Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( Polish : województwo małopolskie [vɔjɛˈvut͡stfɔ mawɔˈpɔlskʲɛ] ) is a voivodeship in southern Poland . It has an area of 15,108 square kilometres (5,833 sq mi), and a population of 3,404,863 (2019).
49-619: Racławice [rat͡swaˈvit͡sɛ] is a village located in Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland. It became famous after the victorious Battle of Racławice (1794) in the Kościuszko Uprising . It is the seat of a municipality ( Gmina Racławice ) within Miechów County . It lies approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Miechów and 37 km (23 mi) north-east of the regional capital Kraków . The battle site
98-459: A narrow fess Or. In addition to traditional nationwide Polish cuisine , the voivodeship is known for its variety of regional and local traditional foods , which include especially various cheeses , including the Bundz , Oscypek and Bryndza Podhalańska from mountain areas, meat products, especially local types of kiełbasa and bacon , honeys and various dishes and meals, officially protected by
147-450: A nationally known statue of Vladimir Lenin , unveiled on April 28, 1973. The bronze monument was pulled down in 1989 by the city, as a result of numerous protests by local citizens. Several thousand onlookers came to watch the dismantling. Sacral architecture should also be noted, particularly the Arka Pana ( Lord's Ark Church ), which was built to resemble Noah's Ark . It was designed by
196-608: A part of the city of Kraków as its new district, and in the following year, construction of tramway connections was underway. On July 22, 1954, the Vladimir Lenin Steelworks was opened, and in less than twenty years, the factory became the largest steel mill in Poland . In the 1960s, the city expanded rapidly. The monumental architecture of the Plac Centralny (Central Square) was surrounded by colossal apartment blocks. In
245-477: A small part of the broader ancient Małopolska region. Historic Lesser Poland is much larger than the current province. It stretches far north, to Radom , and Siedlce , also including such cities, as Lublin , Kielce , Częstochowa , and Sosnowiec . The province is bounded on the north by the Świętokrzyskie Mountains ( Góry Świętokrzyskie ), on the west by Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska (a broad range of hills stretching from Kraków to Częstochowa ), and on
294-428: A socialist theme – the ideas sparking citizens' consciousness and outlook on life. During this great work, a crucial role fell to the architect, who wasn't perceived as merely an engineer creating streets and edifices, but as an " engineer of the human soul ". The general outlook of a building was more valued than its simple aesthetics. It needed to express social ideas, to arouse a feeling of persistence and power. Since
343-457: Is abundant in castles, including Mirów , Niedzica , Niepołomice , Nowy Wiśnicz , Pieskowa Skała and Wawel . The voivodeship contains 4 cities and 58 towns. These are listed below in descending order of population (according to official figures for 2019 ): Towns: Lesser Poland Voivodeship is divided into 22 counties ( powiats ): 3 city counties and 19 land counties. These are further divided into 182 gminas . The counties are listed in
392-1033: Is considered to be the best technical university in Poland. The Academy of Economics, the Pedagogical University, the Kraków University of Technology and the Agricultural Academy are also very highly regarded. There are also the Fine Arts Academy, the State Theatre University and the Musical Academy. Nowy Sącz has become a major educational center in the region thanks to its Higher School of Business and Administration, with an American curriculum, founded in 1992. The school has 4,500 students. There are also two private higher schools in Tarnów. In
441-425: Is located in the west, in the neighborhood of Chrzanów (chiefly the production of railway engines) and Oświęcim (chemical works). Kraków Park Technologiczny, a special economic zone , has been established within the voivodeship. There are almost 210,000 registered economic entities operating in the voivodeship, mostly small and medium-sized, of which 234 belong to the state-owned sector. Foreign investment, growing in
490-621: Is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments ( Pomnik historii ), as designated May 1, 2004. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland . This Miechów County location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lesser Poland Voivodeship The province's name recalls the traditional name of a historic Polish region, Lesser Poland, or in Polish: Małopolska . Current Lesser Poland Voivodeship, however, covers only
539-526: Is rich in historic architecture ranging from Romanesque and Gothic to Renaissance , Baroque and Art Nouveau . Numerous towns possess preserved historic market squares and town halls, as in Kraków and Tarnów . At Wadowice , birthplace of John Paul II (50 kilometers southwest of Kraków) is a museum dedicated to the late pope's childhood. The voivodeship, especially Kraków, is home to various museums, art galleries and cultural institutions. Major museums include
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#1732852502067588-529: Is the easternmost district of Kraków , Poland . With more than 200,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous areas of the city. Until 1990, the neighbouring districts were considered expansions of the original Nowa Huta district, and were linked by the same tramway system . They are now separate districts of Kraków. Nowa Huta is one of the largest planned socialist realist settlements or districts ever built (another being Magnitogorsk in Russia) and "one of
