Góra Kalwaria

Infobox Settlement
name = Góra Kalwaria


imagesize = 250px
image_caption = Immaculate Conception Church in Góra Kalwaria

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image_shield = POL Góra Kalwaria COA.svg
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = bottom
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = POL
subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship
subdivision_name1 = Masovian
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Piaseczno
subdivision_type3 = Gmina
subdivision_name3 = Góra Kalwaria
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Barbara Samborska
established_title = Established
established_date = 13th century
established_title3 = Town rights
established_date3 = 1670
area_total_km2 = 13.72
population_as_of = 2006
population_total = 11130
population_density_km2 = auto
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 51 | latm = 58 | lats = 24 | latNS = N | longd = 21 | longm = 12 | longs = 52 | longEW = E
postal_code_type = Postal code
postal_code = 05-530
area_code = +48 22
blank_name = Car plates
blank_info = WPI
website = http://www.gorakalwaria.net Góra Kalwaria [IPA-pl|'|g|u|r|a|-|k|a|l|'|w|a|r|j|a] is a town on the Vistula River in the Mazovian Voivodship, Poland, about 25 km southeast of Warsaw. It has a population of about 11,000 (1992). The town has significance for both Catholic Christians and Hasidic Jews. Originally, its name was simply Góra (literally: "Mountain"), changed in 1670 to Nowa Jerozolima ("New Jerusalem"), and in the 18th century to Góra Kalwaria ("Calvary Mountain"). The Yiddish name of the town is גער (Ger).

Major industries include: food processing (Hortex), sports equipment (Polsport), and chemical industry. But in 2005 it is all closed down.

History

The village of Góra already existed in the 13th century. Completely destroyed during a Swedish occupation known as the Deluge, it became in 1666 the property of Stefan Wierzbowski, Bishop of Poznań, who decided to found a new town on the ruins. His plan was to build a so-called calvary, or religious center dedicated to passion plays and services, which was quite popular in the early modern Poland. He was encouraged by the fact that the local landscape closely resembled that of the Holy Land.

In 1670 the town was renamed Nowa Jerozolima, granted city rights and the construction work kicked off. The urban design was based on medieval maps of Jerusalem, and the street grid formed a Latin cross. The bishop invited Dominican, Bernardine and Piarist orders to settle in the town, which soon became dotted with monasteries, churches, chapels and passion paths (such as stations of the Cross). The town was supposed to be a purely Christian one and Jews were not allowed to settle there.

After Bishop Wierzbowski's death the decline of the town began. Many churches and chapels were pulled down, and in the years 1883–1919 the town was deprived of city rights.

In the early 19th century the ban on Jewish settlement was lifted and Jews shortly became the predominant group in the town. Góra Kalwaria then became one of the major centers of Hasidic Judaism and home to the Ger dynasty. During the Holocaust, the Jewish population of the town was first concentrated in a small ghetto, in 1942 moved to the Warsaw Ghetto, and afterwards to the Treblinka extermination camp.

People

* Wolf Messing, a psychic
* Józef Chaciński, politician and lawyer
*Yitzhak Meir Levin, member of the Sejm and signatory of the Israeli declaration of independence

* Rebbes of the Ger (Alter family)
** Yitzchak Meir Alter
** Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
** Avraham Mordechai Alter
** Yisrael Alter
** Simchah Bunim Alter
** Pinchas Menachem Alter
** Yaakov Aryeh Alter

See also

* Kalwaria Zebrzydowska
* Battle of Warsaw (1920)
* Battle of Radzymin (1944)

External links

* [http://www.gorakalwaria.net Góra Kalwaria - young for community]