Lake (Jezioro Niedzięgiel). In terms of administration, the community belongs to the self-governed county of Słupca and it consists of 10 villages: Anastazewo, Charbin, Ługi, Ostrowo, Polanowo, Powidz, Powidz-Osiedle, Przybrodzin, Smolniki Powidzkie and Wylatkowo.
Travelling to Powidz is facilitated by the closeness of important traffic routes: the 92 national road, the A2 motorway, the S5 fast road, as well as a rail connection between Berlin and Warsaw (Warszawa) – there are train stations in Strzałkowo and Słupca.
HISTORY
Powidz and the vicinity is a historically rich area. The first traces of human settlement in this territory date back to the 2nd half of the 1st millennium B.C., i.e. the Early Iron Age. Powidz was founded as a town by Prince Bolesław Pobożny in 1243 A.D. In the 14th century the residents got famous for a heroic defence of the town from a Teutonic invasion. In the 15th century a school dependent on the Cracow Academy (currently Jagiellonian University) was set up. After Poland lost her independence in the 18th century, Powidz became part of the land annexed by Prussia. In 1793, a county of Powidz, which existed till 1815, was formed. Through the middle of the Powidz Lake a border was determined between the territory annexed by Prussia and Russia-annexed Kingdom of Poland. Between 1893 and 1911 a narrow gauge railway network was built. It connected Powidz with Gniezno (the train ran from Anastazewo). In the beginning of the 20th century students from the school in Powidz organised a protest against the introduction of teaching religion in German. The Powidz Company participated actively in the Greater Poland Uprising which broke out in 1918. In the interwar period in the 20th century Powidz was a health resort famous for its spring water and healthy microclimate. In the locality people set up hotels, built bridges over the lake and created recreational areas. A real gem was a wooden holiday resort called “Łazienki” (“Baths”) built in 1922, which burnt in fire in 1932. The reconstructed premises, this time made of masonry, serve tourists to this day. The emblem of Powidz is a 15th century gothic-style gold open royal crown placed on a red background shaped as a shield.
PLACES OF INTEREST
In Powidz:
Castle Hill (“Góra Zamkowa”)
Most probably the remains of a motte, which in the Middle Ages was the base for a castle.
A Museum Chamber in the Local Community Centre
The museum displays selected archaeological discoveries dating back to the second half of the 1st millennium B.C. found on the shores of the Powidz Lake.
The Market Square
“Park Powstańców Wielkopolskich” (the name of the park commemorates the Greater Poland insurrectionists). It constitutes the centre of Powidz. It was arranged in accordance with the Magdeburg Law. The street geometry refers to the structure of a 13th century town. In the centre of the square there are wooden sculptures of the Mother of God standing on a lion with baby Jesus, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Florian and Saint Lawrence. The sculptures are exact copies of statues standing in the square before World War II.
St. Nicholas Church
A church constructed in a Neo-Gothic architectural style in 1863, used by a Roman Catholic parish for worship.
The Statue of the Holy Spirit
Allegedly, one of four in Europe. It is set up in a place of the formerly active Holy Spirit Hospital. The square with the statue is one of the rare places in the world named after the World Youth Day.
A memorial called “To Our Fathers…” – Skwer 770-lecia Powidza (the name of the square commemorates the 770th anniversary of the foundation of Powidz)
A place of remembrance of people who sacrificed their lives for their country. In the square you will find an obelisk with the names of members of the Powidz Company who fought for Poland’s independence in 1918, and commemorative plaques with names of distinguished residents of the Powidz Land.
Gniezno Narrow Gauge Railway
The railway line was built at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, and part of it has run parallel to the picturesque shore of the Powidz Lake. Currently the line is not in use.
A Graveyard Administered By the Parish
The main graveyard entrance vintage gate was made of wrought iron in 1912. In the graveyard you will find a noteworthy statue of St. Michael the Archangel holding a messenger’s trumpet.
In the nearby area:
A palace complex in Charbin
The complex, which is a private property, comprises a palace built in 1869 (now including some changes from a later period) and a park dating back to the end of the 19th century.
Przybrodzin
A village with an area of summer houses, a beach, camp site and a complex of beach volleyball courts.
