listen);German:Gnesen;Latin:Gnesna) is acityin central-westernPoland, about 50 kilometres (31miles) east ofPoznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769,[1]making it the sixth-largest city in theGreater Poland Voivodeship. One of thePiast dynasty's chief cities, it was the first historical capital of Poland in the 10th century and early 11th century,[2]and it was mentioned in 10th-century sources, possibly including theDagome Iudex, as the capital of Piast Poland. Gniezno is the seat of theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno, the country's oldest archdiocese, founded in 1000, and its archbishop is theprimateof Poland, making the city the country's ecclesiastical capital. The city is the administrative seat ofGniezno County(powiat).
There are archaeological traces of human settlement since the latePaleolithic. Early Slavonic settlements on Lech Hill and Maiden Hill are dated to the 8th century.[3]At the beginning of the 10th century this was the site of several places sacred to theSlavic religion. The ducal stronghold was founded just before AD 940 on Lech Hill, and surrounded by some fortified suburbs and open settlements.
According to the Polish version of a legend, three brothers went hunting together but each of them followed a different prey and eventually they all traveled in different directions. Rus went to the east, Čech headed to the west to settle on the Říp Mountain rising up from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech traveled north.There, while hunting, he followed his arrow and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a fierce, white eagle guarding its nest from intruders. Seeing the eagle against the red of the setting sun, Lech took this as a good omen and decided to settle there. He named his settlement Gniezno (Polishgniazdo – 'nest') in commemoration and adopted the White Eagle as his coat-of-arms. The white eagle remains a symbol of Poland to this day, and the colors of the eagle and the setting sun are depicted in Poland's coat of arms, as well as its flag, with a white stripe on top for the eagle, and a red stripe on the bottom for the sunset. According to Wielkopolska Chronicle (13th century), Slavs are descendants of Pan, a Pannonian prince. He had three sons – Lech (the youngest), Rus, and Čech (the oldest), who decided to settle west, north, and east.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Around AD 940 Gniezno, being an important pagan cult center, became one of the main fortresses of the early Piast rulers, along with aforementioned fortresses at Giecz, Kruszwica, Poznań, Kalisz, Łęczyca, Ostrów Lednicki, Płock, Włocławek, and others. Archeological excavations on Lech Hill in 2010 discovered an 11th-century tomb by the foundations of St. George's church, near the remains of a pagan burial mound discovered earlier on the hill.[10]Discoveries indicate that Lech Hill could have been the burial place of rulers even before the baptism of Mieszko I of Poland. After the adoption of Christianity by Mieszko I, his sonBolesław I Chrobrydeposited the remains ofSaint Adalbertin a church, newly built on the Hill, to underline Gniezno's importance as the religious centre and capital of his kingdom.
The 10th-centuryGniezno Cathedralwitnessed the royal coronations of Bolesław I in 1024 and his sonMieszko II Lambertin 1025.[3]The cities of Gniezno and nearbyPoznańwere captured, plundered and destroyed in 1038 by theBohemiandukeBretislav I, which pushed the next Polish rulers to move the Polish capital toKraków.[3]The archepiscopal cathedral was reconstructed by the next ruler,Bolesław II the Generous, who was crowned king here in 1076.
In the next centuries Gniezno evolved as a regional seat of the eastern part of Greater Poland, and in 1238 municipal autonomy was granted by the dukeWładysław Odonic. Gniezno was again the coronation site in 1295 and 1300.
