Partners
The Town Council
of Choroszcz
16-070
Choroszcz
ul. Dominikańska 2
tel.: (085) 719 10 12
fax: (085) 719 18 39
www:
www.choroszcz.pl
mail:
umchoroszcz@op.pl
Area of
municipality: 164 km²
Population: 12 500
Number of transactors: 973
The municipality
of Choroszcz is one of the best developed municipalities in the
province of Podlasie and in the year 2004 it was the laureate of the
Wyborcza Newspaper’s rating for ‘The Dream Municipality of Podlasie’.
Almost whole of it possesses a telephone network and a water supply
system. What is more, a modern sewage treatment plant operates
there, the process of providing a sewage system is gradually
performed and the local authorities are also considering the
possibility of supplying the area with a gas pipeline. Recently, one
of the biggest investments has been the construction of a junior
high school building accompanied by a gym in Choroszcz – this modern
institution includes 18 lecture rooms, a library, a radio and TV
network as well as a full monitoring. In Choroszcz a General
Secondary School has also been established, which target residence
place will be a historic building given to the municipality by a
manufacturer Moesa especially for the educational purposes. Whereas
in Kruszewo, an adaptation of an outbuilding for the kitchen needs
and a ‘Green School’ canteen were performed which were financed from
the resources of the Euro Nature Foundation.
Choroszcz is a
municipality that has a favourable geographical location – namely,
it is situated along the communication route between Warsaw and
Białystok and what is more, on its territory there is the Narwiański
National Park. The municipality wants to take advantage of its
convenient location and the vicinity of Białystok. Its authorities
are convinced that the territory they manage is really worth
investing on. They encourage the investments, among many others
ways, by creating a section of land plots on both sides of the route
to Warsaw designed for communication purposes as well as commercial
and craft activities. The investment offer includes also parcels of
land in Choroszcz and suburban area of Białystok, which are intended
for single-family houses development. The land management plan
accepted for the municipality is unique for the whole country, as it
is a complete plan, which covers the whole area of the municipality.
The high tourist
and natural value of Choroszcz municipality is an encouragement for
those seeking a rest close to nature along with the possibility of
sightseeing interesting sites. One can easily find many historical
places here, tourist routes leading through picturesque nooks of NPN
and a well-developed accommodation and gastronomy network. Soon
local government is going to crate a bicycle path, which would lead
through the most interesting towns located on the backwaters of the
Narew River: form Choroszcz to a beautiful Kruszewo and the
headquarter of NPN in Kurowo. The bikers will be able not only to
admire the sights but also to pass the Narew River as the
authorities in Choroszcz proposed an idea of building a footbridge
in order to join Kruszewo and Kurowo. The crossing of a river
through this footbridge will definitely become a huge attraction.
The suspension footbridge will offer a great view of the Narew
landscape. Another tempting possibility will be a path for horses
leading along the road to Kruszewo. Kruszewo, a village located in
the western end of the municipality of Choroszcz, is one of the most
beautiful vantage points over the area of NPN. A fishing and
canoeing pier, which is situated next to an abutment of a ruined
bridge dating back to 1928, offers a panorama of Kurowo and Koziołek
redoubt. Another thing worth noticing is an 18th century
brick and stone road chapel located behind the village as well as an
inactive Dutchman windmill from 1936.
Unfortunately, the
rich tradition of Śliwno is not confirmed by any preserved historic
objects. However, in 18th century the Orsettich’s
residence was located here and it included a palace, gardens and
three water canals. In the 19th century the Śliwno estate
belonged to Zygmunt Krasiński.
Next to the road
from Choroszcz to Kruszewo there is a kame hill called Babia Góra,
which has an interesting history. Its natural flora consists of a
forest growing on a dry land with a deciduous lime-tree and a few
plants that are under protection. Probably, this was a place where a
sacred pagan grove was situated and where offerings for the pagan
deity called Światowid were sacrificed.
One of the most
interesting places located within the territory of the Choroszcz
municipality is a hill called ‘The Gallows’ (“Szubiennica”).
Currently, a huge monument situated here was erected in order to
commemorate the participants of the 1863 Uprising.
The history of
Choroszcz dates back to the 15th century when the village-mayor of
Tykocin Piotr from Gumowo set up a settlement in the place of
today’s town. Later, as a property of Chodkiewicz, the settlement
received city rights. In the 17th century due to the
contemporary owner of Choroszcz, who was a member of a great
Lithuanian family, Mikołaj Pac the order of Dominican Brothers was
brought into the town. The two earliest churches together with
accompanying monasteries were destroyed in 1683 when the city was
consumed by a fire and in 1707 during the fights of the Northern
War. The third church, founded by the next owner Jan Klemens
Branicki, was located on a new spot. This time it was a solid brick
building mapped in a horseshoe shape and built in a baroque style.
The interior of the church was richly decorated and kept in a rococo
style. Until the end of the November Uprising, after which as a
punishment for their support the Dominican Brothers were forced to
leave Choroszcz by the Tsarist authorities, the monks ran a very
energetic pastoral, preaching and educational activity. Their
school, which prepared for studies at the Cracow Academy, was highly
valued in Podlasie, whereas their library included a few thousand
volumes. The complex of the church and the monastery also did not
survived until now in its glorious condition as it was damaged by a
fire in the year 1915. The rebuilding and repair works that followed
changed greatly its original characteristics.
The history of the
summer palace in Choroszcz goes back to the year 1709. That was the
time when the properties of Choroszcz became the possessions of the
Lord of the Podlaski’s Versailles, commander-in-chief Jan Klemens
Branicki. As a location for his summer residence the commander chose
a plane on the right bank of the Horodnianka River, nearby its
estuary to the Narew River. In the years 1725-30 a huge amounts of
money were invested to build a small palace situated on an
artificial island. It was a baroque gem modelled on French barons’
country residences. As it appeared, the palace was built on a boggy
soil so it very soon started to fall into decay. Consequently, in
1757 the original version was disassembled and a new, almost
identical one, was erected. In order to ensure comfort to numerous
eminent guests coming to that place there were many pavilions and
annexes built around the palace. The manorial estate included fruit
orchards at the back of the house, a garden in a French style, and
also a canal, which ended with an artificial hill called “Parnas”.
The palace in Choroszcz was admired due to its good taste and
splendour. The front elevation was decorated with bass-relieves,
busts on consoles, tympanum with armorial cartouche of the
Branicki’s and the Poniatowski’s. The interior aroused admiration:
marble floors and fireplaces, floors of oak wood, gigantic mirrors
in engraved frames, gold-plated wall lamps and candlesticks,
paintings and stylish furniture of the best quality. Simultaneously
with the childless death of commander Branicki, the glamorous time
of the palace was over. In 1840 the dilapidated estate was bought by
Christian Moes for the purpose of textile factory. The changes
introduced by the new owner caused that that original spatial layout
as well as the shape of the palace were lost. Then in 1915 due to
the war activities the building was severely damaged. It was not
until the 1960s that its reconstruction started – today the restored
rooms of the old baronial residence house the Museum of the Palace’s
Interiors. The pieces of furniture shown on display in the museum
illustrate the evolution of the shapes starting from the heavy
baroque ones, through the rococo, up till the elegant style of Louis
XVI. The exhibition is supplemented by numerous sculptures, china,
historical clocks, candlesticks and carpets.
