Puńsk
| Puńsk | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
 Puńsk
|
|
| Coordinates: 54°15′N 23°10′E / 54.250°N 23.167°E | |
| Country |
 Poland
|
| Voivodeship | Podlaskie |
| County | Sejny |
| Gmina | Puńsk |
Puńsk [puɲsk] (Lithuanian: Punskas) is a village (city in 1647-1852) in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. Over 75% of the population of Puńsk is Lithuanian. It lies in the northeastern part of Poland, only 5 km (3.1 mi) from the border with Lithuania.
Puńsk has belonged to Poland since 1920. With Lithuanian Culture House, Lithuanian high school and print house, Puńsk is the main centre of the Lithuanian minority in Poland.
The oldest traces of human being in Puńsk territory date back to about 10 000 years BC. In the early medieval ages it was inhabited by Yatvingians and Sudovians. They did not have a country or a language that could have been written. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights exterminated them and only few of them survived. Nowadays only some castle hills (e.g. in Szurpiły), mounds (e.g. in Eglinė), cemeteries (e.g. in Szwajcaria), names of some villages (e.g. Zervynai, Krosna) and archaeological excavations remind us about their existence.
Later on Sudovia became overgrown with forests. Lithuanian Grand Dukes hunted there. In the early 15th century the people from Merkinė and Punia started to colonize this territory again. They gave the name Punia to the lake, so the village was called Puńsk after it. It was one of the first settlements in this territory. At the same time the other ones were created, such us: Beržninkai (now Berżniki), Seinai (now Sejny) or Kreivėnai (now Krejwiany).
In 1597 the forester of Sejwy, Stanisław Zaliwski built the church in Puńsk, and the parish has been established here. Later on the chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania published the document of the king Sigismund the Old. It was written in it that the parish priest in Puńsk can be only a person who speaks Lithuanian. In 1647 the king Władysław IV Waza approved the civic rights of Puńsk according to the Magdeburg rights and gave it the coat of arms with St Peter’s image. At that time the parish of Puńsk belonged to the Diocese of Vilnius, and later (from 1795) to the bishopric of Wigry. There was a school and a hospital by the church.
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Wikipedia