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The old times of Węgierska Górka
The settlement on the Żywiec territory spread down
the upper parts of the Soła River with its tributary and Beskidy
Mountains. The first
mention of the settlement in the southern Poland (13th and 15-17th
century) shows the search for new, safer grounds for pastures and
farms. Wołosi - shepherd people from the Balkans came to the today's
commune of Węgierska Górka through the Carpatian Mountains.
The oldest traces of the settlements concern Cięcina. As early as
in 1358 over 100 citizens lived in Cięcina (the archaic names of
Cięcina are Czencina or Czaczyna). The assimilation of Wołosi and
local people was beneficial for both sides - local people learned
more about farming and pasturing while Wołosi profited from favourable
existence conditions and stabilization of living. Geographical names
such as: Przegib, Magura, Przysłop, Tajch, etc. are testimonies to
old times. Cięcina is one of the oldest places in the Żywiec region.
As early as 14th century it was considered as a parish with its church.
Only in 16th century, note in so called Świętopietrz in 1542 about
new church under the invocation of the Katarzyna Aleksandryjska appeared.
The church was rebuilt and modernized many times and today it is
an example of a sacred building in the province of the southern Poland
- at least the interior of the church shows it.
The next stage of the stage of the settlement in the Soła Valley
was introducing a method of thinning out the Carpatian primeval forest
by means of fire. In this way people prepared pasturelands and clearings
which belonged to Cisiec, Żabnica and hence we have some names connected
with fire, such as Żarek or Zaprzelina, etc.
Żabnica, situated on the Żabniczanka River is also described in the
Dziejopis by Andrzej Komoniecki. He wrote that there were no frogs
but only toads because the river was full of stones and the water
was very clear. The oldest historical date connected with Żabnica
is 1626 that comes from the inventory of goods in the Żywiec region
where the name Wojtyła had already existed. Maybe it is Żabnica where
the grandparents of the Pope John Paul II - Karol Wojtyła came from.
Cisiec, situated on the both sides of the Soła River, has it name
explained in the Dziejopis by Komoniecki. The name Cisiec Came from
yew forest that was previously there. The firs note about Cisiec
comes from 1628 but the most important date is the 5 November when
the citizens built the church under the invocation of Maksymilian
Maria Kolbe. Taking communism times into consideration, this heroic
deed sounded like a miracle and so it is called - one night miracle.
Węgierska Górka is the capital of the commune. The firs notes about
Węgierska Górka date back to 1477 when Kazimierz Jagiellończyk, the
king of Poland had a dispute with an aggressive king of Hungary -
Maciej Korwin. Legend says that Hungarians who had an appetite for
Żywiec region did not want to perjure (knights honor) that the land
belonged to them so they filled their trouser legs with the soil
and said that the citizens of Żywiec region kneed on the Hungarian
land. The stratagem did not work and the soil from the Hungarian
trousers was used for making hills and this is where the name Węgierska
Górka comes from. However, the other version should rather be adopted!
The terrain of Węgierska Górka is quite narrow in the Soła Valley.
It was the main reason of building barricades against Hungarian aggressor.
The situation repeated almost 500 years later when in 1939 forts
had been built against Nazi. During 2 September days Wegierska Górka
fought off the attacks of the 7th Infantry Division of Bavaria under
the command of gen. Otton and thanks to the fight the crush of the
Krakow Army was not immediate. The events of the 1939 were a kind
of inspiration for the war experts who not only honored Węgierska
Górka with the Grunwald Cross, but also called Węgierska Górka Westerplatte
of the South.
The steelworks (1838) is the chapter in the history of Węgierska
Górka. After modernization, the foundry has incessantly been working
for 164 years.
The history of Węgierska Górka is full of unusual events. Come and
see for yourself the land of geographical and historical curiosities.
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