Middle Ages

Łowicz traditional folk costume

The history of Lowicz dates back to the 12th century, when a gord, which guarded the swampy Bzura river ford existed in the location of the castle. Lowicz, spelled as Loviche, was first mentioned in a papal bull of Pope Innocent II, on July 7, 1136. In this document, the pope confirmed the right of the Archbishops of Gniezno to own local land. In 1214 or 1215 at Wolborz, Piast Dukes of four Polish provinces: Leszek I the White of Kraków, Konrad I of Masovia, Wladyslaw Odonic of Kalisz and Casimir I of Opole issued the so-called Immunity Privilege, in which they confirmed the fact that Archbishops of Gniezno owned Lowicz. At that time, Lowicz was still called villa (village), even though the archbishops’ mansion already existed here.

It is not known when Lowicz received town charter. First document which calls it oppidium (town) dates back to 1298, and was issued by Duke Boleslaw I of Płock. Before that, in 1263, Łowicz was ransacked and burned in a Lithuanian raid. In 1350, a Polish-Danish alliance was formed in Łowicz.^[4] According to chronicler Jan of Czarnkow, in ca. 1355 Archbishop Jaroslaw of Bogoria and Skotnik built a brick Gothic castle in the location of the former gord. The castle became one of residences of Archbishops of Gniezno and Primates of Poland. Furthermore, in ca. 1358, he granted Magdeburg rights to the newly established New Town (Nowe Miasto). New Civitas of Lowicz was located east of the old gord, along the Bzura and around the wooden church, which stood in the location of contemporary Cathedral Basilica.

In the late Middle Ages Lowicz was the seat of a castellany. Located on the border between the Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Masovia, it remained under firm control of the Gniezno Archbishops. In the mid-14th century Lowicz, together with 111 adjacent villages, was the biggest church property in Poland. On May 17, 1359, Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia confirmed the ownership of Lowicz by the Gniezno Primates. Nevertheless, the dukes of Masovia on several occasions tried to place Lowicz under their authority, which resulted in conflicts with Polish kings, who supported the Archbishops. On April 8, 1382, Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia besieged Łowicz, and such conflicts occasionally returned until the incorporation of Mazovia into Poland.

Lowicz prospered in the 15th century. In 1404, Archbishop Mikolaj Kurowski funded the first brick church in town, and a new Roman Catholic parish. In the 1430s, old wooden church in Lowicz's Old Town was replaced by a brick, Gothic complex. On April 25, 1433, Archbishop Wojciech Jastrzebiec named it a Collegiate church, and soon afterwards, a branch of Kraków Academy was established here.

On October 24, 1419, Archbishop Mikołaj Trąba confirmed the town charter of Łowicz and unified legal regulations of the three districts of Łowicz: Podgrodzie (Suburb), Stare Miasto (Old Town) and Nowe Miasto (New Town). In 1443, a town hall was built in the market square of the Old Town. Due to its convenient locations, multiple royal privileges and frequent fairs, Łowicz prospered. Administratively it was located in the Rawa Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.

Modern era

Early 17th-century view of Łowicz

The town remained under the authority of the Archbishops of Gniezno, and as a residency of the Primates of Poland, since 1572 Łowicz occasionally served as a second capital of the Kingdom, during the periods known as interregnum.^[5] The period of prosperity ended after the disastrous Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–1660). The town was visited by Polish kings John II Casimir Vasa and John III Sobieski, as well as Polish national hero Tadeusz Kościuszko.^[5] Almost completely destroyed, Łowicz never regained its importance and turned into a small, local town. Nevertheless, it remained a cultural center, as in 1668 one of the first Piarist Colleges in Poland-Lithuania was opened here. One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through Łowicz in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland often traveled that route.^[6] Łowicz was also a garrison town of the Polish Crown Army, with the Prince Frederick Mounted Regiment and 3rd, 7th and 9th Infantry Regiments stationed there at various times.^[7]

