'Łęczna' is a town in eastern
Poland with 21,802 inhabitants (2004), situated in the
Lublin Voivodeship.
It is the seat of
Łęczna County.
Economy
Since the 1970s the town has benefited from the proximity of profitable
coal mining industry. Leczna was the place of the first coal mine in the whole area of Lublin Coal Basin (Lubelskie Zagłębie Węglowe). It has other small industries.
Sports
★
Górnik Łęczna - football team (1st league in season 2003/2004)
History
Founded by
Jan Tarnowski, the castellan of
Kraków, who built a castle near the town. In
1457 the town received its charter. Thanks to trade privileges granted by king
Stephen Bathory in
1581, the town became one of the most important centres for trading horses and cattle in Poland.
After the
Partitions of Poland, the town became part of
Austria in
1795, then part of the
Duchy of Warsaw in
1809, finally part of the
Congress Kingdom under
Russian rule in
1815. It became part of Poland again after the country regained its independence in
1918.
During the
Holocaust, the
Jewish population of the town was exterminated by the
Nazis.
External link
★
Official Łęczna Homepage