Poland: th oldest city in the country described by Claudius Ptolemy- Kalisz.

ancient Calisia on Zawiercie

In 158 A.D., Claudius Ptolemy wrote about a mysterious city existing outside the Roman Empire, called ''Calisia." He places the city on the territory of Germania Magna in his book: ''Geography'' .Interestingly, he gives the coordinates of the city that are almost identical to the modern ones. However, he made mistakes in many matters, so the work is undermined, but still no one can explain why the location of Kalisz was given almost perfectly.

Biskupin is older city, but we do not know its name from any ancient Roman history; in fact,  we don't know the real ancient name of that city. The Amber Route passed through the Kalisz as well. Like in Biskupin, probably different nations of people lived there throughout the centuries,  like in Biskupin, there were: Celts, Slavs, and Vikings. Nations had shifted as a result of wars and migration.Today, ancient Calisia has the name Kalisz.

 

This is the only such old city in Poland, that exists to this day. Kalisz is located in Greater Poland, in the eastern part. That one was in Russia during the Partitions  of Poland. This means that people here are not as mentally limited as they were during the German partition, and order is not more important than God. Getting to Kalisz is difficult; that's a fact. The roads are congested, and the city is not well connected by highway to places like Poznań, Łódź, and Warsaw, but it is connected by railway to Warsaw. Polish roads are the most dangerous in Europe, so local people are not surprised. This is a small city. However, they are taking care of culture and trying to remind the rest of the world of its existence. It has its own theater, and it doesn't happen often in small Polish cities. Stefan Szolc Rogozinski of the Royal Geographical Society in London was born in Kalisz. He has his monument here. He worked mainly in Cameroon. Unfortunately, not many people in Poland had heard of him. Kalisz was also visited by Pope John Paul II. 

 

 

Few monuments from the Roman Empire have been found here, such as Roman coins from the 5th century. The first stronghold was in the Zawodzie district; later, a settlement was established in the area of present-day Kalisz's old town.Perhaps the city was a power center when a country called Poland was born.

During the reign of the first king of Poland- Bolesław the Brave city was expanded and became the capital of one of the seven provinces. A brick tower was built on Zawodzie at the end of the 12th century to ensure the gate in the circumference of wooden and ground embankments.For the time being, this is the first building of its kind in Poland. That is the oldest part of ancient Calisia. The old stronghold is located in a swampy valley of the river Prosna, surrounded by a shaft and a moat. It quickly became one of the most important political and commercial centers. It was rather a craft settlement. Most of the buildings were wooden, except a church. Many cities looked like that until the end of the medieval period.The city had been destroyed during the Feudal Fragmentation Wars.The Museum of Zawodzie is possible to visit just during the spring and summer.

 

St. Joseph sanctuary in Kalisz and ''Dorothy''

  The most famous is the church of St. Joseph. It was constructed during Feudal Fragmentation by Prince Mieszko III of Greater Poland. The most famous part of church is painting of Holy Family.

It is a period in history when the country owned by a dynasty of Piasts divided the lands at autonomous duchies, each of them had autonomy by the time of outright independence and had all been ruled by a high-ranking prince. They occasionally chose a "senior" from among themselves to represent them as an uncrowned king outside; that person had more rights and could interfere in matters of autonomy; he was sometimes killed for this. Had special privileges reserved only for "seniors."

However, the painting was funded in 1670 as a gift of thanksgiving for healing the inhabitant of the village of Szulec, this man was called Stobień.

 

St. Joseph sanctuary interior

According to the legends, the painting of the Holy Family is regarded as healing . Tomasso Dolabella, an Italian painter who worked for a court  in Poland, should paint it. The question is whether a villager in povertyreally could fund the painting created by famous artist, of course can't.Maybe founder just did not want to be known or Tomasso never touched it.The painting was supposed to heal 500 people and in 1783 the Vatican issued a verdict about miraculousness which had been done thanks it. Real or not, one amazing miracle really happened, when the gothic part of the church in which it was hanged had collapsed to the painting nothing happened.The painting is unique due the way how the Holy Family is presented.
Every year there is a living Nativity Scene, which is located near a fragment of the old fortifications of the medieval city, located today at the back of the church by local people called: ''Dorothy''. There is a museum there recently, with a rich collection of the church treasury and monuments of the first Piast dynasty.

