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100-630: Habima was founded as an amateur troup by Nahum Lazarevich Tsemakh (Hebrew: Naḥum Tsemaḥ; 1887–1939) in Białystok (then in Grodno Governorate , Russian Empire ) in 1912. Menahem Gnessin was one of its cofounders and early actors. Because its performances were in Hebrew , invoked the Jewish folk tradition, and dealt with issues of the Jewish people, soon it was banned by Russian authorities, and

200-517: A glacial plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier , are covered by forests. The highest point of the city lies at a height of 175 m (574 ft) on the Pietrasze Forest. The lowest point lies at a height of 118 m (387 ft) on the river valley of the Biała . A characteristic element of the relief of the city area are clear depressions in

300-498: A warm summer continental climate , characterized by warm summers and long frosty winters. Forests are an important part of Białystok's character and occupy around 1,846 ha (4,560 acres) (18% of the administrative area of the city) which places it as the fifth-most forested city in Poland. The first settlers arrived in the 14th century. The town grew and received its municipal charter in 1692. Białystok has traditionally been one of

400-593: A Nazi prison in the city, and a forced labour camp for Jewish men. Since 1943, the Sicherheitspolizei carried out deportations of Poles including teenage boys from the local prison to the Stutthof concentration camp . The 56,000 Jewish residents of the town were confined in a ghetto. On August 15, 1943, the Białystok Ghetto Uprising began, and several hundred Polish Jews and members of

500-518: A great noble, which was frequently visited by Polish kings and poets. In 1745 the first military technical school in Poland was founded in Białystok, and in 1748, one of the oldest theaters in Poland, the Komedialnia , was founded in the city. New schools were established, including a ballet school in connection with the foundation of the theater. In 1749, King Augustus III of Poland extended

600-457: A housing estate and connect with it the unique green areas around the city with new tree plantings. The Second World War prevented the comprehensive implementation of this plan. In addition, in 1919 the city's territory was significantly expanded, incorporating the surrounding villages with plans of expanding the city. The average height of buildings in the city is not high. The center is dominated by buildings not exceeding 25 meters in height, and

700-453: A little cooler than in most of Poland. More rain falls in summer months than in any other period of the year. The centre of Białystok, as most urban areas, experiences the urban heat island effect , therefore for most of the time, the city is warmer than the surrounding countryside. The temperatures in the city centre are, on average, 2.3 °C (4.1 °F) higher than in the surrounding villages, with greater differences at night and during

800-410: A number of exemptions due to historic or political reasons, when a municipality meets neither of these two conditions but nevertheless has the city status, including the only 3 capitals of the former voivodeships of Poland (1975–1998) not meeting the abovementioned criteria, as well as 38 other municipalities which do not fit into any of the mentioned categories but have nevertheless been allowed to keep

900-590: A result in the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807 the area was transferred to the Russian Empire , which organized the region into the Belostok Oblast , with the city as the regional center. Schooling and higher learning in Białystok, which was intensively developed in the 18th century, was stopped as a result of partitions. Białystok received city rights the latest from all of Podlasie's cities, but at

1000-423: A rural gmina is exercised by a wójt , while the homologue in municipalities containing cities or towns is called accordingly either a city mayor ( prezydent miasta ) or a town mayor ( burmistrz ), all of them elected by a two-round direct election , while the town/city council is the legislative, budget-making and oversight body. Any local laws considered non-compliant with the national ones may be invalidated by

1100-404: A seat of both an eponymous rural gmina and an eponymous regular powiat, despite belonging to neither, e.g. Siedlce , Skierniewice , Słupsk . No city in Poland constitutes a separate voivodeship in its own right, though 5 cities held such status in the past. All municipalities in Poland are governed regardless of their type under the mandatory mayor–council government system. Executive power in

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1200-452: A total of 9 parks in the city (on municipal plots), of which 5 are historic parks with a total area of about 59.06 ha, entered into the municipal register of monuments, and 4 are city parks with an area of about 21.68 ha. Part of Knyszyn Forest is preserved within the city limits by two nature reserves —a total area of 105 ha (260 acres). The Zwierzyniecki Forest Nature Reserve ( Polish : Rezerwat przyrody Las Zwierzyniecki ), which

1300-591: Is twinned with: Former twin towns: On 3 March 2022, Białystok ended its partnership with the Russian cities of Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Pskov and Tomsk, and also with the Belarusian city of Grodno as a reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Eastern Partnership cities: List of cities and towns in Poland This is a list of cities and towns in Poland , consisting of four sections:

