page_title: Białystok
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Białystok / History
caption_attribution_description: Medical University of Białystok
context_page_description: Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and is the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is in the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River in the Podlaskie region, known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland.
  The city charter dates back to 1692, but settlement activity in the area dates back to the 14th century. Białystok has traditionally been one of the leading center of academic, cultural and artistic life in Podlaskie and is the most important economic center in northeastern Poland. The location of the city in the neighborhood of Belarus, Lithuania and Russia, with convenient transportation connections, creates excellent conditions for economic and cultural development of the city. The geographical and historical conditions helped to foster Białystok as a place where people of different cultures, religions and nationalities lived together for centuries. It has shaped the specific character of the city – openness, friendliness and hospitality.
  Among cities of Poland, Białystok is second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area. The city and its adjacent municipalities constitute Metropolitan Białystok.
context_section_description: The city of Białystok has existed for five centuries. During all this time the fate of the city has passed between various political and economic forces. The various historically driven changes have had a very significant influence on the architectural space of the city. This activity relates to the fate of most other Polish cities, but the processes in Białystok had a particularly intense course. Numerous historic works of architecture no longer exist while many others have been rebuilt to their original configuration. The historic buildings of the city have not been preserved very well – the sights are merely an echo of the old historical shape of Białystok.
  Over the course of the last 200 years, the city has been the capital of numerous administrative divisions of a number of countries or occupying powers;
  Capital of the New East Prussia Province, Kingdom of Prussia from 1795 to 1807
  Capital of the Belostok Oblast, Russian Empire from 1807 to 1842
  Capital of the Belоstok Province of the Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire from 1842 to 1915
  Capital of the Bialystok-Grodno District of the German-controlled territory of Ober-Ost during World War I (1914–1918)
  Capital of the Białystok Voivodeship, Second Polish Republic from 1919 to 1939
  During World War II it was the capital of the Belastok Voblast, Byelorussian SSR from 1939–1941 and 1944–1945
  Capital of Bezirk Białystok during the World War II occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944
  Capital of the Białystok Voivodeship, People's Republic of Poland from 1945 to 1999
  Since 1999 it has been the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship, Republic of Poland.
caption: Branicki Palace in Białystok, now Białystok Medical University
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