Dębica is a district town located In the south east of Poland within the Podkarpacie province.
The population of Dębica is about 46 thousand inhabitants. The town is a large and dynamic industrial centre with well-developed economic and cultural functions that go far beyond the district territory.
Dębica belongs to the group of the oldest settlements within the province. The beginning of its existence as a village was approximately the second half of the 13th century. It was mentioned for the first time in historical sources in 1293. During King Kazimierz Wielki reign, in the second half of the 14th century, Dębica was granted a town status (1358). During the following century, the town was granted privileges to organize fairs and markets. The town, situated on a busy trade route leading from the west to the east of Europe, was a local centre of commodity exchange and craftsmanship.
Dębica was a private town. At the beginning, it was a property of the well-known line of knights - the Gryfit family, who were the owners of extensive properties in the neighbourhood. The estate of the Gryfit family was than divided into smaller estates and the town of Dębica itself was divided between several landowners. Later, the town was absorbed into the estates of the Radziwiłł and the Raczyński families.
As a result of the first partition of Poland in 1772, the southern part of the country became Austrian territory. The invader’s authorities classified Dębica as a so-called small town and deprived it of its town rights. These rights were only returned in 1914. In the second half of the 19th century, when the roads and railways had been built, Dębica began transforming into an industrial centre. From 1855 to 1867, the town was a seat of district authorities. At the end of the 19th century, there were 15 small factories and nearly 80 craft workshops as well as almost 50 trading companies. In 1900 a secondary school was founded here.
In 1937, Dębica became a seat of the district authorities for the second time. Efforts to develop the district have been ongoing since. In 1939 the town’s population exceeded 10 thousand inhabitants. The favourable development of the town was interrupted by The Second World War. During long-lasting frontline operations in 1944 and 1945, half the town was laid to ruins. A few years after the war the town was rebuilt and in subsequent years it was further developed.
Next to the pre-war factories, which were also reconstructed, several new factories and companies were set up. In Dębica at present, there are a lot of various companies and small enterprises, numerous banks and financial institutions. Among the largest companies there is Dębica Tyre Company S.A. (formerly known as “STOMIL”), owned by Goodyear at present.
Dębica is a spatially extensive town. It covers an area of 34km2 and includes 11 large housing estates. The town may be proud of its well-developed municipal and social infrastructure, several modern industrial, sacral, educational, cultural and sport buildings.
In the town centre, the oldest part of Dębica, you can still see an old urban system. Two market places and characteristic structures including houses and tenement-buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries have been well-preserved and modernized. The oldest, and at the same time, the most interesting historical building is the St. Jadwiga Parish Church situated close to Plac Gryfitów. It was built at the turn of the 16th century on the framework of a 15th century chapel. At the turn of 19th century, the original Gothic structure was significantly reconstructed and enlarged: the nave was extended and a tower was added. The interior of the church is a result of 18th and 19th century work. In the neighbourhood there is the oldest school in the town built in the 19th century. In the town centre, at Słowackiego street there is a splendid building of a secondary school built in 1906-1907. The famous composer of our times, Krzysztof Penderecki, was born in Dębica, and attended this school.
Dębica is a hospitable place that welcomes all the visitors.
See you in Dębica!