Main post office

After the Second Partition of Poland (1793) Łowicz was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw, and from 1815 until 1915 it belonged to Russian-controlled Congress Poland (later Vistula Land). The body of Prince Józef Poniatowski was temporarily kept in the Collegiate church in Łowicz before his burial in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków.^[8] In 1820, the real estate of the Archbishops of Gniezno became the property of Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia and his wife Joanna Grudzinska, who was granted the title of the Duchess of Lowicz. On July 9, 1822, Tsar Alexander I of Russia formally established the Duchy of Łowicz. In 1826, the town was visited by young Fryderyk Chopin.^[8]

In 1831, following the last will of Joanna Grudzinska, the Duchy of Lowicz became the property of Polish rulers. Since at that time Russian Tsars regarded themselves as Kings of Poland, the duchy belonged to them until World War I. Following the request of General Ivan Paskevich, who was the governor of Poland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia gave permission for construction of the first railroad in the Russian Partition of Poland. The Warsaw–Vienna railway was completed in 1848, giving Łowicz rail connection with Warsaw, Kraków, Vienna and Wrocław. In 1861, Łowicz Główny railway station was built. Due to the construction of additional line to Koluszki (November 1866), Łowicz emerged as a rail hub, which contributed to its development. On July 26, 1863, during the January Uprising, a small Polish insurgent unit attacked the Russian troops stationed in the town, but soon withdrew.^[9]

Following the Act of 5th November, the Duchy of Łowicz was annexed into the Kingdom of Poland (1916–18), which was a puppet state of the German Empire. After World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and Łowicz became again part of Poland. In the Second Polish Republic, Lowicz and the County of Lowicz belonged to Warsaw Voivodeship, but on April 1, 1938, it was moved to Lodz Voivodeship (see Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938). In the interbellum Łowicz was visited by Presidents of Poland Stanisław Wojciechowski and Ignacy Mościcki.^[5]

World War II

Monument to Poles, Jews and Soviet prisoners of war, imprisoned and killed in a local German forced labour camp

During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, the Battle of Bzura took place in the area of the town. Germany carried out several air raids on Łowicz on September 3-6, 1939, damaging many buildings and killing hundreds of civilians. The town was captured by the Wehrmacht on September 8, 1939, to be recaptured by the Polish Army three days later. Between September 14–16, the town changed hands three times. Finally, Polish forces abandoned Łowicz in the night of September 16/17, 1939. German occupation of Łowicz lasted until January 17, 1945. Over 5,000 inhabitants were killed during the war.

In 1940, during the Nazi Occupation of Poland, German authorities established a Jewish ghetto in Łowicz,^[10] in order to confine its Jewish population for the purpose of persecution and exploitation.^[11] The ghetto was liquidated in March 1941, when all its 8,000–8,200 inhabitants were transported in cattle trucks to Warsaw Ghetto,^[12] the largest ghetto in all of Nazi occupied Europe with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²). From there, most victims were sent to Treblinka extermination camp.^{[13][14][15][16]}

During the Warsaw Uprising, in August-September 1944, the Germans deported several thousands of Varsovians from the Dulag 121 camp in Pruszków, where they were initially imprisoned, to Łowicz.^[17] These Poles were mainly old people and women with children, many were sent to nearby villages, while over 3,400 stayed in the town as of mid-November 1944.^[17]

Recent period

From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in Skierniewice Voivodeship. Łowicz was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1999.^[5] In 2012, due to its historical, artistic, material and spiritual values, the Cathedral Basilica complex was listed by the President of Poland as a Historic Monument of Poland.^[18]

Twin towns — Sister cities

Łowicz is twinned with:

• Cheektowaga, Erie County, NY, United States
• Colditz, Saxony, Germany
• Lubliniec, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
• Montoire-sur-le-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France
• Reda, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
• Šalčininkai, Lithuania