After an administrative reform Gniezno, as aroyal city, became a county seat within theKalisz Voivodeship(since the early 14th century till 1768). It was destroyed again by theTeutonic Knights'invasion in 1331. The city was soon rebuilt during the reign of KingCasimir III the Great, while during the reign of KingWładysław II Jagiełło, in 1419, the status of "the capital of Christianity in Poland" was confirmed after the archbishops of Gniezno were given the title of Primate of Poland.[12]Trade flourished in Gniezno, four large annual fairs took place, in which merchants from various Polish cities and European countries took part.[12] Crafts also developed, and Gniezno remained one of the major cities of Poland until the mid-17th century,[2]even despite fires of 1515 and 1613.[12]It was devastated during theSwedish invasion warsof the 17th–18th centuries and by a plague in 1708–1710. All this caused depopulation and economic decline, but the city was soon revived during the 18th century to become the capital of theGniezno Voivodeshipwithin the largerGreater Poland Provincein 1768. Gniezno remained one of the main cultural centeres of the Polish Kingdom.[12]
Gniezno was annexed by theKingdom of Prussiain the 1793Second Partition of Polandand renamedGnesen, becoming part of the province ofSouth Prussia. During theKościuszko Uprising, the Polish army under GeneralJan Henryk Dąbrowskiliberated[13]the town on 22 August 1794 and defeated aPrussian Armynorth of Gnesen near Labischin (Łabiszyn) on 29 September 1794. But because of Kościuszko's defeat at theBattle of Maciejowicehe gave up his plan to winter in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) and moved through Thorn (Toruń) and retreated to central Poland. Thus, the Prussians retook it on 7 December 1794. During theNapoleonic Warsthere was anuprisingagainst Prussian rule. The French appeared in Gnesen in November 1806, and following General Jan Henryk Dabrowski's order issued to all towns and cities and country property owners to provide recruits for the organizing Polish forces, Gnesen initially provided 60 recruits who participated in the battles of 1806–07.[14]Consequently, the town was included within theDuchy of Warsaw, but upon the defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812 it was occupied by the Russian army and was returned to Prussia in the 1815Congress of Vienna. Gnesen was subsequently governed withinKreis Gnesenof theGrand Duchy of Posenand the laterProvince of Posen. It was an important center of Polish resistance againstGermanisationpolicies, various Polish organizations and publishing houses were located there.[2]
Memorial at the site of a German execution of 24 Poles in November 1939 in the Dalki district
During theinvasion of Poland, which startedWorld War II, Gniezno was captured by Germans troops on 11 September 1939. On 26 October 1939 it was annexed intoNazi Germanyas part ofReichsgau Wartheland. During theGerman occupation, local Poles were subjected to arrests,expulsionsand mass executions. The Germans murdered several hundred inhabitants, and more than 10,000 inhabitants of the city and county were expelled to theGeneral Governmentin the more-eastern part of German-occupied Poland or imprisoned inNazi concentration camps.[2]In late 1940 at the Dziekanka (Tiegenhofin German) psychiatric institute near Gniezno, 1172 patients were evacuated and then killed. Again in late 1940 hundreds of patients were gassed ingas vanby theLangeCommando, a sub-unit ofEinsatzkommando 2.[16]Despite this, Gniezno remained a center ofPolish resistance.[2]
After the city was seized by theRed Armyon January 21, 1945, the Soviets fought the Polish underground anddeportedits members deep into theSoviet Union.[2]The city itself was not seriously damaged during the war, however, in 1940, the Germans demolished the monument of KingBolesław I the Brave, which was rebuilt after the war. The city was subsequently restored to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until theFall of Communismin the 1980s.
In August 1980, employees of local factories joined the nationwide anti-communist strikes,[17]which led to the foundation of theSolidarityorganization, which played a central role in the end of communist rule in Poland. In 1979 and 1997,Pope John Paul IIvisited Gniezno. During the second visit, celebrations took place on the millennial anniversary of the death ofSt. Adalbertwith the participation of presidents of sevenCentral Europeancountries and 280,000 pilgrims from Poland and the world.[12]In 2000, the millennial anniversary of theCongress of Gnieznowas celebrated and on this occasion theSejmwas held in Gniezno, the only one held outside ofWarsawin recent decades.
Gniezno'sRoman Catholicarchbishopis traditionally thePrimateof Poland (Prymas Polski). After thepartitions of Polandthe see was often combined with others, first with Poznań and then withWarsaw. In 1992Pope John Paul IIreorganized the Polish hierarchy and the city once again had a separate bishop. CardinalJózef Glemp, who had been archbishop of Gniezno andWarsawand retained Warsaw, was designated to remain Primate until his retirement, but afterward the Archbishop of Gniezno, at presentWojciech Polak, would again be Primate of Poland.
