The town presents elements from the 14th century - the relics of the castle of the archbishops, a sacral complex and the palace complex associated with General Józef Zajączek, developed in the 17th and 19th centuries, as well as evidence of the development of cloth making.

History of the structure

Traces of settlement in the Opatówek area date back to the Iron Age and the Hallstatt period. This is evidenced by the cremation burial grounds and settlements. There were settlements of the Lusatian, Przeworsk, early and late medieval cultures in the town. Excavations carried out in the 1980s, confirmed the existence of the castle of the Archbishops of Gniezno in the palace park in the 14th century. The Cienia River (also called Trojanówka) which flows through Opatówek and connects with Pokrzywnica, a tributary of the Prosna River, as well as the light sandy soils were conducive to settlement. The name of the village appeared in documents in the mid- 13th century. In 1331, Opatówek was destroyed and plundered by the Teutonic Knights. When the town was founded, the road system and the need to build a defensive castle played a significant role. Opatówek was granted municipal rights in 1338 by Casimir the Great. Around 1360 the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jarosław Bogoria Skotnicki, erected a brick castle and St. Dorothy’s Church in the town. The castle existed until the early 19th century. It was surrounded by a moat with an entrance over a drawbridge from the side of the town. The market square (now Wolności Square) and the following streets date back to the end of the 14th century: Kościelna (former Pałacowa), Poniatowskiego (former Sieradzka) and Łódzka (former Wartka). The vast majority of land divisions for development date from this period. The town was small and not thriving. A certain economic revival took place in the middle of the 18th century when the archbishop’s estates were managed by Ensign Taczanowski of Wieluń, coat of arms Jastrzębiec. At that time, the town was expanded with 73 residential houses and a town hall stood in the middle of the square. The archbishop’s castle was extended, a brewery, cowsheds and a granary were built on the manor farm. There was a parish school in the town. In 1793 the archbishop’s estate was confiscated and became the property of the Prussian state. In 1807 Opatówek, together with vast properties of the Opatówek estate, became the property of General Józef Zajączek (of the Świnka coat of arms) as a result of a donation made by Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon’s general, in the years 1815 to 1826 was the governor of the Kingdom of Poland. It was thanks to him that the town started to develop economically. A rental and local government reform was carried out, modern field cultivation techniques were applied on a large scale. Partly on the site of the demolished castle, a new splendid palace was built for General Zajączek, accompanied by a large landscape park. New farm buildings were built according to the design of Mikołaj Rouget. At that time, two large courtyards with buildings of classical forms, i.e. barns, cowsheds, sheepfolds, granaries and stables, were built. At Szkolna St. there are 3 multi-family houses of the manor workers preserved. In the years 1817-19 the gothic church of St. Dorothy was rebuilt, presumably according to the design of Chrystian Piotr Aigner. The design of the garden pavilion of the Gothic House, commonly known as the “Confectionery”, is also likely to be attributed to him. The church owes its present form to a major reconstruction in the years 1905-1910 according to the design of Konstanty Wojciechowski. It was thanks to General Zajączek that factory owners, the Fiedlers, who built a cloth factory in 1824-31, were brought from Germany to Opatówek. After 1820, a brickyard was established to replace the wooden houses with brick ones. After Zajączek’s death (he was buried in the Opatówek church) the estate became the property of the Radoszewski family. In 1857 Ignacy Radoszewski founded an industrial mill at 32 Łódzka Street. In the same year Opatówek was purchased by a new owner, senator Jan Funduklej. In 1870 Opatówek, by a decree of Tsar Alexander, lost its municipal rights, just like many other towns in the Kingdom of Poland. The Opatówek estate was bought at an auction by a factory owner from Ozorków, Karol Schlösser. In place of the ruined palace of General Zajączek, around 1905, he built a new palace in the Swiss style. The surrounding park was changed and the farmstead was expanded within the existing yards. In 1890, the Pińczowski doll factory was established (14 Łódzka Street). In 1902 Opatówek was connected with Warsaw and Kalisz A railroad station was built in the town in 1906. Despite the loss of municipal rights, housing and industry continued to develop. The period of World War II brought about significant transport changes and the intersection of the previously homogenous urban layout with the new Kaliska Street. In 2017, Opatówek regained its municipal rights. Since 1999 it has been the seat of the commune, since 2017 an urban-rural one.