637-535: Is the warmest place in Poland with average summer temperatures between 23 °C (73 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F) during the day, often reaching 32 °C (90 °F) to 38 °C (100 °F) in July and August, the two warmest months of the year. The city of Tarnów , which is located in Lesser Poland , is the hottest place in Poland all year round, average temperatures being around 25 °C (77 °F) during
686-651: The Auschwitz concentration camp with a network of subcamps in various localities. There was also a German prisoner-of-war camp for French , Belgian, Dutch and Soviet prisoners of war. The Lesser Poland Voivodeship was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Kraków , Tarnów , Nowy Sącz and parts of Bielsko-Biała , Katowice , Kielce and Krosno Voivodeships, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998. Located in Southern Poland , Lesser Poland
735-703: The Early Middle Ages , the territory was inhabited by the Vistulans , an old Polish tribe . It formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century, with the regional capital Kraków becoming the seat of one of Poland's oldest dioceses, est. in 1000, contributing to the Christianization of Poland . In 1038, Kraków became the capital of Poland by decision of Casimir I the Restorer , retaining its role for several centuries with short-term breaks. It also became
784-467: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland . There are local types of pierogi , kluski , kołacz and various soups . Local specialities include obwarzanek krakowski and krówki from Regulice . Local beverages include several types of nalewki and śliwowica , including Śliwowica łącka . The Lesser Poland Voivodeships has partnerships with the following regions: In February 2020,
833-936: The National Museum in Kraków with the branch Czartoryski Museum , one of the oldest museums of Poland, which contains works by various artists including Leonardo da Vinci , Rembrandt and Kraków-native Jan Matejko , and the Archaeological Museum of Kraków , the oldest archaeological museum in Poland. There are museums dedicated to painters Jan Matejko and Józef Mehoffer at their former homes in Kraków, to composer and pianist Karol Szymanowski and writer Kornel Makuszyński at their homes in Zakopane, to writer Władysław Orkan at his home in Poręba Wielka and to writer Emil Zegadłowicz in his manor in Gorzeń Górny . Manggha ,
882-565: The Vistula–Oder Offensive in 1945, the Socialist government had encountered substantial resistance to their new regime from middle-class residents of Kraków. A referendum held by the authorities was soundly defeated by the people of Kraków – a major cause of embarrassment to the government. To "correct the class imbalance", the authorities commenced building a satellite industrial city to attract people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to
931-524: The Warsaw Pact , was enforced from 1949 to 1956. It involved all domains of art, but its most spectacular accomplishments were made in the field of architecture . The main lines of this new trend were very precisely indicated in a 1949 resolution of the National Council of Party Architects. Architecture was an extremely important weapon to the creators of a new social order. It was intended to help to form
980-466: The neolithic age. Archaeological research has discovered a large Celtic and West Slavic settlement. In the 8th century, a mound was erected nearby by the Vistulans tribe. According to legend, the Wanda Mound is a tomb of Wanda, daughter of Krakus , a mythical founder of Kraków. In the 13th century, a Cistercian monastery in the village of Mogiła was built. In the nineteenth century and at
1029-587: The papacy in 1978, intended to visit Nowa Huta during his first papal pilgrimage in 1979, but was not permitted to do so. During the 1980s, Nowa Huta became a city of many demonstrations and violent street protests of the Solidarity movement, fought by the police. At that time, almost 29,000 of the 38,000 workers of the Lenin Steelworks belonged to the Solidarity trade union . The design movement of socialist realism in Poland , as in other member-states of
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#17328525020671078-454: The 1970s, steel production reached seven million tons annually. At the same time, the largest tobacco factory in Poland was opened there, as well as a colossal cement factory. The reasons for building such an industrial city near Kraków were primarily ideological , because coal needed to be transported from Silesia , and iron ore needed to be transported from the Soviet Union , while
1127-558: The French region of Centre-Val de Loire suspended its partnership with the Lesser Poland Voivodeship as a response to the anti-LGBT resolution passed by the voivodeship's authorities. In September 2021, the voivodeships's authorities revoked the controversial declaration. Football , ice hockey and motorcycle speedway enjoy the largest following and greatest success in the voivodeship. Cracovia and Wisła Kraków contest
1176-895: The Kraków Derby, nicknamed the Holy War , considered the fiercest rivalry in Poland and one of the fiercest in Europe. Most accomplished hockey teams are Podhale Nowy Targ , Cracovia and Unia Oświęcim . Top speedway team is Unia Tarnów . Since the establishment of the province, various major international sports competitions were co-hosted by the province, including the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship , 2016 European Men's Handball Championship , 2017 Men's European Volleyball Championship , 2021 Men's European Volleyball Championship , 2023 World Men's Handball Championship , 2023 European Games . Nowa Huta Nowa Huta ( pronounced [ˈnɔva ˈxuta] , literally "The New Steel Mill")