Wylatkowo
A village with a village club and a recreational area, a beach volleyball court, as well as numerous summer buildings, situated by the Niedzięgiel Lake. In Wylatkowo you will also find a World War II memorial site.
Ostrowo
A village with a village club, a recreational area and numerous summer buildings, as well as a high-standard hotel and spa.
“Gruby Dąb” (“the Thick Oak”)
A sessile oak classed as a 220-year-old natural monument. It is a probable place of passage of Napoleonic troops.
Anastazewo
A village with a reconstructed former border inspection post between lands annexed by Prussia and Russia in the period when Poland was partitioned. In Anastazewo there is a playground and a camp site.
NATURE
A significant part of the territory of the Powidz Commune is placed under some form of wildlife protection – it participates in such programmes as Natura 2000: the Gniezno Lake District and the Powidz Landscape Park.
The Powidz Lake
The biggest lake in the Greater Poland province, with the surface of 1,036 hectares, the length of over 11 kilometres and depth of approximately 46 metres (in its deepest place). This reservoir of high-purity water is entirely a quiet zone.
The Niedzięgiel Lake (or the Skorzęcin Lake – Jezioro Skorzęcińskie)
A reservoir with the surface of 638 hectares. Between the Niedzięgiel Lake and the Białe Lake, the Skorzęcin resort is situated.
MILITARY AIRPORT
The military airport in Powidz was set up in the 1950s. It is one of the biggest premises of this kind in Europe. Currently, also due to the investments that have been made, it has a status of a modern transport air force base, with the facilities to carry out the tasks of military cargo transport and airborne landing as well as special tasks and humanitarian missions. The military airport in Powidz is a home to C-130 Hercules, the biggest aircraft in the Polish Air Force. The base in Powidz regularly hosts allied forces from the other member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
CULTURE
In Powidz there is a public library and a local community centre, with active artistic groups, among others, a female choir “Sonata”, a brass band and some folk bands. In the locality there is a school complex comprising a primary school and a nursery unit. Some other non-governmental organizations are also active.
HERE YOU WILL REST ACTIVELY!
Woods surrounding the area, quiet zones at the lakes, clean air and clear water attract lovers of swimming, sailing, windsurfing, ski-surfing, fishing and diving. In autumn the area is a paradise for mushroom pickers and tramps, in winter for skaters and iceboaters and in spring for observers of awakening nature.
Remarkable landscape and cultural assets have contributed to marking up and labelling of many hiking trails and cycling routes.
The school complex has at its disposal a sports hall, gym and accommodation suitable for summer camping. Within the territory of the Powidz community there are beach volleyball courts in Powidz, Wylatkowo and Przybrodzin. Powidz also has a complex of sports fields with artificial turf. The youngest children can have fun in modern playgrounds in Powidz and Przybrodzin. By the shore of the Powidz Lake there is a modern promenade with a themed trail educating about various species of fish living in the Powidz Lake.
In Powidz you will find summer schools of windsurfing and sailing, yacht charters and water sports equipment rental points. Lovers of equitation will enjoy a horse farm which is situated on the route leading from Powidz to Przybrodzin.
Guarded beaches are situated in Przybrodzin and Powidz (those in Powidz are named “Łazienki” and “Dzika Plaża”, in English, “Baths” and “Wild Beach”, respectively).
The Powidz community area offers rest in resorts, hotels, guesthouses, plenty of private accommodation and holiday homes for rent, guest farms, as well as camp sites in Powidz, Przybrodzin, Ostrowo and Anastazewo.
REGULAR EVENTS
* the second weekend of July – “Dni Powidza” (“The Days of Powidz” – a festival)
* in July – “Powidz Jam Festiwal” (a music event)
* the last weekend of July – the Nationwide Open Beach Volleyball Tournament in Przybrodzin
* in August – “Biesiada z powidzką sielawą” (a feast with the consumption of vendace from the Powidz Lake)
* weekly summer sailing competitions in the Powidz Lake
URZĄD GMINY POWIDZ
(the Powidz Commune Office)
29 Grudnia 24
62-430 Powidz
tel. +48 63 277 62 72
fax: +48 63 277 62 73
e-mail: ug@powidz.pl, ug_powidz@post.pl
www.powidz.pl
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 7.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m.