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The Commune of Przeciszów
The commune of Przeciszów is situated in the upper Vistula valley, within the boundaries of the O¶więcim Basin. The southern part belongs to the Wilamowice Foothills, and its northern border runs along the Vistula channel. The national road no. 44 Krakow-Tychy goes through the commune. It has 3588 ha of surface area and 6730 inhabitants. The commune consists of three village communities: Las - 467.1 ha, Przeciszów - 1718.8 ha and Piotrowice - 1402.1 ha.
Przeciszów was probably founded in the 13th c. by knights of German origin. At first the village carried the name ‘Przejców' or ‘Przeticzów'. In the years 1325-1327, a parish church in Piotrowice was mentioned, and in 1385 a parish church dedicated to the Birth of St John the Baptist was erected. In the 14th c. Przeciszów belonged to a certain Gothardus; around 1441 it passed into Mikołaj Myszkowski's hands, and in 1488 it became the possession of the castellan of O¶więcim, Piotr Myszkowski.
In the 16th c., when Jan (the castellan of O¶więcim) and Jerzy (a royal official referendarius regni) Myszkowski were the owners of the village, fishing and fish-farming developed. In 1513 Wawrzyniec Myszkowski was the squire of villages Przeciszów and Spytkowice. In the 16th c. the Myszkowski family attempted to disseminate Calvinism - one of the Reformation movements - in Przeciszów. The local church was probably changed into a Protestant one, although the Counter-Reformation activities that followed on brought back the former religious relations. In 1578 the village was inherited by the bishop of Krakow, Piotr Myszkowski, who suppressed further development of Calvinism. In 1627 the owners, Ferdynand and Władysław Myszkowski donated Przeciszów to the Dominicans from Krakow. After 1772 the Austrian government confiscated the village and sold it to count Przerębski bearing the Nowina coat of arms. In the years 1816-1818, Łucja Przerębska funded a new church. After 1830 Przeciszów was purchased by Stanisław and Anna W±sowicz, and in 1833 Anna W±sowicz made over the farm to her first husband, Aleksander Potocki. In 1845 Maurycy W±sowicz, an insurgent of the January Uprising, set up a pheasant farm here, whose reminder today is a forest wilderness called "Bażanciarnia" (Pheasant House). From the 19th c. till 1945, the village was a property of the Potockis from Zator. The area of the commune makes a fine base for sightseeing outings. The local landscape is marked by an abundance of water bodies, such as ponds and the Vistula River which is the northern borderline of the commune. The riverside areas and fish ponds are a refuge for aquatic birds and a perfect place for birdwatching. By the Zator-Przeciszów road there is a singular nature monument - a linden avenue with trees over 250 years old.
The most interesting monuments in the area of the refuge are: St John the Baptist's church in Przeciszów, which was designed by architect Józef Heintze and built in the years 1816-1818 on the site of a former wooden church (the main attraction here is a wooden pulpit in the shape of a boat); the Annunciation church with a precious sculpture of Pieta from the early 15th c. and a statue of Christ falling under the cross (probably from the late 18th c.). In the area there are exceptionally many masonry roadside shrines, mainly from the 19th and early 20th c., which add to the extrodinary landscape and atmosphere of the place.
One of the tourist attractions in Przeciszów-Łowiczki is a homestead from the early 19th c. consisting of builidings of high historic and etnographic value, with very well preserved features typical for nineteenth-century dwelling houses and farm buildings of the etnographic group of Western Krakowiaks.
In 1884 the railway line Krakow-O¶więcim was put into use. A year before, the construction of a brick building of the Przeciszów railway station had been completed. In 1888 a wooden, thatched school building was replaced with a brick one. At that time in the village there were three inns, a distillery, a mill, a brickyard and four manor farms.
In 1895 construction of Saint Mary's parish church in Piotrowice was completed. The first Voluntary Fire Brigade in Przeciszów was formed in 1911.
The history of Przeciszów is inseparably linked to the communication route running through the territory of the commune. In the 15th c. it was one of the oldest and most important communication routes leading from Ukraine through Krakow, Zator and Przeciszów to O¶więcim, and further, in the direction of Austria and Bohemia, through the Moravian Gate. It had considerable commercial significance and it was also used by Tartar, Polish and other troops when crossing the area. Since the 15th c. it had been a copper and salt route, used by the famous Hungarian family, the Thurzons, to import and export goods, such as bronze, copper, metal ores or Hungarian wines. From Poland they exported lead from Olkusz, salt from Wieliczka and oxen from Lesser Poland.
Other sites worth seeing:
 St John the Baptist's parish church with a historic pulpit;
a homestead from the early 19th c. in Przeciszów-Łowiczki;
a forest reserve "Przeciszów" in the village community of Las;
fish ponds in the area of the bird refuge "The Lower Skawa Valley" belonging to the network Natura 2000;
a linden avenue by the Zator-Przeciszów road;
the waterway of the upper Vistula - a flagship construction of the 1970s, completed in 2003.
PRZECISZÓW COMMUNAL OFFICE
ul. Podlesie 1, 32-641 Przeciszów
tel. 033 841 41 46, 841 33 92, fax 033 841 32 01
e-mail: gmina@przeciszow.iap.pl
http://www.przeciszow.iap.pl
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