Busko-Zdrój


Busko-Zdrój is a spa town in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is the capital of Busko County. As of December 2021, it has a population of 15,310.

History

The origin of Busko goes back to the 12th century, when a group of shepherds settled around St. Leonard's church. In 1185, Knight Dersław, the owner of Busko and its surroundings, brought Norbertine nuns, whom in his will he inscribed i.a. the village of Busko. Dersław was probably killed in the Battle of Chmielnik in 1241. In 1251, it received a revenue privilege from King Bolesław V the Chaste allowing the convent to use the salt water. This is the first record of the use of Busko's mineral waters.
In 1287, Busko was granted civic rights by King Leszek II the Black. The advantageous location of the town on trade routes led King Władysław Jagiełło to grant local burghers the right to have a weekly market and two fairs a year beginning in 1412. The 15th and 16th centuries were considered the "heyday" of the town. It was famous for its trade and cloth production.

Timeline

  • 1166 – Dzierżko, knight of the Janina family, founded the first church, where the NPNMP church is today.
  • 1166 – The first written mention of Busko-Zdrój was made in a papal edict and recorded in Kraków's diocese chronicle about Busko-Zdrój. The record mentions a town named "Bugsk" and the church.
  • 1180-1186 – Dzierżko founded the Norbertine priory attached to the church. It is a branch of the Witowski convent, which was founded by Dzierżko's brother – bishop of Płock, Wit from Chotla.
  • 1252 – The oldest write-up on a salt spring in Busko. Bolesław V the Chaste granted the priory a treasure immunity and right to boil the salt.
  • 1287 – Duke Leszek II the Black granted town rights to the colony and established Busko–Zdrój agreeably to law of Środa Śląska.
  • 1347 – Jan from Busko became a secretary, and in 1360 he became deputy chancellor of the king Casimir III the Great.
  • 1661 – The town suffered the Great Plague.
  • 1783 – Under the privilege of Royal Charter, as a result of the work of Stanisław Staszic, a salt company was founded in Busko, to produce salt on a large scale from the Busk springs.
  • 1784 – King Stanisław August Poniatowski visited the town and salt-works.
  • 1809 – Busko-Zdrój was incorporated into the Duchy of Warsaw.
  • 1815 – Agreeable to decisions of Congress of Vienna, the town was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland, which was annexed by Russia.
  • 1819 – Seizure of the Norbertine priory. Busko, as a religious good, was transferred to the government of Poland. The government leased Busko to Feliks Rzewuski.
  • 1820 – A fire burnt a large portion of the town.
  • 1828 – Official opening of the health resort, with the first list of visitors.
  • 1836 – Surrendered the baths to use, later location of Sanatorium "Marconi". This date marks the beginning of Busko as a health resort.
  • 1869 – The town rights were lost.
  • 1916 – The town rights were restored.
  • 1939 – On 9 September, the battle of the 22nd Mountain Infantry Division against the German detachment at Bronina village. In this battle, 200 Polish soldiers died.
  • 1939–1945 – German occupation during World War II
  • 1945 – On 13 January, Busko was liberated by the Soviet forces
  • 1966 – Busko won first place at a competition for most beautiful health resort in Poland.
  • 1987 – Celebration of the allocation of town rights.

    Mayors

date of appointmentdate of appealpositionname and surname
18241826mayorJózef Nestowicz
19171918mayorLudwik Jarczyński – the first mayor after becoming independent
19181939mayorKazimierz Gałdziński
1981-10-121990-10-31chiefStefan Komenda
1990-06-181992-10-08mayorPiotr Iwański
1992-10-081994-07-01mayorEdward Serafin
1994-07-012002-11-18mayorStefan Komenda
2002-11-192004-09-27mayorStefan Komenda – the first direct election of mayor
2004-12-092006-12-06mayorWitold Gajewski
2006-12-062010-12-13mayorPiotr Wąsowicz
2010-12-132024-05-07mayorWaldemar Sikora
2024-05-07currentlymayorJerzy Szydłowski

Geography

Busko is located in the south part of the Świętokrzyskie voivodeship, from Kielce and from Kraków.
The city is in the part of the Świetokrzyskie voivodeship called Ponidzie, whose name came from the river Nida.
According to information from 2002, the area of the Busko–Zdrój is.
Busko-Zdrój composes 4.95% of the surface area of the parish.

