Historical values related to the town functioning as administrative and political centre for centuries (capital of the land, department, province, governorate, again province, now of a county, the capital of the diocese). Łomża is the oldest town in Podlasie Province. It played an important role in the 19th and 1st half of the 20th century as a fortress town (forts, barracks).

History of the town

Łomża is one of the oldest towns in Podlasie Province and one of most valuable in terms of its historic resources. Its origins date back to the 10th century, when the Masovian stronghold on the embankment of Narew River was confirmed, and later a nearby settlement which in the 14th century was moved 4 km from the stronghold and developed into a town that was granted Chełmno municipal rights in 1418 (Catholic parish in 1410). In 1478, the New Town was mentioned, with a separate market square, located north-west from the location market. In the old Poland period, Łomża played the role of the capital of the Łomża land which was part of Mazovia. The development of the settlement continued in the 16th and 1st half of the 17th century when Łomża was one of the richest and most populous towns of Mazovia, incorporated into the Polish Crown in 1526 and became a royal town. In 1575, there were 540 brick houses in the town. Łomża was the main centre of political, administrative, cultural, religious and economic life in eastern Mazovia (port on the Narew River). Land and town courts, conventions and sejmiki (political assemblies) were held here. Łomża has one of the most valuable monuments of Podlasie Province - the cathedral of St Michael dating back to the beginning of the 16th century At the time of the Congress Poland, the town was initially the capital of the Augustów Province. From then on there was economic and spatial development with several regulations (regulatory plans from 1823, 1826, 1836). Also later - after its incorporation into Russia - Łomża performed important administrative functions - from 1866 the capital of the Łomża governorate (at that time, the town underwent a rapid development related to the construction of official governorate buildings, barracks and military facilities). In the interwar period, the town's importance as administrative centre decreased because it was incorporated into the Białystok Province. At that time, however, it became the capital of the Łomża diocese and the seat of bishops. The important historical role of Łomża in this region is reflected in the town's monuments. It is here that various orders (Jesuits, Piarists, Benedictines, Capuchins) built their seats, it was here that important governmental and local government institutions were located (the Industrial Bank, Bank of Poland, Courts, the governor's palace, barracks, prisons, forts, schools, town hall, post office), also the sacred buildings resulting from the multinational character of the town: Catholic churches, Orthodox church, Evangelical church, synagogue and prayer houses, Roman Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Orthodox cemeteries. Rich burgers and officials erected elaborate townhouses that proved their social standing. All this contributed to the fact that today's Łomża is a special town on the map of the cultural heritage of Podlasie Province.

Description of the town

The town is located on the high embankment of the Narew River, next to the former trade routes. At the centre of the town’s layout is a large rectangular market square - Old Market Square; to the south of which, separated by several buildings, at Dworna Street there is the gothic cathedral of St Michael with the bishop's palace and the curia. To the north of the square, there are the buildings of the Capuchin monastery on Popowa Góra (the site of the first parish church). In the eastern part of the city, the Benedictine nuns monastery complex on the so-called Stokowa Góra. To the north-west of the Market Square there is the New Town with a complex of streets around the New Market Square (Kościuszki Square, nowadays a busy roundabout) that were marked out during the regulation conducted in the 1st quarter of the 19th century and blurred the original layout. To the south-west from the Market Square, between Nowogrodzka and Wojska Polskiego streets, there is Jakub Waga park. At John Paul II Square, to the east from Henryka Sienkiewicza Street - a former garrison Orthodox church, now the Catholic church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Visitor access: open to visitors.

Author of the note: Grzegorz Ryżewski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Białystok, 28 September 2014

Bibliography

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