page_title: Płock
section_title: Modern era
hierarchical_section_title: Płock / History / Modern era
context_page_description: Płock is a city on the Vistula river in central Poland. It is located in the Masovian Voivodeship, having previously been the capital of the Płock Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2019 there were 119,425 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to the preamble to the City Statute, is Stołeczne Książęce Miasto Płock. It is used in ceremonial documents as well as for preserving an old tradition.
  Płock is now a capital of the powiat in the west of the Mazovian Voivodeship. From 1079 to 1138 it was the capital of Poland. The Wzgórze Tumskie with the Płock Castle and the Catholic Cathedral, which contains the sarcophagi of a number of Polish monarchs, is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland. Later on, it was a royal city of Poland. It is the cultural, academic, scientific, administrative and transportation center of the west and north Masovian region. Płock is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Płock, one of the oldest dioceses in Poland, founded in the 11th century, and it is also the worldwide headquarters of the Mariavite Church.
context_section_description: In the early modern period, Płock was a royal city of Poland and capital of the Płock Voivodeship within the larger Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. The 16th century was the golden age of the city, before it suffered major losses in population due to plague, fire, and warfare, with wars between Sweden and Poland in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. At that time, the Swedes destroyed much of the city, but the people rebuilt and recovered. In the late 18th century, it took down the old city walls, and made a New Town, filled with many German migrants.
  In the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 the city was annexed by Prussia. From 1807 it was part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 it became part of Congress Poland, later on fully annexed by the Russian Empire. In 1831, the last sejm of Congress Poland was held in the Płock town hall. It was a seat of provincial government and an active center; its economy was closely tied to major grain trade. It laid out a new city plan in the early 19th century, as new residents continued to arrive. Many of its finest buildings were constructed in this period in the Neoclassical style. In 1820 the Płock Scientific Society was founded, and in the late 19th century the city began to industrialize. In 1863 local Poles fought in the January Uprising against Russia. The leader of the uprising in the Płock region, Zygmunt Padlewski, was executed by the Russians in Płock in May 1863. In 1905, large demonstrations of Polish youth and workers took place in Płock.
  During World War I, Płock was occupied by Germany from 1915 to 1918, and in 1918 Poland regained independence, and Płock was immediately reintegrated with Poland. In 1920, the city became famous for its heroic defense against the Soviets during the Polish–Soviet War.
caption: Expanded representational Coat of Arms of Płock