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Rydzyna commune (Poland)

Leszno county, Wielkopolskie vojvodship

Last modified: 2014-06-28 by andrew weeks
Keywords: rydzyna |
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[Rydzyna flag] image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 19 Nov 2008
civic flag adopted 17 Feb 2003 See also:

Rydzyna city and commune flag

Rydzyna - urban-rural commune, Leszno County, Wielkopolskie Voivodship - German name: Reisen.
Gmina Rydzyna is an urban-rural gmina (commune) in Leszno County, Greater Poland Voivodship, in west-central Poland. Its seat is the town of Rydzyna, which lies approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of Leszno and 69 km (43 mi) south of the regional capital Poznań.
Area: 135.56 sq.km (52.3 sq.mi); Population: 8,076 (2006).

Rydzyna is a Polish town that was the seat of king Stanisław Leszczyński during Leszczyński's first short reign from 1704-1709.
It was founded at the beginning of the 15th century by Jan of Czernina, a descendant of the Wierzbno family, a knight of king Władysław Jagiełło. At the end of the 17th century the town and its environs were owned by well-known magnates, the Leszczyński and then the Sułkowski families, whose investment in the town resulted in its current nickname as "the pearl of the Polish baroque".
The most historically important site in Rydzyna is Rydzyna Castle, formerly the residence of king Stanisław Leszczyński and the Sułkowski princes. The castle in Rydzyna was built at the beginning of 15th century by Jan of Czernina. At the end of 17th century Italian architects Joseph Simon Bellotti and Pompeo Ferrari erected the present Baroque castle on its ancient foundations. The first owners of the castle were the Leszczyński family. Together with its park and surrounding areas, it was one of the most splendid palaces in Poland. Between 1704-1709  it was a residence of the Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński. In 1709, during the Great Northern War, the castle was partly burnt by tsar's soldiers. However wall-paintings and stucco works in representative rooms, made by best Italian artists, were not destroyed completely, and the castle was restored and expanded by Prince August Sułkowski , who purchased the Leszczyński estates in 1738. The castle together with its adjacent park and the surrounding terrain forms one of the most valuable castle-park complexes in Poland.

Other historical monuments within the town boundaries are baroque tenement houses around the market square together with the town hall and the baroque parish church, all built in the 18th century and designed by the same architects as the castle. The evangelical church building now serves as a concert hall.
In the center of the market square a unique statue representing the Trinity was erected in 1761 by the sculptor Andrew Schmidt in memory of the plague that decimated the town in 1709. The monumental former annexes to the castle, facing its north side, are in Classic style. All the monuments are the works of prominent architects brought in from all over Europe by the Leszczyński and Sułkowski families.

At one time there were over 40 windmills around Rydzyna. Today only one remains, renovated in 2003 it now houses the Museum of Agriculture and Milling.

Arms and flag adopted on February 17, 2003 (resolution # V/30/2003).
"Arms: on the background of white fortress a shield divided into four parts.
On the first and fourth part are arrows with the crossed shafts on the red fields.
On the second and third part there are six silver lilies of Anjou each on the blue fields. All on the red shield.
This is based on the noble Coat of Arms "Wierzbno" to which the founder of the town, Knight Jan z Czernina (John of Czernin) belonged.

Flag: made up of two colors in four parts, repeating the color scheme and the composition of the Arms: four rectangles in the sequence red-blue-blue-red.
Proof sheet at the bottom of this page.
Although it is not mentioned, I did reconstruct a possible ceremonial flag from the flagoid shown on the old Leszno County website.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 19 Nov 2008


Rydzyna ceremonial flag

[Rydzyna ceremonial flag] image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 19 Nov 2008
ceremonial flag adopted 17 Feb 2003

Rydzyna Coat of Arms

[Rydzyna coat of arms] image by Chrystian Kretowicz, 19 Nov 2008
adopted 17 Feb 2003