1225-633: The Polish World War II hero Władysław Anders . Other streets were renamed after Edward Rydz-Śmigły and Ignacy Mościcki , politicians of the pre-World War II Sanation government. In 2004, Plac Centralny , Nowa Huta's central square, which once was home to a giant statue of Lenin – on display at the High Chaparral Museum in Hillerstorp , Sweden , was renamed Plac Centralny im. Ronalda Reagana ( Ronald Reagan Central Square) in honor of
1274-565: The architects Wojciech Pietrzyk and Jan Grabacki, with the design being influenced by Le Corbusier 's Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp . Since the fall of the USSR , the city that was once a showpiece for Stalinism now boasts many tributes to ardent opponents of the ideology. Streets formerly named after Vladimir Lenin and the Cuban Revolution have been renamed to honor Pope John Paul II and
1323-488: The beginning of the twentieth century, during the partitions of Poland and up to World War I , the outskirts of Nowa Huta constituted a border between territories controlled by Austria-Hungary and Russia . One can find historic Austro-Hungarian fortresses there, as well as one of Europe's oldest permanent airfields ( Kraków-Rakowice-Czyżyny Airport , currently housing the Polish Aviation Museum ). Following
1372-537: The crossroads of major international routes linking Dresden with Kyiv , and Gdańsk with Budapest . Located here is the second largest international airport in Poland (after Warsaw 's), the John Paul II International Airport . The gross domestic product (GDP) of the province was €40.4 billion in 2018, accounting for 8.1% of the Polish economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power
1421-460: The day in the three summer months and 3 °C (37 °F) during the day in the three winter months. In the winter the weather patterns alter each year; usually winters are mildly cold with temperatures ranging from −7 °C (19 °F) to 4 °C (39 °F), but the winter season changes often to a more humid and warmer winter, or more continental and cold, depending on the many various wind patterns that affect Poland from different regions of
1470-478: The environment of Lesser Poland . The region has areas for tourism and recreation, including Zakopane (Poland's most popular winter resort) and the Tatra, Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains. There are ten spa towns : Krynica-Zdrój , Muszyna , Piwniczna-Zdrój , Rabka-Zdrój , Szczawnica , Wapienne , Wieliczka , Wysowa-Zdrój , Zakopane , Żegiestów . The natural landscape features many historic sites. The voivodeship
1519-435: The following table (ordering within categories is by decreasing population). Protected areas in Lesser Poland Voivodeship include six National Parks and 11 Landscape Parks . These are listed below. Lesser Poland Voivodeship's symbols can be blazoned as follows: Coat of arms: A traditional Iberian shield gules, an eagle argent displayed armed, legged, beaked, langued and crowned Or. Flag: Per fess argent and gules,
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1568-465: The former US President . However, this decision led to many objections, and the traditional name is still widely used. In 2014, a bright green statue of a urinating Lenin was installed as part of an arts festival. Nowa Huta is home to several of Kraków's notable sports clubs. Rich in history, Hutnik Nowa Huta football club has sizeable support in the city, as does Kraków's only speedway club, Wanda Kraków . The Kraków Speedway Stadium
1617-570: The future Pope John Paul II , who began hosting outdoor Christmas Eve Midnight Masses in 1959, regardless of weather, and replaced the cross every time that it was removed. In 1967, permits to build the desired church were granted, and the Arka Pana ( Lord's Ark Church also translated as the Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland) was under construction from 1969 to 1977. The complex was consecrated by Wojtyla in May 1977. Wojtyla himself, after his ascension to
1666-506: The general acceptance of the classicist form. From 1953, critical opinions were increasingly frequently heard, and the doctrine was finally given up in 1956. To this day, the socrealist city center is considered a monument of architecture. Following the political liberalization of the Polish October in 1956, it became possible to introduce modernist style in architecture. Polish architects were allowed to visit Stockholm to learn about
1715-520: The largest Polish museum of Japanese art, is located in Kraków. There are numerous World War II memorials in the province, including a museum at the site of the former Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz -I and Auschwitz-II-Birkenau, as well as the Auschwitz Jewish Center , visited annually by a million people. There are memorials at the sites of German-perpetrated massacres of Poles, German-operated forced labour camps, etc. The voivodeship
1764-716: The location of the Jagiellonian University , Poland's oldest university and one of world's oldest, established by King Casimir III the Great . In the Late Middle Ages , Oświęcim and Zator were ducal seats of local lines of the Piast dynasty . Following the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland , the region witnessed several uprisings against foreign rule, i.e. the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794, Kraków uprising of 1846 and January Uprising of 1863–1864, and Kraków remained one of
1813-637: The main cultural centers of partitioned Poland, taking advantage of the more relaxed policies of the Austrian partitioners than those of the Prussians and Russians . In the interbellum , the region was part of reborn independent Poland. During World War II , it was occupied by Germany , with the occupiers committing their genocidal policies against Poles and Jews in the region, massacring civilians and prisoners of war, including at Szczucin and Olkusz , operating prisons, forced labour camps and, most notably,