1400-401: Is 97% Polish, 2.5% Belarusian and 0.5% of a number of minorities including Russians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians. Most of the modern-day population growth is based on internal migration within Poland and urbanization of surrounding areas. Białystok, like other major cities in Poland, is a city county ( Polish : Miasto na prawach powiatu ). The Legislative power in the city is vested in

1500-534: Is contained within the city limits, is a fragment, 33.48 ha (82.7 acres), of the riparian forest with a dominant assemblage of oak and hornbeam . The Antoniuk Nature Reserve ( Polish : Rezerwat Przyrody Antoniuk ) is a 70.07 ha (173.1 acres) park in the city that preserves the natural state of a forest fragment characteristic of the Białystok Upland, with a dominant mixed forest of hazel and spruce . The 40 ha (99 acres) of forests lying in

1600-453: Is divided into 29 administrative units, known in Polish as osiedla . The first 27 of these were created on October 25, 2004. The 28th, Dojlidy Górne , was created by on October 23, 2006, out of three settlements which had been incorporated into the city: Dojlidy Górne , Kolonia Halickie, and Zagórki. A new district called Bagnówka was created at the beginning of 2021. The center of

1700-448: Is not uncommon. A recall referendum may however be triggered either in respect to the wójt/town mayor/city mayor or to the municipal council through a petition supported by at least 1/10 of eligible voters, but the turnout in the recall referendum must be at least 3/5 of the number of people voting in the original election in order for the referendum to be valid and binding. In addition, elected bodies of any municipality may be suspended by

1800-609: Is policed by the Capital City Police Headquarters separate from the Mazovian Voivodeship Police Headquarters, with a status equal to that of voivodeship police headquarters. Attempts to establish a formally incorporated metropolitan union have been fiercely resisted by the citizens and the city mayor of Warsaw who have considered them a form of concealed gerrymandering , potentially leading to a political takeover of

1900-477: Is wood panelled and seats 170. 32°04′22″N 34°46′44″E  /  32.0728°N 34.779°E  / 32.0728; 34.779 Bia%C5%82ystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship . It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in

2000-607: The Anti-Fascist Military Organisation ( Polish : Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa ) started an armed struggle against the German troops who were carrying out the planned liquidation of the ghetto with deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp . Ultimately the ghetto was liquidated, and the vast majority of its remaining 40,000 occupants including men, woman and children, were murdered by

2100-500: The Arctic ( Siberian High ), which, due to the city's northeasterly location, are more frequent than in other parts of Poland. Winters thus tend to be several degrees colder than elsewhere in Poland. Freezing conditions below −20 °C (−4 °F) are possible in winter but are rare. Snow cover is present on the ground for more than half of winter. Summers tend to be warm, sunny and pleasant and are occasionally hot, but they are still

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2200-589: The European Parliament . There are thirteen consulates in Białystok, a Consulate General of Belarus and Honorary Consulates of Romania , Finland , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Estonia , Kazakhstan , Latvia , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Malta and Serbia . The City of Białystok is a member of several organizations such as Union of Polish Metropolises ( Polish : Unia Metropolii Polskich ), Euroregion Niemen, Polish Green Lungs Foundation, and Eurocities . Białystok

2300-849: The Fall of Communism in the 1980s, and the Soviet NKVD and SMERSH continued the persecution of the Polish resistance in the following months. From November 1944 to January 1945, the Russians deported nearly 5,000 Poles from the local prison to the Soviet Union. Later on, the Soviet-appointed communists held political prisoners and other members of the Polish resistance in the local prison, and until 1956, they also carried out burials of executed Polish resistance members there. After

2400-653: The German Army on 27 June 1941, during the Battle of Białystok–Minsk , and the city became the capital of Bezirk Białystok , a separate region in German occupied Poland , until 1944. The Great Synagogue was burnt down by Germans on June 27, 1941, with an estimated number of 2,000 Jews inside. From the very beginning, the Nazis pursued a ruthless policy of pillage and removal of the non-German population. The Germans operated

2500-478: The Prime Minister of Poland in case of persisting law transgressions or negligence , resulting in such case in the municipality being placed under receivership . In a city with powiat rights , the city mayor additionally has the powers and duties of a powiat executive board and a starosta , while the city council has the powers and duties of a powiat (county) council; both nevertheless being elected under

