The compact housing structures of a classicist character, consisting of townhouses, public buildings and sacred buildings erected mostly in the first half of the 19th century, are also well preserved. Later buildings from the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century are of an eclectic nature and in their style refer to the architecture created earlier. The authors of the most important buildings were eminent architects: Ch. A. Aigner, A. Corazzi, H. Marconi and W. Ritschel. Other buildings were designed by local planners: M. Tryniszewski and K. Majerski.

History of the town

The development of Suwałki started with the colonization of the forest granted by King John II Casimir to Camaldolese monks from Wigry, who founded several villages in the second half of the 17th century. One of them was composed of two settlements: Suwałki Małe and Duże (Suwałki Small and Large), located near the crossing over Czarna Hańcza River [smaller one at today's Wigierska Street (with a meridian division of habitats) and the larger one within today's Gałaja and E. Plater streets (with a latitudinal division of habitats)]. In 1710, the monks obtained from King Augustus II a permission to found a town and a privilege granting the right to hold markets and fairs. In 1715, the inhabitants were released from serfdom, municipal authorities were established, market space was marked out, and lands were granted. In 1720, the Magdeburg rights were granted to the town by King August II the Strong. It was the first town established in the forest constituting the centre of extensive estate located on both sides of Czarna Hańcza River and adjacent to Wigry Lake. The town developed along the Augustów-Kowno road. The first name of this road was Młyńska Street (on the section from the bridge over Czarna Hańcza to the Market Square) and Załomek Koźli Street (the northern part of the road). In the first half of the 19th century, in the era of Congress Poland, communication routes connecting Warsaw with St. Petersburg became of particular importance. One of them was the road through Suwałki, called Kowieński. Within the town limits, this street was called Petersburski Prospekt - Stary Rynek - Kowieńskie Przedmieście. In the 1820s the importance of the town increased due to being the temporary capital of the Augistów Province. After 1830, Suwałki remained the capital of the province renamed in 1837 into the Augustów Governorate, and from 1866 into the Suwałki Governorate. Raising the rank of the town made it necessary to erect new public utility buildings located mainly at Petersburska Street and the Old Market Square. The buildings erected at that time included the town hall (1842), guardhouse (1834), the building of the governorate highschool (1843), the court (1839), the building of the Augustów Province Commission (1820), the Evangelical church (1839) and a number of townspeople houses. In the northern frontage of the market, where at the beginning of the 19th century, a walkers park was created, the church of St Alexander designed by Ch.P. Aigner was erected (1820-25), and in the southern frontage of the Market Square - the Orthodox church designed by H. Marconi (1840). Suwałki developed along the Augustów-Kowno road. Within the town, this road is called Kosciuszko Street. To this day, it is the main compositional axis of the town. The buildings in Suwałki survived World War II without suffering any major damage. Thanks to this, the spatial arrangement formed in the 17th-19th centuries has been preserved in good condition to this day.

Description of the spatial layout of the town

The main axis of the Suwałki spatial layout is Kościuszko Street, which runs from the south. to the north. There is a historic network of streets around it. The original lines of building developments and, to a large extent, the original land parcelling have been preserved. In the centre there is a market square, presently Park Miejski (the Town Park), flanked from the north by the Church of St Alexander, from the south by the Orthodox church, presently the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The town hall is located at the western frontage of Kościuszko Street and southern frontage of the Market Square. Most of the historic public buildings are located within the Market Square and along Kosciuszko Street.

Visitor access: accessible.

Author of the note: Iwona Górska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Białystok, 13 November 2014

Bibliography

• Piłaszewicz Z., Suwałki. Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne, Białystok 1979 (typescript).
• Studia i materiały do dziejów Suwalszczyzny, J. Antoniewicz (ed.), Białystok 1965.
• M. Ambrosiewicz, Program rewitalizacji oraz ochrony i waloryzacji obiektów zabytkowych śródmieścia miasta Suwałki, [in:] “Biuletyn Konserwatorski Województwa Podlaskiego”, fol. 11, 2005.
• A. Żywiczyński, Co to za miasto co w ulicy leży?...- o przeobrażeniach przestrzennych Suwałk, “Biuletyn Konserwatorski Województwa Podlaskiego”, fol. 17, 2011.
• Suwałki miasto nad Czarną Hańczą, J. Kopciał (ed.), Suwałki 2005.
• Trzebiński W., Rozwój przestrzenny Suwałk od narodzin osady po okres awansu na miasto wojewódzkie, [in:] Studia i materiały do dziejów Suwalszczyzny, Białystok 1965, pp.175-238.