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The Commune of Zator
The commune of Zator is situated at the base of the Carpathian Foothills, in the Oświęcim Basin, on the River Skawa. The commune consists of the town of Zator and nine village communities: Podolsze, Smolice, Trzebienczyce, Rudze, Łowiczki, Palczowice, Laskowa, Graboszyce and Grodzisko. The surface area of the commune is 51.4 km2, 20% of which is covered with fish-farming ponds. The town of Zator is located by the sub-Carpathian railway line from Oświęcim to Krakow Płaszów, at a crossroads of routes to Krakow (50 km), Oświęcim (18 km), Wadowice (14 km), Andrychów (18 km) and Chrzanów (18 km). The commune has 9050 inhabitants, 3730 of whom live in Zator. The town, though rather small, has great history, and already 700 years have passed since it was granted a municipal charter.
History reveals that since around 1179 Zator had probably been a border town on the Skawa River, guarding a trade route from Krakow to Silesia and this is how the towns name originated. "Zator" was supposed to mean "a hold-up" - closing the road.
The first official mention of the village of Zator dates from 1228 when it was bestowed on the Opole voivode, Klemens of Ruszcza. In 1281 Zator became part of the newly-created Principality of Cieszyn and Oświęcim, and in 1292 Mieszko of Cieszyn granted a municipal charter to Zator.
In the years 1315 1317 the Principality of Oświęcim was created, which included also Zator. As a result of partitioning the Principality of Oświęcim in 1445, the independent Principality of Zator was created. The first prince of Zator, Wacław, developed the town, fortified it with walls and began building a castle. People stared trading at the Zator fairs. The first ponds were set up, which gave birth to the fish industry continuing up till now. In 1456 Prince Wacław paid homage to Casimir IV Jagiellon, putting the principality under his protection. In 1494 the last Prince of Zator, Janusz IV, sold the principality to King John I Albert of Poland. A legal incorporation of the principality into Poland was carried out by the Seym in 1564. In the years of the Swedish wars the town got completely destroyed and has never regained its former splendour. Until the Partitions, Zator was the seat of a starost, a district court and regional councils of the gentry. It exercised also numerous privileges of the nobility. In 1772 Zator passed under Austrian rule and the Emperor of Austria took on the title of the Prince of Zator. In 1778 the Austrian government sold the Zator lands to the last starost, Piotr Dunin. Then the families of Poniatowski, Tyszkiewicz, Wąsowicz, Potocki from the Willanów line, and finally the Potockis from the Krzeszowice line became successive owners of the Zator lands.
At the end of the 19th century a railway line from Skawina to Oświęcim was opened, which had a big influence on the development of this region. The first brick houses appeared, new schools, banks, offices, a law court and a post office were established, as well as some production plants. A wicker industry and a plaiting industry developed; the fish farming ponds revived. At the turn of the 19th century the town had more than 1500 inhabitants.
During the Second World War Zator was incorporated into the German Reich. After the end of the war it belonged to Bielsko, Wadowice and Oświęcim districts (poviats) in the Voivodeship of Krakow. Since 1975 it belonged to the Voivodeship of Bielsko, and since 1999 it has been part of the Voivodeship of Lesser Poland.
THE PARISH CHURCH in Zator, dedicated to Saints Adalbert and George, was built around 1393 on the site of a former Romanesque church. It is Gothic, with neo-Gothic elements, made of brick, with the lower parts made of stone. It was restored several times, the last time in the years 1956-73, when partial alteration of the interior was carried out. The chancel is gothic; the ceiling of the main body, the pillars and the organ gallery are modern. The inside is rich in precious mementoes, e.g. a bronze baptismal font from the 15th c., antique bells from the 15th and 16th c., numerous epitaphs, fragments of murals on the walls and a gothic main altar. Next to the church there is a sarcophagus of Princess Apolonia Poniatowska, one of the owners of the Zator lands. The crypt under the church is a grave of Anna Potocka-Wąsowicz, her husband Stanisław Wąsowicz (an adjutant of Napoleon I) and Ludwik and Maria Potocki.
THE PALACE. It was built in 1445, after the Oświęcim Principality was divided among three brothers. Zator then fell to Wacław I, the first Prince of Zator and became the abode of the Zator princes until 1513. Then it became a private property of aristocratic families. It was partly altered by the Dunin family, which added the second floor to the palace. In 1836 it was restored by the Wąsowicz and Potocki families with partial alteration of the interiors and addition of rich room décor designed in a romantic neo-Gothic style by architect F.M. Lanci and eminent painter Filippi. It became a typical aristocratic mansion, where a lot of precious national mementoes were gathered, with a collection of paintings and an extensive library. The property belonged to the last owners - the Potocki family from the Krzeszowice line until the Second World War. The palace was robbed during the war and then largely destroyed in the post-war period, when its beautifully decorated rooms served as a corn and forage storehouse. Finally, it was extensively restored by the Institute of Zootechnics in the years 1964-73.
Inside, on both sides of the entrance hall, two pairs of rooms are located the Hunting and Golden Rooms on the left, and the Fern and Ivy Rooms on the right. The names of the rooms are related to the paintings and mouldings on the walls. Next to the palace, there is an outbuilding that used to house a palace kitchen.
Other sites worth seeing:
 The urban layout of the market square in Zator, with 14th century features, redeveloped in 1968.,
The complexes of the Zator fish ponds of medieval origin, the most interesting of which is Przeręb,
The Skawa Valley with beautiful landscapes,
A linden avenue situated on the route from Zator to Oświęcim - a nature monument,
A Gothic-Renaissance defensive manor house from the 16th c., surrounded by a park with a monumental old growth stand, in the village of Graboszyce,
A historic wooden from the 16th c. St. Andrews church, in the style used in Silesia and Lesser Poland. The church is situated in Graboszyce, on the Trail of Wooden Architecture,
Traces of medieval fortified settlement and a weir on the Skawa River in Grodzisko,
Around 100 experimental ponds of the Experimental Fishing Unit and picturesque loess gorges in Laskowa,
A wooden church from the 19th c. St Jacob the Apostle in Palczowice,
Mound "Grunwald" in Rabusiowice, built by the inhabitants to commemorate the fifth centenary of the Grunwald victory. It was destroyed by the Nazis, and then rebuilt to celebrate the millennium of the Polish State,
An Old Polish Baroque mansion house from the 18th c. and three mills in the village of Rudze,
A catholic cemetery in Zator, founded in 1784,
A stage of fall on the Vistula River in Podolsze, which is part of the Upper Vistula Cascade,
"The wolf's face" - a collection of wooden sculptures by folk artists from Smolice, Kazimiera and Kazimierz Skórski.
ZATOR MUNICIPAL OFFICE
32-640 Zator, Rynek 10
tel. 033 8412 215, 8412 216, fax. 033 8410 206
e-mail: zator@iap.pl
http://www.zator.iap.pl
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