Wasilków

Wasilków is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Białystok County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, about 3 km north of Białystok, with 12 559 inhabitants (2022). It is a northern suburb of Białystok, situated on the Supraśl River.

== History ==

The first traces of settlement in the Wasilków commune date back to the Middle Stone Age. Excavations conducted near the town of Nowodworce provided evidence of the settlement of these areas in the Bronze Age, which lasted in Poland until around 1800 BCE. One of the most interesting was the discovery of a flint mine in the Knyszyn Forest near Rybniki. As a result of the research, about fifty archaeological sites have been discovered in the commune. Traces of prehistoric and early-historic settlements have been found in the vicinity of almost every modern village in the Wasilków commune. However, nothing is known about the beginnings of Slavic settlement in Wasilków.

Early history
In the 11th century the territory of Wasilków belonged to Kievan Rus. In 1340, the area of Wasilkow was incorporated into Lithuania by Duke Gediminas. However, earlier this area belonged to Mazovia within fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. The first mention in written sources about the area where the town and the Wasilków starosty was later established in 1358.

A breakthrough date in the history of Wasilków is December 8, 1566, when King Sigismund II Augustus granted town rights and a coat of arms. The town was inhabited by people from the vicinity of Goniądz, Tykocin and Białystok. Two days after granting town rights - on December 10, 1566, King Sigismund II Augustus issued a privilege allowing the creation of a Catholic parish.

In the middle of the 17th century Wasilków was inhabited by about 500 people, and the entire starosty additionally 400 people. The first records from this period appear about Jews who came from Choroszcz and settled in Wasilków. Before the first partition of Poland, Wasilków had about 1,500 inhabitants. After the Third Partition of Poland, Wasilków was incorporated into the Białystok Department of New East Prussia, and from 1807, under the Treaty of Tylża, into the Russian Partition of Poland.

Late modern period
Around 1880, Wasilków had 3,880 inhabitants. There were 12 textile factories in the town, ten of which were owned by Jews. All plants employed a total of about 300 people.

The tragic date in the history of the town is May 5, 1895, when a great fire destroyed almost half of Wasilków, and 10 people died in the fire. At the end of the 19th century, Wasilków had approx. 4,000 inhabitants. residents.

In November 1918, there were only two textile factories operating in the town, employing nearly 70 workers. In the 1921 census, 85.8% people declared Polish nationality, and 13.2% declared Jewish nationality.

World War II began in these lands on September 16, 1939, with the entry of the German army. Less than a week later, a cavalry detachment of the Soviet Red Army entered the Tui. This is how the Soviet occupation began, during which several dozen of Wasilkow families were deported to Kazakhstan. In August 1941, the Germans established a ghetto in Wasilków, in which about 1,250 Jews were held. The following year, they were taken to Treblinka, where they were murdered.

As a result of the war, the industry in Wasilków ceased to exist. The town was destroyed in 20%. In the post-war period, a significant date is July 1, 1947, when Father Wacław Rabczyński was appointed vicar and administrator of the parish under the invocation of Transfiguration of the Lord in Wasilków. The summary of the activities of Fr. Rabczyński began in 1958 and completed in 1966 the construction of the church of Of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy at Kościuszko Street. Father Wacław Rabczyński was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding figures in the post-war history of the Wasilkow region.

In 1946 Wasilków had 3,948 inhabitants. The determinant of the changes taking place in the post-war years was the development of Emilia Plater Wool Industry Plant, which in its heyday employed about 2,500 employees. In 1959, the construction of an elementary school on Mickiewicza Street began, and in 1982 a primary school on Polna Street, which was officially opened on May 22, 1985.

After World War II, Wasilków became a satellite town of Białystok. On May 27, 1990, the first half-century free and democratic elections to local self-government took place.

In 2022, the number of inhabitants of the town and commune of Wasilków reaches nearly 19 thousand. and is constantly growing. Wasilków has become one of the most dynamically developing local government units in Podlaskie.

== Monuments ==

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy
The construction of the church was completed in 1966 thanks to the efforts of Fr. Wacław Rabczyński. The previous church, which was demolished in 1867 by the tsarist authorities, was situated in the same place. The building combines the styles of old Christian and modernist architecture. In the middle of the church there is an altar, in line with the changes introduced to the liturgy by the Second Vatican Council. Since 2015, the International Festival of Organ and Chamber Music has been held here every year.