2600-591: The Silesian Voivodeship , currently composed of 41 contiguous municipalities, with some of them containing also rural areas. Its total population is 2,279,560. The metropolis largely coincides with the metropolitan area of the Katowice urban area , which is a part of the wider polycentric transnational Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area . A de facto metropolitan area is, however, also formed in some aspects by Warsaw metropolitan area , consisting of

2700-509: The St. Roch's Church and the Białystok Cathedral , which are on one axis. Each of the districts also has its dominant, which is usually a church or an Orthodox church. The most important space in the city is Kościuszko Square - the main square in the shape of a triangle. The space is delimited by two axes, one is part of the axis connecting the two largest churches, and the other runs towards

2800-528: The mayor , who may sign them into law. If the mayor vetoes a bill, the Council has 30 days to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote. The current President of Białystok, elected for his first term in 2006, is Tadeusz Truskolaski won the elections as the Civic Platform 's candidate, however, he has no official connection with the party. In the first round of the elections he received 49% of

2900-490: The unicameral Białystok City Council ( Polish : Rada Miasta ), which has 28 members. Council members are elected directly every four years, one of whom is the mayor , or President of Białystok ( Polish : prezydent ). Like most legislative bodies, the City Council divides itself into committees which have the oversight of various functions of the city government. Bills passed by a simple majority are sent to

3000-459: The 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm for the average temperature of the coldest month, or an oceanic climate ( Cfb ) if the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm is used. The city would have been classified as being in the Dfb zone regardless of the accepted isotherm for climatological normals as recent as 1981–2010, but as a consequence of climate change , the winters have warmed up so that the climate in

3100-543: The 17th-century Spanish dramatist Calderón . In 1930 the company traveled to Berlin, Germany, where it produced Shakespeare's Twelfth Night , directed by Michael Chekhov , and Karl Gutzkow 's Uriel Acosta , under the direction of Alexander Granovski . The company finally settled in Palestine in 1931. In 1945, it built a theatre in Tel Aviv, which it occupied before completion. Habima has been officially considered

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3200-798: The Białystok Uplands of the Podlachian Plain on the banks of the Biała River , 200 km (124 mi) northeast of Warsaw . It has historically attracted migrants from elsewhere in Poland and beyond, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe . This is facilitated by the nearby border with Belarus also being the eastern border of the European Union , as well as the Schengen Area . The city and its adjacent municipalities constitute Metropolitan Białystok . The city has

3300-468: The Catholic religion, 43% (42,880) to Judaism, 8.2% (8,177) to Eastern Orthodoxy and 2.9% (2,892) to Evangelicalism . World War II changed all of this: in 1939, around 107,000 people lived in Białystok, but by 1946, the population had dropped to 56,759, with much less ethnic diversity than it had had previously, due primarily to the murder of its large Jewish population. Currently the city's population

3400-641: The German Army from the city. During the 1919–1920 Polish–Soviet War , possession of the city by the Red Army and the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee occurred during the lead up to the Battle of Warsaw . During the resultant counteroffensive, the city returned to Polish control after the Battle of Białystok . After the wars and the reestablishment of independent Poland, Polish education in Białystok

3500-680: The Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Kęstutaitis , a wilderness area along the river Biała that marked the beginning of Białystok as a settlement. Thereafter, Białystok was part of Lithuania for 132 years until the Union of Lublin in 1569, when it was restored to Poland but remained very close to its border with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the last partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. Białystok

3600-464: The Nazis and their collaborators, primarily at the Treblinka death camp. The city fell under the control of the Red Army on 27 July 1944. The Soviets carried out mass arrests of Polish resistance members in the city and region, and imprisoned them in Białystok. On 20 September 1944 the city was transferred back to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until

3700-702: The Podlaskie Plain ( Polish : Nizina Północnopodlaska ), part of what is known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland . It is situated 197 kilometres (122 mi) by road northeast of Warsaw . It is the biggest Polish city close to Belarus and Lithuania . The Biała River, a left tributary of the Supraśl River , passes through the city. The landscape of the Białystok Upland is diverse, with high moraine hills and kame in excess of 200 m (660 ft) above sea level . Vast areas of outwash ,

3800-477: The Russians, and about 80 wounded. The first anarchist groups to attract a significant following of Russian workers or peasants were the anarcho-communist Chernoe-Znamia groups, founded in Białystok in 1903. During World War I the Bialystok-Grodno District was the administrative division of German -controlled territory of Ober-Ost . It comprised the city, as the capital, and

