Rydzyna is a seat of a commune in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Leszno County. The town may boast of many interesting monuments and therefore it is of attraction to enthusiasts of sightseeing. It is also a good starting point to the county capital, Leszno.
Rydzyna is a beautiful listed town. While in here one ought to visit: the late Baroque church of St. Stanislaus from the mid 18th century, Baroque urban arrangement, then-evangelical church built in between 1779 and 1783 as well as a wooden windmill from the second half of the 18th century. Rydzyna’s flagship, however, still remains the castle, i.e. the Baroque residence of the Leszczynski family from the second half of the 17th century and the seat of the experimental gymnasium from the interwar period.
Rydzyna is a small town and a seat of a commune in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, Leszno County. It lies on Leszno Plateau, by Poznan-Wroclaw road, and the Kopanica river. Rydzyna is located approximately 8 km from the county capital, Leszno.
The first records about Rydzyna are from 1403. According to them the founder and owner of the town (as well as of the original castle) was Jan from Czernina of Wierzbno coat of arms. The town’s charter took place in the early 15th century. Until the end of the 16th century Rydzyna remained in the hands of Jan’s descendants. The subsequent owners of the town were the Gajewskis and Ciswickis.
In the end of the 17th century Rydzyna together with the neighbouring properties was bought by the Leszczynskis of Wieniawa coat of arms, the co-owners of Leszno. The castle in Rydzyna became the main seat of this family. In 1736 the last owner of Rydzyna from the Leszczynski family sold his properties to count Aleksander Jozef Sulkowski of Sulima coat of arms.
After the death of the last from the Sulkowskis in 1909, Rydzyna was taken by Prussian government. The town remained for 11 years within Prussian boarders, until the Treaty of Versailles ceded it to Poland.
On 4 September 1939, after fierce battles, German troops entered the town. During the occupation Poles were displaced and persecuted. The castle became a boarding school for the Hitler Youth and in April 1944, in local forest Dabcze, Gestapo executed approximately 210 Poles.
After the war Soviet army burned the castle down. It was reconstructed only in between 1975 and 1989. Currently, it holds a hotel and a technical centre.
| Province: | Greater Poland |
| Telephone: | (+48) 65 |
| Accommodation: | Rydzyna hotels |