Orthodox church of Saints Peter and Paul
The five-dome, brick church was built in the mid-nineteenth century and consecrated in 1853 by the Bishop of Brzeg, Ignacy. In 1857, a free-standing, brick belfry was built in the style of the church, which also serves as a gate. In 1867, the church was partially burnt. The following year, after being struck by lightning, it burned down completely. Reconstruction ended in 1875.

Church of Transfiguration of the Lord
The beginnings of the parish are closely related to the granting of town rights to the settlement of Wasilków by king Zygmunt August on December 8, 1556. Two days after this event, the king issued a foundation document under which a wooden temple in Wasilków was erected. The first temple was built on the so-called "Kościelisko" - on the hill behind the present church. The modern brick neo-baroque church was built in 1883.

Roman Catholic cemetery
The oldest tombstones in the cemetery come from the end of the 19th century. The decor of the cemetery is rich in details of small architecture: turrets, terraces and miniatures of ancient temples. Hilly terrain with dignified old trees additionally enhances the aesthetic value of this place.

In the cemetery there are seven groups of sculptures referring to the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus, two fountains and about sixty historic tombstones, the oldest of which is from 1896. There are also statues of angels, gates, balustrades and walls with engraved verses from the Holy Scriptures.

At the entrance to the cemetery there is a tombstone of Fr. Wacław Rabczyński, who with his hard work contributed to the construction of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy in 1958-1966, as well as the chapel with accompanying facilities in Święta Woda. Thanks to him, unusual cemetery sculptures were created

In 2002, the Wasilków cemetery was entered into the register of monuments. For many years, the Society of the Friends of the Wasilkow Region has carried out fundraising activities for the renovation of historic figures in the cemetery.

Jewish cemetery
It was established at the end of the 19th century. A dozen or so matzevot have survived to this day, but there are probably more of them under a thick layer of earth. Metal stars of David have been placed in the place of the entrance gate.

In June 2007, a stone path and a lapidarium were made in the cemetery commemorating the Jews who lived in Wasilków before World War II. For the construction of the monument, found fragments of matzevot.

The first Jews settled in Wasilków in 1650. They came from the nearby Choroszcz and in 1714 established an independent Jewish community. At the end of the 19th century, as many as 1,470 people lived in the town of 3,800 inhabitants of the Jewish faith. About a thousand of them lived here before World War II. The cemetery is a special, historical place that honors the victims of the German occupation and attracts followers of all religions.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sorrows "Holy Water"
On the outskirts of Wasilków - by the national road No. 19 - there is the "Holy Water" Sanctuary. It owes its name to the spring around which there are many legends related to healing dating back to the Middle Ages. The first documented mention of the uniqueness of this place comes from 1719, in which a man named Basil, after washing his face, regained his eyesight, which he had lost two years earlier. As a gratitude, the nobleman donated a wooden chapel, which stood over the spring.

After many historical turmoil (the later brick chapel was destroyed by the Red Army during World War II), the reconstruction of this place was undertaken by Rev. Wacław Rabczyński in the 1950s. The chapel was completely restored, a Grotto was built by the spring (similar to the one in Lourdes in France), and seven Passion altars were placed on the adjacent hills. After the visit to this place in 1996 by the Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, the Hill of Crosses and the Monument of the Third Millennium were created. In the same year, the parish under the invocation of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Nowadays, the area around the Sanctuary is constantly modernized. There is a Pilgrimage and Tourist Center in the immediate vicinity.

Podlaskie Museum of Folk Culture
An open-air museum, the purpose of which is to protect monuments of wooden architecture in Podlaskie, as well as to recreate the traditional rural landscape of the region, is located on the vast area within the administrative boundaries of Wasilków, by the national road No. 8.

The collections of museum pieces collected in the open-air museum document the material culture of the Białystok region from the end of the 19th century to the 1970s. Visitors to the museum can see the historic wooden architecture of the Podlaskie village. At the entrance gate there is a magnificent windmill - Koźlak from 1836, and next to it there is a forge brought from Gródek. In total, about 30 buildings have been moved to the open-air museum since the beginning of the 1990s.