Radom ( /Radom) is a city in
central Poland
with 221,255
inhabitants. It is located on the Mleczna River in the Masovian
Voivodeship
(since 1999), having previously been the capital of
Radom Voivodeship (1975-1998);
100 km south of Poland's capital, Warsaw
.
It is home to the biennial
Radom Air
Show, the largest and best-attended
air
show in Poland, held during the last weekend of August. "Radom"
is also the popular unofficial name for a semiautomatic
9 mm Para pistol of Polish design
(
the Model 35/ViS-35) designed by Piotr
Wilniewczyc and Jan Skrzypinski (hence the designation "ViS") which
had been in production from 1935 to 1945 at the national arsenal
located in the city.
History
The original settlement dates back to 8th–9th century. It was an
early
mediaeval town in the valley of
the
Mleczna River (approximately on
the location of present-day Old Town). Around the 2nd half of 10th
century, it turned into a fortified town called
Piotrówka.
Radom was founded in 1340, and it belonged to the
Sandomierz Voivodeship (part of
Little Poland) of the
Kingdom of Poland,
later
Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
During the partitions of Poland it was held
successively by Austria
and Russia
in the 19th
century before returning to Poland after World War I in 1918. The main industries
include leather, glass, and chemicals.
Up to the
Second World War, like many other
cities in interwar
Poland
, Radom had a significant Jewish population.
According to
Russian census of
1897, out of the total population of 28,700, Jews constituted
11,200 (so around 39% percent).
Important dates
- 1155: first mention about Radom (Pope
Adrian IV bull)
- around
1300: Old Radom granted with Środa Śląska
rights (city rights based on those of Środa
Śląska)
- 1340: Casimir III founds
New Radom (Nowy Radom)
- 1360–1370: Casimir III
founds St. John's Church
- 1364:
Radom granted with Magdeburg
law
- 1383: Jadwiga of Poland
accepted by a Sejm held in Radom as a king of
Poland
- 1401:
First union of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania signed in
Radom
- 1481: Radom becomes a de-facto capital of Poland after Casimir IV of Poland moves to Lithuania
and his son, Saint Casimir to be,
ruled the country in his absence from Radom
- 1489: Grand Master of the Teutonic
Order, John von Tieffen pays
tribute to Casimir IV of Poland
in Radom castle
- 1505: a Sejm in Radom passes the Nihil novi constitution and Łaski's Statute, the first real bill of
rights of Poland
- 1564: 1800 inhabitants, 180 houses, 14 butchers' shops, two
baths and two wells
- 1613: Radom becomes the place where the Highest Fiscal Courts
are held
- 1628: Great fire destroys the town
- 1656: Charles X of Sweden
stays in town during The
Deluge
- 1660:
the city plundered by Sweden
; after they
leave the town has 395 inhabitants and 37 houses
- 1737–1756: Kolegium Pijarów [the Piarists College]
school founded
- 1763:
Fiscal Tribunal moved to Warsaw; the town
has 1370 inhabitants and 137 buildings
- 1795:
After the 3rd Partition Radom
is annexed by Austria
- 1809:
Radom becomes capital of a department of the Duchy of
Warsaw
- 1815:
Radom, after the Congress of
Vienna, becomes part of Russian-controlled Congress
Poland
- 1817: First lay school founded
- 1819: Fryderyk August Schnierstein opens a tannery, the date is
considered a start of towns industrialization
- 1844:
Radom becomes the capital of Radom-Kielce
government
- 1867: Creation of Radom government; the sewers are built
- 1885:
Dęblin
–Dąbrowa
Górnicza
railway opened
- 1901: electricity plant opened
- 1911: Radom has 51,934 inhabitants
- 1920–1939: Radom becomes a part of the Central Industrial Area
(Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy); Chemical Plant, arms and
munitions factory (Łucznik
Arms Factory), gas works, telephone and shoe factories are
founded
- 1935:
Radom–Warsaw railway
opened. It significantly shortened rail distance
between Warsaw and Krakow
- 1938: 90,059 inhabitants
- 1939–1945: capital of Radom district of the General Government
- January 16, 1945: liberation from German occupation
- 1948–1975: Theatre (Teatr Dramatyczny) and an
engineering school are opened.
