# Gmina Wasilków

Wasilków commune is an urban-rural commune (administrative district) in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. Its seat is the Wasilków town, which lies approximately 3 km north of the regional capital Białystok.Wasilków commune is located on the Supraśl River, surrounded by the forests of the Knyszyn Forest.
The comunne covers an area of 127.17 square kilometres (49.1 sq mi), and as of 2022 its total population is 20 361 (out of which the population of Wasilków amounts to 12 559, and the population of the rural part of the commune is 7 802).

## History

The first traces of settlement in the Wasilków commune date back to the Middle Stone Age. Excavations conducted near the town of Nowodworce provided evidence of the settlement of these areas in the Bronze Age, which lasted in Poland until around 1800 BCE. One of the most interesting was the discovery of a flint mine in the Knyszyn Forest near Rybniki. As a result of the research, about fifty archaeological sites have been discovered in the commune. Traces of prehistoric and early-historic settlements have been found in the vicinity of almost every modern village in the Wasilków commune. However, nothing is known about the beginnings of Slavic settlement in Wasilków.
In the 11th century the territory of Wasilków belonged to Kievan Rus. In 1340, the area of Wasilkow was incorporated into Lithuania by prince Gediminas. However, earlier this area belonged to Mazovia. The first mention in written sources about the area where the town and the Wasilków starosty was later established in 1358.
A breakthrough date in the history of Wasilków is December 8, 1566, when King Zygmunt August granted him city rights and a coat of arms. The city was inhabited by people from the vicinity of Goniądz, Tykocin and Białystok. Two days after granting city rights - on December 10, 1566, King Zygmunt August issued a privilege allowing the creation of a Catholic parish.
In the middle of the 17th century Wasilków was inhabited by about 500 people, and the entire starosty additionally 400 people. The first records from this period appear about Jews who came from Choroszcz and settled in Wasilków. Before the first partition of Poland, Wasilków had about 1,500 inhabitants. After the Third Partition of Poland, Wasilków was incorporated into the Białystok Department of New East Prussia, and from 1807, under the Treaty of Tylża, into the Russian Partition.
Around 1880, Wasilków had 3,880 inhabitants. There were 12 textile factories in the town, ten of which were owned by Jews. All plants employed a total of about 300 people.
The tragic date in the history of the city is May 5, 1895, when a great fire destroyed almost half of Wasilków, and 10 people died in the fire. At the end of the 19th century, Wasilków had approx. 4,000 inhabitants. residents.
In November 1918, there were only two textile factories operating in the city, employing nearly 70 workers. World War II began in these lands on September 16, 1939, with the entry of the German army. Less than a week later, a cavalry detachment of the Soviet Red Army entered the Tui. This is how the Soviet occupation began, during which several dozen of Wasilkow families were deported to Kazakhstan. In August 1941, the Germans established a ghetto in Wasilków, in which about 1,250 Jews were held. The following year, they were taken to Treblinka, where they were murdered.
As a result of the war, the industry in Wasilków ceased to exist. The city was destroyed in 20%. In the post-war period, a significant date is July 1, 1947, when Father Wacław Rabczyński was appointed vicar and administrator of the parish under the invocation of Transfiguration of the Lord in Wasilków. The summary of the activities of Fr. Rabczyński began in 1958 and completed in 1966 the construction of the church of Of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy at Kościuszko Street. Father Wacław Rabczyński was undoubtedly one of the most outstanding figures in the post-war history of the Wasilkow region.
In 1946 Wasilków had 3,948 inhabitants. The determinant of the changes taking place in the post-war years was the development of Emilia Plater Wool Industry Plant, which in its heyday employed about 2,500 employees. In 1959, the construction of an elementary school on Mickiewicza Street began, and in 1982 a primary school on Polna Street, which was officially opened on May 22, 1985.
After World War II, Wasilków became a satellite city of Białystok. On May 27, 1990, the first half-century free and democratic elections to local self-government took place.
In 2022, the number of inhabitants of the city and commune of Wasilków reaches nearly 19 thousand. and is constantly growing. Wasilków has become one of the most dynamically developing local government units in Podlaskie.

## Villages

Apart from the town of Wasilków, Gmina Wasilków contains the villages and settlements of Burczak, Dąbrówki, Horodnianka, Horodnianka-Kolonia, Jurowce, Jurowce-Kolonia, Katrynka, Katrynka-Leśniczówka, Mostek, Mostek-Gajówka, Nowodworce, Osowicze, Ożynnik, Podkrzemionka, Rybniki, Sielachowskie, Sochonie, Studzianki, Wólka Poduchowna, Wólka-Przedmieście, Woroszyły, Zapieczki and Zaścianek.

## Neighbouring commune

Wasilków comunne is bordered by the Białystok city and by the commune of Czarna Białostocka, Dobrzyniewo Duże and Supraśl.

## Prizes and awards

In 2022, the Wasilków commune received three awards in the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ranking:
* 1st place among all Polish local governments in the Local Government Communication and Promotion Leader category for the promotional film "Wasilkowska Song".
* 2nd place in Poland in the urban-rural commune category. Second place in the category of the best mayor in an urban-rural commune went to Adrian Łuckiewicz.
In 2023, the Wasilków commune received two awards in the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ranking
* 1st place in Poland in the urban-rural commune category.
* 1st place in the category of the best mayor in an urban-rural commune went to Adrian Łuckiewicz.

## Intermunicipal relationships and agreements signed with the Wasilków commune

* intermunicipal cooperation with the Mosty Wielkie commune (Ukraine),
* intermunicipal cooperation with the Czerwonak commune (Poland, Greater Poland Voivodeship),
* intermunicipal cooperation with the Potęgowo commune (Poland, Pomeranian Voivodeship).