3900-615: The Tricity Charter (Polish: Karta Trójmiasta ), was signed by the three city mayors on 28 March 2007. The only incorporated common management authority in the Tricity metro is the Gdańsk Bay Public Transport Metropolitan Union ( Polish : Metropolitarny Związek Komunikacyjny Zatoki Gdańskiej ) which is, despite the name, an inter-municipal union and not a metropolitan one. Poland contains: Below

4000-498: The actors choosing to stay in the U.S. The theatre staff visited the city of Lodz, and the pre-war photographer and artist Mendel Grossman , photographed the actors and actresses from the wings of the stage. His life was changed as a result of the visit of the theatre. Other members of the theatre took the company to Mandate Palestine in 1928. In the 1928–29 season there, the Habima Players presented two plays, both under

4100-586: The area of present-day Białystok occurred during the Stone Age . Tombs of ancient settlers can be found in the district of Dojlidy . In the early Iron Age , people settled in the area producing kurgans , the tombs of the chiefs in the area located in the current village of Rostołty . Since then, the Białystok area has been at the crossroads of cultures. Trade routes linking the Baltic to the Black Sea favored

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4200-578: The capital city of Warsaw , a city with powiat rights , and the 9 neighbouring counties: Warsaw West County , Nowy Dwór County , Legionowo County , Wołomin County , Mińsk County , Otwock County , Piaseczno County , Pruszków County and Grodzisk Mazowiecki County . Warsaw forms together with these counties a NUTS 2 area separate as an exception from the remainder of its home region, the Mazovian Voivodeship . In addition, identical area

4300-402: The city center, gave it its name. Due to changing borders and demographics over the centuries, the city has been known as Belarusian : Беласток ( Byelastok , Biełastok [bʲeɫaˈstok] ), Yiddish : ביאַליסטאָק ( Byalistok , Bjalistok ), Lithuanian : Balstogė , and Russian : Белосток ( Belostok , Byelostok ). Archaeological discoveries show that the first settlements in

4400-551: The city edges. Metropolitan Białystok was designated by the Voivodeship of the Regulation No. 52/05 of 16 May 2005 to help develop the region economically. In 2006, the metropolitan area population was 450,254 inhabitants. The municipalities adjacent to Białystok are slowly losing their agricultural character, becoming residential suburban neighborhoods with single-family housing and small businesses. In June 2020,

4500-525: The city government through aiming to counterbalance the profoundly liberal city population with the conservative population of the neighbouring areas. A third widely known metropolitan area is the metropolitan area of Tricity in Pomeranian Voivodeship , urban area of which consists of the eponymous cities of Gdańsk , Sopot and Gdynia . The designation has been used informally or semi-formally only. A strategic cooperation declaration,

4600-576: The city limits. In 1770, under the auspices of Izabella Poniatowska , a midwifery school was founded, based on which the Institute of Obstetrics was established in 1805. Białystok was a regional brewing center with 33 breweries as of 1771, with the Podlachian Beer now listed as a protected traditional beverage by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland . The end of

4700-446: The city may be classified as oceanic. Białystok is one of the coldest cities in Poland by annual temperature and one with the climate having the most continental characteristics, as is the case for much of north-eastern Poland, with the mean yearly temperature of 7.7 °C (46 °F) and the length of the growing season amounting to 205 days, shorter than elsewhere in Poland. While winters are rather mild compared to other cities on

4800-695: The city on September 20–21, 1939 to commit crimes against the population . Afterwards, the Germans handed the city over to the Soviet Union, as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Under Soviet occupation, it was incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR from 1939 to 1941 as the capital of Belastok Region . Polish people were subject to deportations deep into the USSR ( Siberia , Kazakhstan , Far North ). Pre-war mayor Seweryn Nowakowski

4900-404: The city's territory was about 50 hectares. In its early days Białystok was located at the intersection of two local roads and had two most important monuments: a church (with the current brick church from 1626) with an accompanying market square and a Gothic castle owned by the noble Wiesiołowski family, the former owners of the town. The project which was aimed at rebuilding the layout of the city

5000-463: The city, Osiedle Centrum , surrounds Lipowa Street , the main street of the city. Lipowa Street extends from Rynek Kościuszki (the corner of Spółdzielcza Street) to Plac Niepodległości im. Romana Dmowskiego (the corner of Krakowska Street). Over the centuries the name of this street has taken on a number of different names; Choroska , Nowolipie, Lipowa, Józef Piłsudski , Joseph Stalin , Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, once again, to return, after