Demographics

Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:

Climate

Busko's climate is low-lying and continental. This weather is typical about 39% of the days of the year.
The number of 'hot and scorching' days -13%, 'very cold' – under 1.5%. The average year-round temperature is. The minimum average temperature of the year is. The maximum average temperature of the year is. In Busko, there are almost 1151 hours of sunshine per year. The average humidity is between 71% and 80%.

Monuments

  • Immaculate Conception church built in 1592–1621, renovated in 1820.
  • St. Leonard's church built in 1699.
  • St. Anna's chapel, built from 1884 to 1886.
  • Sanatorium Marconi built in 1836, designed by Enrico Marconi
  • Dersław Castle – Construction of the castle began in 1911 by a doctor at the health resort Wasyl Wasylewicz Jakobs. A few years later, Leon Sulimierski finished building the castle. During the First World War, on May 13, 1915, after an offensive on Nida, General Stanisław Szeptycki, a commander in the Austrian army, arrived in Busko and set up residence in the castle.
  • Villas: Bagatela, Sanato, Słowacki, Oblęgorek, Ormuzd, Zielona, Bristol

    Transport

The national road NR73 passes through Busko between Kielce to Tarnów.
It is long. Three regional roads also pass through Busko:
  • DW767 Busko – Pińczów, long
  • DW776 Busko – Kraków, long
  • DW973 Busko – Żabno, long
The Car Transport Company in Busko has maintained 132 buses. The partnership supports long-distance connections with Warsaw, Kraków, Karpacz, Łódź, Lublin, Katowice, Tarnów, Częstochowa and Wrocław. There have been 23 registered cab companies in the municipality.
The nearest international airport is Kraków–Balice, in Katowice-Pyrzowice and in Warsaw-Okęcie. In Masłów, near Kielce is sport's airport. In Busko is also Airport Health in 'Łowiska'.
There is a railway from Kielce, which was built in 1953 near the city, in Siesławice. Currently, Busko's train station only supports freight trains. It was closed for passenger trains on December 12, 2004. The station was sold, and a disco was built in its place.

Health Spa

History

The first document mentioning brines in Busko is the revenue privilege of Bolesław V the Chaste from 1252. Jan Winterfeld conducted research on using health waters to treat illness in 1808. When Feliks Rzewuski leased Busko in 1820, he built the spa Amenities, which was designed by Henryk Marconi.
The opening ceremony of the health spa took place in 1836. Ferdynand Werner, Warsaw's pharmacist, published a full analysis of the water from Rotunda in 1832.
The town lost its town rights in 1869. This had a negative impact on the development of the town.
Aleksander Dobrzański, a doctor, became a new tenant in the 1880s.
Since then, the health resort has become one of the most important health resorts in the country. Aleksander Michalski, an engineering geologist, drilled four new wells. Busko then had three times more water for medicinal purposes.
Franciszek Gervais showed the exact characterisation of the dynamics, physical features and chemical composition of waters from the new water intake in 1897.
After the First World War, bathers began to arrive at the health resorts. Very intensive expansion of the health resort occurred in the interwar years, which was started by Dr. Szymon Starkiewicz, who founded a children's sanatorium under the name 'Górka'. Busko won first place at the competition for the prettiest health resort in Poland, in 1966.
'Włókniarz' - the biggest sanatorium was handed over in 1972. On 30 December 2008, there was the opening of Uzdrowiskowy Zakład Górniczy "Las Winiarski". It gives Busko's sanatorium the waters of sulphide from a new borehole, located in the town of Las Winiarski.

Current status

In Busko, there have been 13 sanatoriums, offering a total of 2066 rooms. The yearly number of treatments approximates half a million. Treatments available in Busko-Zdrój include those for cardiovascular disease, rheumatic diseases, orthopedic conditions, neurological conditions, dermatological disorders and children's cerebral palsy. The health resort is located in the southern part of the city, near the spa's park.
In 2013 there was also opened Słoneczny Zdrój Hotel Medical Spa & Wellness.

Guest houses

Sanato – built in 1929 by the marriage of Irena and Dr. Eugeniusz Budzyński, a doctor of spa in Busko. This hotel was the most modern building among spa buildings in the town. The building was requisitioned by UB in 1950; until the end of 1990 it was used as sanatorium UB-MSW. The heir of the building requested reimbursement in 1990. On 17 November 1996, it was restored and the recovered guest house had its first guests.
Dersław's Castle – a guest house with a restaurant on the main street of the city - ul. Mickiewicza.
Since 1960 it has produced mineral water under the name 'Buskowianka'.