- 1975: the city becomes the capital of Radom Voivodeship
- June 25, 1976: Huge workers' strike against the communist
regime; the town becomes one of the main centres of anti-communist
opposition in Poland
- June 4, 1991: Pope John Paul
II visits the city
- 1996:
Radomska Wyższa Szkoła Inżynierska promoted to the rank of
a Kazimierz Pułaski Technical University of
Radom
(Politechnika Radomska)
- 1999:
Radom becomes the capital of Radom County
of the Masovian Voivodeship
- May 25, 2002: Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger visits the city
Current events
In 2007, two pilots died in a fatal accident at the Air Show
resulting in the cancellation of the rest of the event.
On the
30th of August 2009, also during the air show, another two pilots
who represented Belarus
were killed when their plane crashed.
Radom was one of the main centres of the strike action taken by
Polish health care workers in 2007.
Tourist attractions
City hall
- St Waenceslaus
church in the Old Town Square: founded by Leszek I the White, built in the 13th
century in gothic style
- St John the Baptist church: founded by Casimir III, built in the years
1360–1370 in gothic style, and re-constructed many times
- Bernardine church and monastery: founded by Casimir IV of Poland, built in the
years 1468–1507
- Holy Trinity Church: built in the years 1619–1627 in the
baroque style, burned in a fire and was rebuilt in the years
1678–1691
- Gąska's and Esterka's Houses: 16th / 17th century
- Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession: built in
1785
- Building of city council: built in the years 1825–1827,
designed in classical style by Antonio Corazzi
- City hall: built in the years 1847–1848
- Cathedral of Virgin Mary: built in the years 1899–1908 in
neo-gothic style
- Tool gates: built in the 19th century in classical style
Culture
Cinemas
Theatre
- Jan Kochanowski Theatre www
Museums and art galleries
Education
Radom is home to about 20 schools of higher education:
- Instytut Teologiczny Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana
Wyszyńskiego w Radomiu - department of theology
- Kolegium Nauczycielskie - www
- Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych - www
- Niepubliczne Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych - www
- Niepubliczne Nauczycielskie Kolegium Języków Obcych TWP -
www
- Radom Technical University
(Politechnika Radomska) - www
- University College
of Environmental Sciences (Prywatna Wyższa Szkoła Ochrony
Środowiska) - www
- Radomska Szkoła Zarządzania
- Warsaw Agricultural University - department in Radom
(Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie)
- College of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (Kolegium
licencjackie Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej) - www
- Warsaw University
- department in Radom (Uniwersytet
Warszawski)- www www
- Maria Curie-Skłodowska University - department in Radom
(Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej) - www
- Wyższa Inżynierska Szkoła Bezpieczeństwa i Organizacji Pracy -
www
- Higher Business College (Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu) -
www
- Higher Financial and Banking College (Wyższa Szkoła
Finansów i Bankowości) - www
- Higher Merchant College (Wyższa Szkoła Handlowa) -
www
- Higher Seminary (Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne) -
www
- Higher Journalis College (Wyższa Szkoła Dziennikarska)
- www
- Zespół Szkół Medycznych - www
Other
At the Western part of Radom, there is a facility for commercial LF
transmission (not broadcasting), the
Radom longwave transmitter.
Sports
Politics
Radom constituency
Members of Parliament (
Sejm) elected from Radom
constituency
- Ewa Kopacz (PO)
- Dariusz Bąk (PIS)
- Mirosław Maliszewski (PSL)
- Czesław Czechyra (PO)
- Marek Suski (PIS)
- Marek Wikiński (SLD),
- Radosław Witkowski (PO)
- Krzysztof Sońta (PIS)
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Radom is
twinned with:
Notable people
Notable people who have been born, have lived or have worked in
Radom:
See also
References
External links
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