5100-459: The competition, to become a finalist for European Capital of Culture in 2016. Although nowadays "stok" is translated as "slope", the initial name of the settlement came from the river flowing through it. In old Polish, biały stok was white river ( biały - white, stok - stream; river that "slides" down the slope). So inconspicuous today, the Biała River (usually called Białka), flowing through

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5200-399: The development and concentration of Białystok's production plants at that time. Along with the administrative function, Białystok received many economic institutions. In the second half of the 19th century, Białystok grew into a significant center of the textile industry , the largest after Łódź in then-partitioned Poland. Białystok was the largest industrial center between Warsaw and Łódź in

5300-484: The development of settlements with Yotvingia - Ruthenian -Polish cultural characteristics. The city of Białystok has existed for five centuries and during this time the fate of the city has been affected by various political and economic forces. Surviving documents attest that around 1437 a representative of the Raczków family, Jakub Tabutowicz of the coat of arms Łabędź , received from Michael Žygimantaitis , son of

5400-486: The direction of Aleksei Dikiy , from the Moscow Art Theatre. The first production, Ha-otsar (The Treasure), a translation of Sholem Aleichem 's Yiddish play Der Oytser , premiered on December 29, 1928. The second production, which premiered on May 23, 1929, in Tel Aviv, was Keter David (David's Crown), an adaptation by Hebrew writer Isaac Lamdan of The Hair of Absalom ( Los cabellos de Absalón ), by

5500-451: The earlier awarded status due to unspecified historical reasons. Among the 37 cities over 100,000, 18 are seats of voivode or voivodeship sejmik , thus carrying the informal designation of a voivodeship city. 11 of them are seats of an appeal court and other supra-voivodeship institutions. The 107 Polish cities belong to the following size ranges in terms of the number of inhabitants ( cities with powiat rights are indicated with italics ;

5600-663: The eighteenth century saw the division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in three partitions, among Poland's neighboring states. The Kingdom of Prussia subjugated Białystok and the surrounding region during the third partition . The city became the capital of the New East Prussia province in 1795. Napoleon Bonaparte 's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition freed the territory but as

5700-511: The end of World War II, to its original name – Lipowa Street. The city covers 10,213 ha (25,240 acres) of which 3,210 ha (7,900 acres) is agricultural land , 4,889 ha (12,080 acres) is urbanized areas , 85 ha (210 acres) is surface waters and 65 ha (160 acres) is wasteland. The composition of the districts vary from residential near the city center, with a combination of multi-story apartment buildings and individual houses on small parcels, to industrial and agricultural at

5800-651: The end of the 19th century it outgrown all the surrounding cities. The rapid development in the 19th century is related to two historical events: the creation of a customs border between the Russian Empire and the Congress Kingdom of Poland, and the opening in 1862 of the Warsaw Saint Petersburg railway line , connecting Białystok with Warsaw , Grodno , Vilnius and Saint Petersburg . Very convenient communication conditions influenced

5900-523: The end of the nineteenth century, as a result of the influx due to Russian discriminatory regulations , the majority of the city's population was Jewish. According to Russian census of 1897 , out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (so around 63% percent). This heritage can be seen on the Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok . The Białystok pogrom occurred between 14 and 16 June 1906 with some 81 to 88 Jews killed by

6000-480: The enlargement of the city after the World War I . According to the 1931 census, the population of Białystok totalled 91,101: 45.5% (41,493) Roman Catholics , 43% (39,165) Jews (by religion), and 8.2% (7,502) Eastern Orthodox believers. In 1936, Białystok had a population of 99,722, of whom: 50.9% (50,758) were Poles, 42.6% (42,482) Jews, 2.1% (2,094) Germans and 0.4% (359) Russians; 46.6% (45,474) adhered to

6100-415: The factory was also determined by the price of the plot. The layout of the city, in accordance with the 18th century palace and park layout, emphasizing the magnificence of the residence, hindered the development of the city in width. Two railway lines: Białystok-Suwałki and Białystok-Słonim, separated its northern and eastern parts from the rest of the city: Dziesięciny, Wygoda, Zacisze, Pieczurki. Originally,

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6200-516: The first attempts were made to organize the city, which had so far developed without plans - between the palace grounds and arable land. At the request of the Association of Polish Cities, in the years 1938-1939 a general urban concept of the city was created by Ignacy Tłoczek. The plan called for the creation of new communication routes, relieve the center, demolish the Chanajki district, create

