Friday - a city from January 1, 2020, formerly a vast village (commune settlement) with an urban character of buildings, in Poland located in voivodeship of Lodz, in in the district of Łęczyca, in the Piątek commune. The town is the seat of the Piątek commune. approx. 3,000 inhabitants, located at the crossroads of a medieval road Leczyca – Lowicz with the road Łódź – Zgierz – Kutno, on the rivers Moszczenica and Malina.
Geographic coordinates: 52 ° 04′09 ″ N 19 ° 28′50 ″ E
General information
History
Location rights from before 1339, taken away by the tsarist authorities in 1870 for active participation in the January Uprising. Due to its location, Friday was initially a market settlement. Probably the name of Piątek comes from the day of the week on which the fair was held. It was granted city rights in the 14th century. At that time, it was a strong craft and trade center. In the mid-17th century, it had 320 houses and about 1,500 inhabitants. At that time, he was famous, among others from the production of beer.
Further development of Piątek was stopped by the Swedish invasion, but most of all, the economic decline was caused by a fire in 1681, which consumed the entire city. Since then, Piątek has not regained its glory. In 1685, there were only 40 houses, and 100 years later, in 1785, only 10 more.
Piątek lost its city rights in 1870 and due to its small size and a small number of inhabitants, it did not regain them for many years, until January 1, 2020.
In the interwar period, a factory of agricultural machinery was established in Piątek, which employed some of the inhabitants. Most of the population, however, was engaged in agriculture. There were also craft workshops that offered their services to the inhabitants of Piątek and the surrounding area. Some of the inhabitants, especially Jews, were engaged in trade.
In most of the nearby villages there were estates in which people living in the vicinity of Piątek were employed. Only in the few villages where the enfranchisement took place, there were peasants (usually smallholders).
World War II
In the first phase Battles on Bzura in September 1939 Piątek and the surrounding villages became the arena of the offensive of the Polish army. After fierce fighting, the severely damaged town was captured by the Polish army on September 9, 1939, but as a result of a change in the situation on the front, Polish troops left Piątek without a fight on September 13.
In November 1939, the Germans incorporated the town into the borders of the Reich. Some of the Polish inhabitants were displaced and the people of Jewish origin were murdered in extermination camps.
In 1943, the German administration gave the town the name of Quadenstädt (in honor of the Germanic Kwad tribe).
On January 18, 1945, Piątek was liberated from the German occupation.
In the post-war period, Piątek remained a village.
Worth seeing
Historical monuments
Church of st. Trinity Church erected in the years 1455-1460 from the foundation of the archbishops of Gniezno. It is a single-nave, oriented building. Rebuilt in 1780 so that the features of the Gothic style were blurred. A chapel dedicated to the Mother of God was added to the nave from the north side.
In the presbytery there is a late Baroque main altar, transferred from the Dominican church in Łowicz, dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
According to the register of monuments KOBiDZ [IDN], the following objects are entered on the list of monuments:
- parish church Holy Trinity, 2nd half XV, 1740, reg.No .: 85-V-9 from March 29, 1949 and 81 from August 8, 1967.
- belfry, 1st half of the 19th century XIX, reg.No .: 90-V-14 from March 29, 1949 and 82 from August 8, 1967.
- cemetery church st. Lawrence, wooden, mid. XVIII, reg.no .: 555-V-30 from October 32, 1950 and 83 from August 8, 1967.
- belfry, reg.No .: 526 from 08/08/1967
- city park, mid. XIX, reg.No .: 595 from 29.12.1988.
The geometrical center of Poland
Piątek is located exactly in the geometrical center of Poland, as evidenced by the futuristic sculpture standing in the center of the town. Previously, there was a huge stone in this place. Entering Piątek, you will encounter an information board in the shape of the country's borders with the inscription "Friday - the geometric center of Poland".
Measurements made in 2018 "shifted" the center of Poland a bit to the nearby one Nowa Wieś near Kutno what the inhabitants of Piątek do not want to accept.
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