1862-476: The most renowned examples of deliberate social engineering " in the entire world. Built as a utopian ideal city , its street hierarchy, layout and certain grandeur of buildings often resemble Paris or London . The high abundance of parks and green areas in Nowa Huta make it the greenest corner of Kraków. The historic area of present-day Nowa Huta is one of the few places in Poland settled continuously since
1911-458: The necessary expertise along with qualified staff. The presence of good railway links for bringing raw materials and the proximity of the river to supply water also played a role. The site was elevated high enough to avoid flooding, and the historic villages that it replaced were relatively small. All of the above factors quickly made the investment pay off. In line with the then policy of state atheism, one significant type of building lacking from
1960-515: The newest solutions in urban design. As a result, the so-named "Swedish" apartment block was developed according to Le Corbusier guidelines. Among other buildings from that era, the Światowid cinema is worth noting. In the 1980s, the first postmodernist buildings were built, a notable example being the Centrum E housing estate. In the 1970s and 1980s, many apartment blocks were built using plattenbau . Nowa Huta's central "Avenue of Roses" featured
2009-512: The old salt mines of Bochnia (Europe's oldest) and Wieliczka , the pilgrimage town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska , the former Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz in Oświęcim , the wooden churches of Southern Lesser Poland , and the wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region in Poland and Ukraine . Four national parks and numerous reserves have been established in the voivodeship to protect
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2058-413: The original urban design of Nowa Huta was a Roman Catholic church. However, the public campaign to construct such a building lasted several years. As early as 1952, inhabitants of Nowa Huta began applying for consent to build a church. In 1960, violent street demonstrations with riot police erupted over a wooden cross that was erected without a permit. The locals were supported by then Bishop Karol Wojtyla,
2107-414: The products were shipped to other parts of Poland, due to local demand for steel being relatively small. Such disadvantages became visible in the 1980s, when the economic crisis halted the city's growth. Nevertheless, the primacy of political reasons for choosing this location is not obvious. Kraków was a center of learning, with established schools of engineering and scientific research departments, providing
2156-426: The region, reached approximately US$ 18.3 billion by the end of 2006. A total of 130,000 students attend fifteen Kraków institutions of higher learning. The Jagiellonian University , the largest university in the city (44,200 students), was founded in 1364 as Cracow Academy . Nicolaus Copernicus and Karol Wojtyła ( Pope John Paul II ) graduated from it. The AGH University of Science and Technology (29,800 students)
2205-421: The region, such as peasants and the working-class. Nowa Huta was created in 1949 as a separate city near Kraków, on terrain repossessed by the Socialist government from the former villages of Mogiła, Pleszów and Krzesławice. It was planned as a colossal center of heavy industry. The city was intended to become an ideal city for Socialist propaganda, and populated primarily by industrial workers. In 1951, it became
2254-703: The south by the Tatra , Pieniny and Beskidy Mountains . Politically it is bordered by Silesian Voivodeship to the west, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship to the north, Subcarpathian Voivodeship to the east, and Slovakia ( Prešov Region and Žilina Regions ) to the south. Almost all of Lesser Poland lies in the Vistula River catchment area. The city of Kraków was one of the European Cities of Culture in 2000. Kraków has railway and road connections with Katowice (expressway), Warsaw , Wrocław and Rzeszów . It lies at
2303-484: The style of the Renaissance was generally regarded as the most revered in old Polish architecture, it was also intended to become Poland's socialist national format. However, in the course of incorporating the principles of socialist realism, there were a number of deviations observed. One of these was to more closely reflect Soviet architecture, which resulted in the majority of works blending into one another; and finally,
2352-595: The world. Błędów Desert , the only desert in Poland, is located in Lesser Poland, where temperatures can often reach 38 °C (100 °F) in the summer. Lesser Poland Voivodeship is the voivodeship with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Poland with six entries, encompassing the Kraków Old Town with the Wawel Royal Castle , former main royal residence and burial site of Polish monarchs,
2401-705: Was €19,700 or 65% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 72% of the EU average. The region's economy includes high technology , banking, chemical and metallurgical industries, coal , ore , food processing , and spirit and tobacco industries. The most industrialized city of the voivodeship is Kraków . The largest regional enterprise operates here, the Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks in Nowa Huta , employing 17,500 people. Another major industrial center
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