St. Joseph sanctuary, chapel with famous painting of Holy Family,

the painting is revealed during the mass.

 
  
 On the river Prosna you can find a still operating hydropower electricity can feed 150 farms, it was created in 1822, closed afore II World War is now reconstruction at old place of building.

In this city were produced the famous polish pianos: ''Calisia,'' the instruments were not inferior to the pianos produced by companies known around the world. 

Mysterious grave of Mr. Dowydenko, soldier who not exist in any pappers

From a distance, you can see a huge Soviet cemetery with pompous statues.
According to legend, the massive gate of the cemetery was covered in marble from Hitler's main seat in Berlin.That can be the truth or not as well. Today is a mode to remove such places. it should not be like that; this is a'' retouching'' of history, and history should not be used or changed.

This is also part of the history; many of them died during this war. An undeniable fact is that without these people, the Allies would never have won the war. It is also a symbol of this war. We can not simply erase them. The age of the fallen soldiers is terrifying, many of them are not even 19 years old.

 At last as someone said that: if we want that someone respect our graves and not remove them, we shouldn't do it as well.The Geneva Conventions also require it, and documents clearly state it. On the economic side, this place has the potential to generate revenue from tourism, particularly if legends about it are well publicized. Poles have the right to despise this chapter of history, but they must also think about it clearly and objectively. It works perfectly in the United Kingdom, the Scottish Islands, England, and Wales. 

 

They sell their difficult history of coexistence well. Actually, the smallest village has a folder or an advertisement, about itself, even if someone famous just stays here for a few hours. This country shows that a difficult history can be sold exceptionally well, earned, and revived in the most forgotten places. At the same time, educate people about history. So why not think about it?In fact, the best way to learn history is when we can be in that place or see that thing. The greatest mysterious secret here is history of Colonel Ivan Dawydenko and his grave. He was supposed to die from an assassin's bullet during a triumphant passage with an outdoor tank after the fighting in the city, and his grave is in the most important place at the cemetery. But a man with that name does not exist in the Russian archives—in fact, he does not exist in any archive. Everyone has a problem with this person, he simply does not exist in documents. Who he really was?Who is buried here? Maybe he was someone important enough that his data could not be public. Maybe someone different is buried here? Maybe he had a completely different name? NKVD officer or double spy? Maybe we'll never know, or maybe we will.   The tombstone obelisk has the incorrect Russian spelling of the surname (овденко rather than the correct Daвиденко), the incorrect annual date of birth (1910 rather than 1907) and the incorrect daily date of death (January 27 rather than January 28). This small change'' o'' to ''a'', caused historians a lot of work and conjecture, and the bricklayer was simply drunk. 

Hydropower on river Prosna

What is the issue with Kalisz, and why don't foreigners visit it? The church advertises well, and every year many pilgrims come here; unfortunately, the city itself attracts a bit fewer. There are no good guides to the city and the surrounding area, even in polish language.The advertisement is poor, but Kalisz and the area have a lot to offer. Zawodzie is less well-known, even among Poles, than the museum, which many people outside of Kalisz have never heard of. The question is why the museum is open only for a few months while the Biskupin is not open only in December, January, and February. After all, it is a city that is a bit out of the way of major roads and cannot compete with airport-equipped cities such as Warsaw, Poznań. There's long distance to the airport.  
Tourism could restore life to a region that is starting to die out. People move to neighboring big cities for work. It is sad, because it is a nice and interesting city and region as well.

 

Hydropower on river Prosna

 

　

International site about the place:
St. Joseph Sanctuary: https://www.swietyjozef.kalisz.pl/Sanktuarium/21,en.html

Zawodzie (any) just polish site: https://www.muzeumwkaliszu.pl/rezerwat-archeologiczny-w-kaliszu-zawodziu.html