6300-422: The full list of all 107 cities in Poland by size, followed by a description of the principal metropolitan areas of the country, the table of the most populated cities and towns in Poland, and finally, the full alphabetical list of all 107 Polish cities and 861 towns combined. As of 30 April 2022, there are altogether 2471 municipalities ( gmina ) in Poland: In some cases, a city with powiat rights may also be

6400-405: The head of the city executive, thus being informally called miasto prezydenckie , with such privilege automatically awarded to municipalities either inhabited by more than 100,000 residents (currently 37) or those enjoying the status of a city with powiat rights (currently 66). As of 2022, all of the former group fit into the latter, though it was not always the case in the past. There is, however,

6500-422: The historic building. More than NIS 100 million was invested in the makeover, which has added 500 square meters of floor space and three new rehearsal rooms. The building's four auditoriums were completely rebuilt. Each is a different size and color: Rovina is blue and seats 930 people; Meskin is lavender and seats 320; Bertonov (also known as Bamartef) is green and seats 220; and Habima 4 (formerly known as Heineken)

6600-407: The leading centers of academic, cultural, and artistic life in Podlachia , and the most important economic center in northeastern Poland. Białystok was once an important center for light industry , which was the reason for the substantial growth of the city's population. The city continues to reshape itself into a modern middle-sized city. Białystok, in 2010, was on the short-list, but ultimately lost

6700-399: The market square and creating a new viewing corridor. This design decision made it possible to erect new buildings so that the old part of the settlement and the Jewish quarter were no longer visible. The second viewing corridor was created by shifting the existing route leading towards Choroszcz to the northern corner of the market square. The communication system serving the entire city

6800-410: The municipal election rules rather than those applicable to county elections. In spite of no linguistic distinction between a city and a town in the Polish language (both translated miasto ), a city may be recognized among other Polish urban municipalities through being managed by a city mayor ( prezydent miasta , literally translated city president) instead of a town mayor ( burmistrz ) as

6900-413: The national theatre of Israel since 1958, the year in which it received the Israel Prize for theatre. This was the first year in which the Prize was awarded to an organization. In the 21st century, Habima employs 80 actors, and another 120 staff members work at the complex. In January 2012, the theatre reopened after four and a half years of renovations. Architect Ram Karmi was commissioned to redesign

7000-430: The onset of World War II the city's territory amounted to 40 km . The reconstruction of the city following the end of World War II and establishment of the People's Republic of Poland saw further expansion: the villages Bacieczki , Bacieczki Kolonia, Korycin and part of the village Klepacze , Krupniki , Fasty , Zaścianki and Zawady were incorporated into the city. The 70s saw another wave of expansion with

7100-471: The outskirts of the city are mainly occupied by low-rise single-family houses. Taller buildings dominate in some residential districts such as the districts of Piasta I and II (located to the south of the city center), Dziesięciny I and II estates (located to the northwest of the city center) as well as Wysoki Stoczek and Słoneczny Stok . Dominants in Białystok are located mainly in the center and they are also there located two most important city icons:

7200-552: The park, covered a substantial area. The residence palace was designed on a European scale and created new development opportunities for Białystok. Following the handover of the city from the Prussian Kingdom to the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, the city began growing in a very fast pace as a result of intensive industrialization, losing its original Baroque composition. After the First World War ,

7300-517: The population of Białystok grew from 22.4% (761) in 1765 to 66.6% (6,000) in 1808 and 76% (47,783) in 1895. According to the Russian census of 1897 , out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (around 63% percent). According to the German census of 1916, Jews comprised about 72% of the inhabitants (no less than 40,000). The demographic situation changed due to the influx of Polish repatriants, intelligentsia and civil servants, and

7400-410: The population of the city was 296,958. Among the cities of Poland, Białystok is second in terms of population density, tenth in population, and thirteenth in area. Historically, Białystok has been a destination for internal and foreign immigration, especially from Central and Eastern Europe . In addition to the Polish minority , there was formerly a Jewish majority in Białystok. The Jewish share in

7500-412: The population was approx. 3.5 thousand. The entire urban area was closed with 6 loose-fitting gates and buildings situated on regular plots. Compact buildings were found only in the market square, the frontages of which were 1- 2-storey buildings with brick front elevations. Choroska and Zamkowa Streets were built up with only brick houses. The city was dominated by the palace complex, which, together with

