Gniezno is a town of 70.029 inhabitants (2002) located in the mid-west of the Poland, to about fifty km in the North-East of Poznań. Chief town of district ( Powiat ), it belongs to the Voïvodie of Large-Poland.

The legend of Lech, Czech and Rus

According to the legend, three brothers (Lech, Czech and Rus), seeking a place to be established, penetrated in this wild territory. Suddenly, they saw a hill with an ancient oak and an eagle at the top. Lech decided to adopt this white eagle like emblem of its people and to build a fortress around the ancient oak. Because of the eyrie (in Polish Gniazdo ), it decided to call this place Gniezdno (become Gniezno today). His/her brothers left it, Czech left towards the south, Rus towards the east.

History

Gniezno was an important city at the time of the birth of the state Polish. It was the first capital of the Poland. It is closely associated with the beginnings of the Christianisme in Poland. It is mentioned in the Dagome Iudex, the oldest Polish official document, under the name of Schinesge . It is very probable that its original name was Gniezdno , deformation of the Polish word gniazdo (nest).

• VI^e - VII^e century: beginning of a human occupation of the hill Panienskie (today the place of the Market)

• VIII^e century: strengthened city, the Lech hill is surrounded by ramparts out of wooden and ground - fortified town of the tribe of the Polanes
• X^e century: Gniezno becomes the first capital of the state of Gniezno
• 966: Mieszko Ier converts with Christianity
• v. 990: first mention of Gniezno in a document official (Dagome Iudex)
• 997: Adalbert, on mission of evangelization in Prussia, is killed
• 999: Adalbert is canonized and buried in the cathedral of Gniezno - Radzim Gaudenty, the brother of Adalbert, is devoted first Archevêque of Gniezno
• 1000: Synod of the Church in Gniezno - with the authorization of the Pope Sylvestre II, Boleslas Ier Valiant the opens a Archidiocèse in Gniezno (concerning Rome and not of the Archevêché S of Germany) and évêché S with Cracow, Kołobrzeg and Wrocław - Meeting of Gniezno: Othon III of the Holy roman Empire goes in pilgrimage in Gniezno, accepts the creation of the archbishop's palace and proclaims Boleslas Frater and Cooperator Imperii (Brother and collaborator of the Empire)
• 1018: a fire devastates the city and the cathedral
• 1025: Boleslas Ier Valiant the is crowned king de Pologne by the archbishop of Gniezno
• 1038: the Czech destroy Gniezno and steal the Relique S of Saint Adalbert
• 1076: crowning of Boleslas II the Generous
• 1138: Gniezno becomes the seat of Mieszko III the Old man, who reigns on the Large-Poland after the partition of Poland decided by his father Boleslas III the Stop-Chest
• 1238: Gniezno obtains the urban privileges (Droit of Magdeburg)
• 1295: Przemysl II is crowned king de Pologne
• 1300: the king of Bohemia Venceslas II is made crown king de Pologne
• XIV^e century: the cathedral is restored in the Gothic style
• 1419: the archbishops of Gniezno are high with the dignity of primacy of Poland
• 1427: Gniezno obtains the right to make trade
• XV^e century: Gniezno becomes an important center for the Commerce of wool clothing and the furs
• 1613: the city is devastated by a fire
• 1655: the city is destroyed by the Swedish
• 1793: Gniezno is attached to the Prussia (Second division of Poland)
• 1794: Gniezno takes part in the Insurrection of Kosciuszko
• 1806: Gniezno is delivered Prussian occupation by Napoleon and integrates the Duché of Warsaw
• 1815: Gniezno is taken again by Prussia and becomes a city of the Grand-Duché of Poznań
• 1819: the city is devastated by a fire
• 1872: a railway line connects Gniezno to Poznań and Inowrocław

• 1918: rising of the Large-Poland which releases Gniezno of the Prussian yoke
• 1925: a monument with the glory of Boleslas Ier Valiant the is high in front of the cathedral
• 1939 - 1945: German occupation
• 1956: creation of the museum of archeology which will become the museum of the beginnings of the Polish state
• 1979: pilgrimage of Jean-Paul II on the tomb of Saint Adalbert
• 1994: Gniezno receives the title of “Gniezno, the town of saint Adalbert”
• 1997: second pilgrimage of Jean-Paul II in Gniezno
• 1999: creation of the county ( powiat ) of Gniezno

Royal crownings with Gniezno

• April 18th 1025: Boleslas Ier Valiant the

• December 25th 1025: Mieszko II Lambert
• December 25th 1076: Boleslas II the Generous
• June 26th 1295: Przemysl II
• July 25th 1300: Venceslas II

Tourism

The city is an important arts center. Certain places are impossible to circumvent:

• the Lech hill with the cathedral (sarcophagus of Adalbert saint, Carries of Gniezno out of bronze, Gothic gate with scenes of the Last Judgment) and the museum of the archdiocese where treasures of passed of Poland are preserved.
• the hill of the Virgin with the old city, the churches, the remainders of the ramparts of the medieval city, the cloister and the church Jean Saint.
• the museum of the origins of the Polish state, the water tower, old cemeteries.

Economy

In addition to tourism, the city developed industrially since the XIX^e century. It is an important economic center today:

• light industries: shoes, clothing, galantery, tannery

• food industries: sugar refineries, flour-millings, dairies, slaughter-houses, etc
• production of tractors, machines and systems of packing, machines of construction

The most important company names PHUP Andrzej Szeszycki .

External bond

• Official site of the city