The history of the Old Town and Solna Street in Pułtusk
The Pułtusk settlement complex established in the Middle Ages (12th–13th c.) consisted of three areas: a stronghold in the area of the castle, a borough formed by the Island and a marketplace settlement called the “Old Town”. The granting of location rights in the 13th century referred to the Old Town area.
The first Christian church in the Old Town was the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary erected at the turn of the 15th century and expanded by the Bishop of Płock Erazm Ciołek in the 16th century. Its former shape has survived till today. In the mid-19th century, the church was bought by the Evangelical community and used until 1944. In 1973, it became the seat of the State Archive.
From the 15th until the 17th century, Pułtusk was one of the important economic centres of Masovia. The development of the city was supported by its location on the Narew, where the loading and shipping of grain and other goods to Gdańsk took place in the Old Town. In 1537–1576, over 50 merchants operated in Pułtusk.
The erection of a Reformed Franciscan church founded in 1648 by Wojciech Wessel – a carver and pantler of the Crown in 1652–1653 – in the Old Town resulted in a large growth of development in the Old Town area.
In the 18th century, there was a lot going on in the Old Town district. In 1729, the city authorities decided that cattle and pig farming was permitted only in the Old Town area, but prohibited in the city under the penalty of five grzywnas. Building a house without a required brick chimney was permitted in that area. Municipal baths were also erected there. At the same time, malt drying plants (called ozdownie and oźnice in Old Polish) were established in the Old Town.
In 1802, on the initiative of the Bishop of Płock Onufry Szembek, a large brick granary necessary for the storage of grain supplies was built on the bishop square at the foot of the Pułtusk castle near the arm of the Narew.
During the partitions, mine warehouses of Prussian and Austrian salt were built in the coastal area of the Old Town. It gave rise to the initially colloquial and then formal adoption of the name Solna for the street. An ox market was located in the same place.
On 26th November 1822, a decision was made to create a Jewish borough in the area of the Old Town.
In the 1920s, a playing field of the County Committee of Military Training and Physical Education was built at Solna Street, where the local sports club Nadnarwianka played its matches. Not only football, but a whole range of other sports became a part of everyday life in Pułtusk. Horse-riding, shooting and water sports, such as canoeing or rowing, which were very popular among inhabitants, could be practised under the supervision of officers of the 13th Infantry Regiment.
In the interwar period, an original wooden rowing marina was built on the river; it did not survive World War II. After the war, it was rebuilt as a brick structure.
In the interwar period, at the intersection of Stare Miasto and Panny Marii streets in the Old Town, lived Doctor Piotr Lenartowicz – a man with the charisma of Doctor Judym from Stefan Żeromski’s novel Ludzie bezdomni, who often provided his services free of charge and did not refuse medical aid to anyone. Stefan Chęciński, the founder of the Nadnarwianka sports club, lived in the same house.
In times of partitions, at the end of the 19th century, an imposing one-floor red brick barrack building was erected. An artillery unit of the Tsarist army stationed there. After the restoration of Poland’s independence, the building housed the County Military Draft Office until 1939 and the bridgehead defence staff during the German aggression in September 1939. At the end of the war, when the Eastern front was approaching the Narew, the German organised a Soviet POW camp there. However, the structure did not survive the offensive in January 1945.
Bibliography:
Samsonowicz H., Lolo R. (ed.), Dzieje Pułtuska. Tom I do 1795 roku, Pułtusk 2016.
Koseski A., Szczepański J. (ed.), Dzieje Pułtuska. Tom II 1795-1989, Pułtusk 2017.
Szczepański J., Społeczność żydowska Mazowsza w XIX–XX wieku, Pułtusk 2005.
Świdwa M.F., Obrona Pułtuska we wrześniu 1939 roku, Pułtusk 2019.
Wiadomości Historyczne Miasta Pułtusk [News about History of the City of Pułtusk], Warsaw 1826; https://polona.pl/
Bartoszewicz A., Bartoszewicz H., Pułtusk. Obraz kartograficzny miasta od końca XV do początku XX wieku, Pułtusk 2010.
The collection of the Regional Museum in Pułtusk.
https://fotopolska.eu/192/192361/Pultusk_Rzeka_Narew_Pultusk.jpg
Photo captions:
The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary – a photograph from before World War II
A wooden bridge across the Narew river with buildings in the area of Solna Street in the background – a photograph from before World War II
A wintering place for vessels on the Narew in Pułtusk – a photograph from 1928. Source: fotopolska.eu
The quay of the Rowing Association with a view of the building of the County Military Draft Office in the background – a photograph from before World War II
A rowing competition on the Narew near the quay – a photograph from before World War II
The layout of the Peripheral City of Pułtusk from 1821, including the Borough for Jews (marked with a red circle) and Solna Street with salt warehouses (marked with a blue rectangle)