7600-505: The respective voivode , whose rulings may be appealed to an administrative court. Decisions in individual cases may in turn be appealed to quasi-judicial bodies named local government boards of appeal  [ pl ] , their ruling subject to appeal to an administrative court. A town or city mayor may be scrutinized or denied funding for his/her projects by the council, but is not politically responsible to it and does not require its confidence to remain in office; therefore, cohabitation

7700-440: The seats of either a voivode or a voivodeship legislature are marked in bold , the seats of an appeal court are marked with an asterisk*): The biggest towns (e.g. Tarnowskie Góry , Rumia , Piaseczno ) are larger than a number of cities. Only a single officially incorporated multi-purpose metropolitan union exists in Poland, the sui generis Metropolis GZM , established by a dedicated act of Parliament of Poland within

7800-558: The similar latitude, such as Samara , Barnaul , or Edmonton , they are colder than in Western Europe (in cities like Bremen and Dublin ). Winters usually have little sunshine, with weather patterns changing from those influenced by the low-pressure systems generated by the Icelandic Low (when the weather is often cloudy, cool, damp, rainy and/or snowy) to the occasional intrusions of cold air masses from Siberia or

7900-538: The son of Jan Klemens Branicki, obtained city rights for Białystok from King John III Sobieski . He constructed the Branicki Palace on the foundations of the castle of the Wiesiołowski family. In the first half of the eighteenth century the ownership of the city was inherited by Field Crown Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki . It was he who transformed the palace built by his father into a magnificent residence of

8000-412: The surface of the moraine plateau, which are used by the rivers Biała, Horodnianka, and Czaplinianka. Forests are an important part of the city character, they currently occupy approximately 1,846 ha (4,560 acres) (18% of the administrative area of the city) which places it as the fifth most "wooded" city in Poland; behind Katowice (38%), Bydgoszcz (30%), Toruń (22.9%) and Gdańsk (17.6%). There are

8100-475: The surrounding Podlaskie region, roughly corresponding to the territory of the earlier Belostok Oblast. At the end of World War I the city became part of the newly independent Second Polish Republic , as the capital of the Białystok Voivodeship . Białystok and the surroundings areas regained independence only on February 19, 1919, three months after the rest of Poland, due to delay in the departure of

8200-731: The theatre troupe was forced to become a travelling one. Beginning in 1918, the theatre operated under the auspices of the Moscow Art Theatre , which some consider its actual beginning. It encountered difficulties under the Soviet government as well, after the Russian Revolution . Konstantin Stanislavsky arranged for the mainly Jewish Polish actors to be trained by Yevgeny Vakhtangov . The People's Commissar for Nationalities Affairs, Joseph Stalin , also authorized

8300-659: The theatre's creation. However, the Yevsektsiya attempted to use its influence to cut off state funds to Habima, branding it counter-revolutionary. In 1926, the theatre left the Soviet Union to tour abroad, in countries including Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. Their productions met with great success. In 1927, the company split up, with Zemach and some of

8400-594: The vicinity of the Dojlidy Ponds are administered by the Białystok Central Sports and Recreation Center( Polish : Białostocki Ośrodek Sportu i Rekreacji – BOSiR). The Dojlidy Ponds recreation area includes a public beach, walking trails, birdwatching and fishing. The city has a warm-summer humid continental or hemiboreal climate ( Dfb ) according to the Köppen climate classification system under

8500-425: The villages of Bagnówka , area of Zakłady Silikatowe, areas of state forests, Dojlidy ponds and the orthodox cemetery at Dojlidy. At the onset of the millennium, in 2002, the village Zawady was included in the city's limits and at the last enlargement, in 2006, the villages Dojlidy Górne, Zagórki and Kolonia Halickie were incorporated and the city reached its current territory of 102 km . The city of Białystok

8600-407: The votes (42,889 votes altogether). In the later runoff he defeated his rival candidate Marek Kozlowski from Law and Justice ( Polish : Prawo i Sprawiedliwość ), receiving 67% of the votes cast (53,018 votes). For the 2010–2011 fiscal year the city received revenue (taxes levied + investments) of 1,409,565,525 zł, expended 1,676,459,102 zł leaving a budget deficit of 266,893,577 zł. The deficit

8700-455: The war, the city became capital of the initial Białystok Voivodeship of the People's Republic of Poland . After the 1975 administrative reform , the city was the capital of the now smaller Białystok Voivodeship . Since 1999 it has been the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship , Republic of Poland . Białystok is situated in the Białystok Uplands ( Polish : Wysoczyzna Białostocka ) of

