Pi?a : Poland
Pi?a (German Schneidemhl) is a town in northwestern Poland. It currently with 77,000 inhabitants (2001). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 1999), previously capital of Pi?a Voivodship (1975-1998). Pi?a is the largest town in the northern part of Greater Poland, and is a county capital. The town is beautifully located on the Gwda river and is famous for its green areas, parks and dense forests nearby. It is a very important road and railway hub.
City name
Pi?a is a Polish word which means “a saw”. This was a typical name denoting a village of woodcutters belonging to a local noble.
The German name Schneidemhl literally means “sawmill” in English.
History
Pi?a was founded in 1380 under the Magdeburg Law as a small village of woodcutters. The document was most probably issued by Queen Jadwiga of Poland, but it did not survive. The first mention of Pi?a comes from a church document dated March 31, 1451. Pi?a soon grew and became a private town of the Opali?ski family. In 1480 Maciej Opali?ski ceded the town to King Kazimierz Jagiello?czyk. On March 4, 1513 the town was relocated by King Sigismund the Old. Pi?a was granted self-government and great economical autonomy. Because of that it soon became one of the main centres of wood industry in the area with several sawmills and a paper factory.