Description of the structure

Opatówek is located on Kaliska Upland, 10 km east of Kalisz, on the Cienia River, on the road from Kalisz to Łódź and Warsaw and the railroad line.  

There are no written sources about the layout of medieval Opatówek. The source for the analysis is the surviving historic spatial layout. Within its area, the cultural and settlement layers are legible. With a centrally located market square, a system of streets from the period of the medieval location: Kościelna Street (formerly Pałacowa Street), Poniatowskiego Street (formerly Sieradzka), Łódzka Street (formerly Wartka) and Kaliska Street, as well as streets created in the 18th and 19th centuries, green areas in Wolności Square, the church and the palace park. With the spatial dominant of the parish church and residential and farm buildings. Public buildings like the Industrial History Museum (the former Fiedler Brothers Cloth Factory) and the Giller Brothers Municipal Public Library, which at the end of 2019 found a new location in the Gothic House opposite the parish church, stand out in the town’s landscape. As well as industrial buildings like the mill and the former Doll and Rubber Factory.

The town was founded along the road from Kalisz to Sieradz and Warta. The town centre was the market square, today Wolności Square, with a shape similar to a quarter of a circle, now partially obliterated, connected by Kościelna Street with the former seat of the archbishops of Gniezno and the church. The market was created from a market square which existed before the foundation of the town, which was built up only after its foundation. Streets were laid out around this oldest element of the city. The shape of the market square and the following streets date back to the end of the 14th century: Kościelna (former Pałacowa), Poniatowskiego (former Sieradzka) and Łódzka (former Wartka). Some of the building plots allocated at that time have retained their shape and layout to the present day. In the mid-18th century, a town hall standing in the middle of the square, 73 houses, and new buildings on the farm were mentioned. In 1801 the Elementary School was established next to the existing parish school. From 1807, during the administration of general Józef Zajączek, Opatówek started to develop. The former castle gardens underwent spatial evolution, a landscape park was created with a new palace worthy of the Governor of the Kingdom of Poland. Farm buildings and houses for farm servants (2, 4 and 6 Szkolna St.) and the parish church were expanded. At Poniatowskiego Street and Wolności Square, the classical buildings of the Cloth Factory were constructed (a fullery, a carriage house and a warehouse), and at Kościelna Street and Wolności Square 11/17 houses for factory workers were built. During the 19th century communication in the town was developed, a new factory route from Kalisz to Sieradz was created and two new bridges were built. The street network from the 14th century was complemented by side streets, which underwent frequent modifications. New streets divided the city area into blocks of various sizes and shapes, and the circular outline of the town square was flattened. The following streets were developed: Kaliska (leading from the market to present day Kaliska Street), Poprzeczna linking Kościelna Street with Kaliska, Jarosława Street, and Wrząca (present day Kasprzaka and Kilińskiego Streets) for buildings for weavers. Currently, there are single-family housing developments along these streets. However, some of the old land divisions have survived. In the mid- 19th century new buildings were erected in Kaliska and Łódzka Streets, a new rectory was built, and in 1869-70 the Fiedlers built a new elementary school building. At the beginning of the 20th century there were changes in the residence complex, a new palace was built, the park surroundings were changed and the manor farm was expanded within the existing yards. In 1890 a doll factory was built at Łódzka Street. A train station was built in the northeastern part of the city. After the city’s decline in 1870 until the 1930s, new houses were built in Wolności Square, Poniatowskiego, Łódzka, Kościelna, Kilińskiego, Kaliska, Św. Jana and Kościuszki Streets. Wooden houses on Łódzka Street have been preserved In 1942, the existing urban layout was intersected by the new Kaliska Street, which joined the old Kaliska Street running diagonally to the market square. The delineation of this street divided the palace complex. On the south-western side the residence part remained, and on the northeastern side - the manor farm. The new layout also resulted in a secondary division of the market square.

Visitor access. The site is accessible to visitors.

Compiled by: Teresa Palacz, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 31.03.2020

Bibliography

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