8800-469: The warmer half of the year, particularly in spring. See or edit raw graph data . Białystok is roughly circular, centered around the Central market square and Branicki Palace . The decisive influence on the development of the city was exerted by natural and human factors - the course of roads, the Biała and its tributaries and the layout of railway lines. The choice of land for the construction of

8900-517: The west of the Center district along Suraska Street and ends at Młynowa Street. An important spatial arrangement in Białystok is the Branicki Palace complex. The Baroque layout of the palace complex is symmetrically shaped according to one compositional axis with a coherent garden layout. Throughout the years it expanded to include nearby villages: In the mid-eighteenth century Bojary which

9000-476: The west, Saint Petersburg in the north and Moscow in the east, and was nicknamed " Manchester of the North". After the failed November and January uprisings, Russification policies and anti-Polish repressions intensified, and after 1870 a ban on the use of Polish in public places was introduced. In 1912, a Tsarist prison was built, which also served as a transit prison for Poles deported to Siberia . At

9100-545: The work of Job Bretfus . Extension of the castle was continued by Krzysztof Wiesiołowski , starost of Tykocin, Grand Marshal of Lithuania since 1635, and husband of Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska. In 1637 he died childless, and as a result, Białystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowski estate, including Białystok, passed to the Crown to cover the costs of maintaining Tykocin Castle . In

9200-694: The years 1645–1659 Białystok was managed by the starosts of Tykocin . In 1661 it was given to Stefan Czarniecki as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes during the Deluge . Four years later, it was given as a dowry of his daughter Aleksandra, who married Marshal of the Crown Court Jan Klemens Branicki, thus passing into the hands of the Branicki family . In 1692, Stefan Mikołaj Branicki  [ pl ] ,

9300-560: Was a member of the local Polish resistance and was arrested in the city by the NKVD in 1940. Initially the Soviets sentenced him to death, but eventually he was sentenced to 10 years in forced labor camps and deported to Kolyma , from where he was released in 1942, when he joined the Anders' Army . In the course of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Białystok was occupied by

9400-580: Was administratively part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship , after 1569 also part of the Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. From 1547, the settlement was owned by the Wiesiołowski family, which founded the first school. The first brick church and a castle were built between 1617 and 1826. The two-floor castle, designed on a rectangular plan in the Gothic - Renaissance style, was

9500-616: Was arrested by the NKVD in October 1939 and probably also deported to the USSR, however his fate remains unknown. The NKVD took over the local prison. The Polish resistance movement was active in the city, which was the seat of one of the six main commands of the Union of Armed Struggle in occupied Poland (alongside Warsaw , Kraków , Poznań , Toruń and Lwów ). Białystok native and future President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski

9600-574: Was covered by short-term borrowing of 166,893,577 zł and the issuance of 100 million zł in municipal bonds . Other levels of governmental representation It is also the seat of government for the Podlaskie Voivodeship . The city is represented by several members of both houses of the Polish Parliament ( Sejm and Senat ) from the Białystok constituency . Białystok is represented by the Podlaskie and Warmian-Masurian constituency of

9700-418: Was initiated by Stefan Mikołaj Branicki at the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries. He established a new market ( Polish : Nowy Rynek ) (part of the western side of Kosciuszki Square with the town hall, located on the western side of Sienkiewicza Street ). The route leading towards Suraż was moved to a new location (today's Suraska Street) forming straight road section ending in the southern corner of

9800-544: Was located on the right bank of the Biala River was incorporated to it. On May 10, 1919, in accordance with the decision of the Sejm, Bialostoczek , Horodniany , Zwierzyniec-Letnisko, Starosielce , Słoboda (which was founded at the end of the 17th century, between the current Pogodna and Świerkowa Streets), Ogrodniki, Pieczurki, Wysoki Stoczek were incorporated also, as well as two mill villages Marczuk and Antoniuk . By

9900-458: Was made of streets radiating out from the central market square . An inventory plan made by Becker in 1799 was needed by the Prussian authorities in connection with the negotiations on the acquisition of Białystok for a royal residence. The plan is of fundamental importance as it shows the development of the city in the first period of its creation. The area of the city did not exceed 1.5 km2, and

10000-480: Was restored and the textile industry was revived. A municipal public library was established, sports clubs were founded, including Jagiellonia Białystok , and in the 1930s a drama theater was built. With the beginning of World War II , Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union . Initially Białystok was briefly occupied by Germany, and the German Einsatzgruppe IV entered

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