Country Poland Population 223,110 (2010) University Kazimierz Pulaski University of Technology and Humanities in Radom Area 111.71 km2 | Founded 13th century Mayor Andrzej Kosztowniak | |
Radom [?radom. It is located 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Polands capital, Warsaw, on the Mleczna River, in (as of 1999) the Masovian Voivodeship, having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship (1975–1998). Despite being part of the Masovian Voivodeship, the city historically belongs to Lesser Poland. For centuries, Radom was part of the Sandomierz Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland and the later Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was an important center of administration, having served as seat of the Crown Council. The Pact of Vilnius and Radom was signed there in 1401, and the Nihil novi and Laskis Statute were adopted by the Sejm at Radoms Royal Castle in 1505. In 1976, it was a center of anti Communist street protests.
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Map of Radom
The city is home to the biennial Radom Air Show, the largest and best-attended air show in Poland, held during the last weekend of August. "Radom" is also the popular unofficial name for a semiautomatic 9 mm Para pistol of Polish design (the Model 35/ViS-35) which was produced from 1935 to 1944 at the national arsenal located in the city. The Lucznik Arms Factory (still located in Radom) continues to produce modern military firearms.
International Jazz Festival and International Gombrowicz Theater Festival are held in Radom.
History
Radoms original settlement dates back to the 8th–9th century. It was an early mediaeval town in the valley of the Mleczna River (on the approximate site of present-day Old Town). In the second half of the 10th century, it became a gord, called Piotrowka, which was protected by a rampart and a moat. Due to convenient location on the edge of a large wilderness, and its proximity to the border of Lesser Poland and Mazovia, Radom quickly emerged as an important administrative center of the early Kingdom of Poland. Piotrowka was probably named after St. Peter church, which in 1222 was placed under the authority of a Benedictine Abbey in nearby Sieciechow. The church no longer exists; the oldest still-extant church in Radom is St. Waclaw, founded in the 13th century by Prince of Sandomierz Leszek I the White. The first documented mention of Radom comes from the year 1155, in a bull of Pope Adrian IV (villam iuxta Rado, que vocatur Zlauno, or a village near Radom, called Slawno). By 1233, Radom was the seat of a castellan. The name of the city comes from the ancient Slavic given name Radomir, and Radom means a gord, which belongs to Radomir.
In the second half of the 13th century, Radom was granted a Sroda Slaska town charter by Prince Boleslaw V the Chaste, although no documents exist to confirm the exact date of this event. The town prospered in the 14th century, when in 1350 King Kazimierz Wielki established the so-called New Town, with a royal castle, a defensive wall, and a town hall. There was also a market square and a grid plan of the streets, patterned after Gothic German towns. The area of New Town was 9 hectares, and the length of the defensive wall was 1,100 meters. Radom had three gates, named after main merchant roads: Ilza Gate, Piotrkow Trybunalski Gate, and Lublin Gate. The defensive wall was further protected by 25 fortified towers. New Town had the Church of John the Baptist, and the Royal Castle was built between the church and the moat.
In 1364, Radom’s obsolete Sroda Slaska rights were replaced with more modern Magdeburg rights, and residents gained several privileges as a result. At that time, Radom was located along the so-called Oxen Trail, from Ruthenian lands to Silesia. In 1376, the city became the seat of a starosta, and entered the period of its greatest prosperity.