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The Commune of Spytkowice
The commune of Spytkowice is situated in the O¶więcim Basin. The northern border of the commune runs along the Vistula River, or rather its former channel, and the southern part reaches as far as the Wieliczka Foothills. The commune consists of five villages: Bachowice, Ryczów, Sptykowice, Miejsce and Lipowa. It has 4700 ha of surface area and nine thousand inhabitants.
The first mention of Spytkowice dates from 1229, when a meeting of Piast princes took place there and one of its participants was Henry I the Bearded. In 1278 Spytkowice became part of the Opole Principality, going down in the history of the O¶więcim-Zator Region. In 1315 the village of Spytkowice became part of the O¶więcim Principality and after 1445 - of the new Principality of Zator. In 1488 the village was no longer part of princely lands, as it was purchased by the castellan of S±cz, Piotr Myszkowski, who erected a masonry tower there. The Myszkowskis ruled Spytkowice till 1617. In the years 1622-1644 the estate became a property of the Szyszkowskis, and then, in turn, of the Opalińskis and the Sieniawskis. In the late 18th c. the key to the Spytkowice estate together with the castle, was a property of Princess Izabella Lubomirska, nee Czartoryska. Adam Potocki was the last owner of Spytkowice.
The most important monuments are: a Baroque castle from the 16th c. with a historic park ensemble; St Catherine's church; a manor house in Ryczów and numerous votive shrines and roadside figures.
In the late 16th c. Wawrzyniec and Mikołaj Myszkowski extended the tower - the front and western wings of the castle were then built. The castle was erected in a late Gothic-Renaissance style. It was extended with time and converted into an imposing early-Baroque mansion (around 1630) by the Bishop of Krakow, Marcin Szyszkowski. Since the 17th c. the estate changed hands over and over again. In 1832 Spytkowice became a property of the Potockis, who finally ceded the estate - largely destroyed during the Second World War - to the state. The State Treasury handed over the castle to the General Authorities of the State Archives. Currently, it is the head office of the Krakow Agency of the State Archives.
The castle is surrounded by a historic park ensemble. In the 18th c. on the northern side of the castle there was a garden with some ponds stretching behind it; in the east there were farm buildings, and the castle front overlooked a tree-covered forecourt. The castle, whose front faces the south, is a brick, plastered building. The wings enclose a rectangular courtyard, in the middle of which there grows a 150-year-old chestnut tree.
The entrance leads through a portal with the coat of arms of the Szyszkowski family (Ostoja), and on the axis of the entrance the main lobby is situated. Rooms are aligned and communicated by a gallery running around the inside of the courtyard at ground floor level. The rooms of the ground floor are topped with barrel vaults with or without lunettes, and the first floor rooms are topped with ceilings. Inside the castle you may admire splendid stone portals, ranging from a late-Gothic one in the south-eastern corner of the castle, through Renaissance portals, to Baroque ones, ornamented with the Szyszkowskis' coat of arms - Ostoja. The oldest architectural detail that has survived until today is a lintel of the gate with the coat of arms of the Myszkowski family - Jastrzębiec.
Baroque St Catherine's church was funded in the 17th c. by the bishop of Warmia, Mikołaj Szyszkowski and its construction was continued by Łukasz Opaliński. The one-nave church is made of stone and brick, has a semicircular chancel and is a valuable example of Baroque sacred architecture. The church building is under protection together with its immediate surroundings, a masonry fence and a tree stand.
The manor house in Ryczów, whose erection dates from around 1870, was built by general Piasecki in the Neo-Romanesque style, in park surroundings. The building is an example of unique 19th century manor architecture. The surroundings include a manor park, established around 1865. The park, with a communications arrangement, makes a uniform whole together with the house. From an environmental point of view the park is a rare enclave of landscaped greenery, represented by several dozen old trees between 100 and 150 years of age. At present, the general's daughter, Mrs Zofia Piasecka-Tarabuła is supervising restoration and gardening works in the park.
St Bartholomew's chapel in Bachowice is another noteworthy place in the area. It was built in the 17th c. on the site of a former parish church. It is situated in the north-eastern part of the village, on a small hill.
Another precious sacred monument in Bachowice is a Stone Penitential Cross. It probably dates from the 19th c. It stands by the road to hamlet Kaniów. Most probably it is one of the oldest sacred monuments in the region.
In the whole area of the commune, and especially in its northern part, there are archaeological sites from the Stone Age and the Neolith. Six of them have been entered in the register of historic monuments.
Numerous wildlife and landscape attractions draw the lovers of pure nature untouched by civilisation. In its northern part, the commune has preserved non-urbanized areas, which are partly wild, occupied by the Vistula River. Its cut-off, the so-called Old Vistula, and a complex of fish ponds with a greenery zone, are particularly attractive for anglers, hunters and ornithologists. The large bank line of the Vistulan cut-off is richly shaped, covered with bushes and trees, and the water abounds in almost all species of freshwater fish.
Other sites worth seeing:
 a castle and St Catherine's church in Spytkowice;
a manor house in Ryczów together with a landscaped park which is a rich old growth stand;
fish ponds and Vistulan cut-offs located in the area of a planned Natura 2000 area, with unique fauna and flora;
and archaeological sites from the Neolith and the Stone Age.
SPYTKOWICE COMMUNAL OFFICE
ul. Zamkowa 12, 34-116 Spytkowice
tel. (033) 879 18 76, 879 15 45, fax (033) 879 15 60
e-mail: gmina@spytkowice.net.pl
http://www.spytkowice.net.pl
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