Łowicz poviat - poviat in Polandin the northeastern part of the Lodz voivodeship, created in 1999 as part of an administrative reform. It covers 988 km² of the area (which constitutes 5.42% of the area of the Łódź Province) and has 81.4 thousand square meters. inhabitants (including 42,267 women, ie 51.68%), population density 83 persons per km², urban population 36.6%. The capital of the county is Lowicz.
The poviat includes the rural communes of Bielawy, Chąśno, Domaniewice, Kiernozia, Kocierzew Południe, Łowicz, Łyszkowice, Nieborów, Zduny and one municipal commune - Łowicz.
The largest communes: Bielawy 163.90 km², 5,936 inhabitants, Łowicz 133.17 km², 7405 inhabitants, Zduny 128.55 km², 6,067 inhabitants, the city of Łowicz 23.42 km², 29,929 inhabitants.
The district is located in the basin Lunge (left tributary Vistula), road and rail communication routes pass here between By boat and Warsaw.
Forests cover only 10% of its area.
The agriculture is dominated by the specialization of agricultural and vegetable farms, fruit farms, livestock farming, dairy production, and herb cultivation.
In terms of folk traditions, it is the most vivid area of the Łódź Province. The processions in folk costumes during the annual celebrations of Corpus Christi (and the following days, the so-called octaves) in the processions both in Łowicz and in other places of the region, such as Złaków Kościelny, and even the distant Złota and Wysokienice, are famous. Both adults and children wear them.
The fertile areas of the Łowicz-Błońsk Plain were called in the 19th century Duchy of Lowicz. The early enfranchisement of peasants resulted in a dynamic development of the folk culture. The priests, because that was the name of the people living in the vicinity of Łowicz, were characterized by a sense of separateness. Their residential buildings, often consisting of several rooms, were painted blue and decorated with white floral patterns.
In every chamber of Lowicz, especially the most important residential, Christmas one, it was richly decorated with cutouts and flowers made of blotting paper, which were most often used to decorate altars, and spiders hung from the ceiling.
Lowicz cutouts are true works of art, which were previously made with sheep shears. The most popular are oblong coders (flower motifs, genre scenes with the participation of people and animals, also people at work and other activities) and circular stars (floral, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic motifs, cut in the shape of a circle from several layers of colored glossy paper) and ribbons, double vertical decorated with quite wide strips of paper. Spiders, which used to decorate the chambers of Łowicz cottages, were usually made of straw, wool, paper discs and wire. Spiders have never been chandeliers.
The sculptures referred to sacred themes. Contemporary folk sculpture from Lowicz can be seen, among others in the museum belonging to the Brzozowski family in The vulva.
The priests wore striped pants with a background in dark red and orange. Men also founded the so-called ties very abundantly embroidered. LejbikiVests reaching the thighs, fastened with one row of buttons, were made of black cloth. The outer garment was made of white or black ankle-length russet coat. Hats were also decorated, most often black.
At first, the female attire was dominated by a dark red background with vertical stripes, later it gave way to orange, and all the colors of the rainbow appeared in the colors of the stripes. The most fashionable were floral arrangements made of cross-stitch, most often with floral motifs, often roses. On cold days, the housewives assumed algiers made of homespun checkered fabrics. The female outfit was complemented by woolen, damask or linen scarves, also richly embroidered with floral patterns, strings of red beads and black lace-up shoes. Today, rich ethnographic collections can be seen in the open-air museum in Maurzycachand folk costumes during the Corpus Christi procession in Łowicz.
Sometimes we meet folk sculptors who carve mostly religious motifs in wood in winter.
Part of the Pradolina Bzury-Neru Natura 2000 protected area lies in the district. Also two large fish ponds - Lake Okręt and Lake Rydwan - refuges for water birds.
Many painters were associated with Ziemia Łowicka, incl. Józef Chełmoński (village Sides), sculptors, writers and others.
In many towns of the district, we can find historic buildings, mainly sacred, but also palaces, manors, residential and industrial buildings. The most important is the magnate palace in Nieborów. The historic park in Arcadia is also interesting. Historic buildings are also located in Bielawy, Saturday, Walewice, Zdunach, Kiernozi, Domaniewice. Many of them are listed in the register of monuments. There is an interesting border post of the Duchy of Łowicz in the town of Patoki.
In almost every town there are memorabilia from World War II, especially from the Battle of Bzura in the September 1939 campaign, as well as cemeteries where September soldiers are buried.
The welded bridge over Słudwia in Maurzyce, the first of its kind in Poland, is an extremely interesting technical monument.
Objects of folk art from Łowicz can be seen in the open-air museum in Maurzyce, the Regional Museum (Branch of the National Museum) in Łowicz, the Ethnographic and Archaeological Museum in Łódź or the private museum of the Brzozowski family in Sromów.
The Center for Culture, Tourism and Promotion of the Łowicz Region, www.lowickie.eu, operates in the Market Square in Łowicz