Jastrząb, Szydłowiec County
Jastrząb is a village in Szydłowiec County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Jastrząb. It lies approximately east of Szydłowiec and south of Warsaw. It lies approximately 8 kilometres east of Szyd∏owiec and 108 km south of Warsaw. Jastrzab belongs to Lesser Poland, and used to be a town from 1427 to 1869.
The name of the village comes from Bishop of Kraków Wojciech Jastrzebiec, and since its foundation until 1795, it belonged to Lesser Poland's Sandomierz Voivodeship. According to Jan Długosz, Jastrząb was founded by Bishop Jastrzebiec in the year 1422. The village was located on a merchant route from Iłża to Skrzynno, and was granted Magdeburg rights on September 30, 1427, by Cardinal Zbigniew Olesnicki. Jastrząb has a parish church of John the Baptist. First church was erected here in the early 15th century. Burned in 1667, it was remodelled several times, and took its current shape in the early 20th century. There also was a castle, built in 1426 by Bishop Jastrzebiec. The castle was destroyed in the Swedish invasion of Poland, and has never been rebuilt.
Until 1789, Jastrząb remained private property of Bishops of Kraków, as part of their Iłża Estate. The town was a center of early industry, with iron ore and limestone deposits. In 1795, it was seized by the Habsburg Empire, and since 1815 it belonged to Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1820, the population of Jastrząb was app. 550, with 128 Jews. The town had 80 wooden and 21 brick houses. After January Uprising, Jastrząb was reduced to the status of a village. In 1885, it received rail connection, on a line from Radom to Dąbrowa Górnicza. In the Second Polish Republic, and in 1945–1975, Jastrząb belonged to Kielce Voivodeship. Since 1973, Jastrząb has been the seat of a gmina. The village has a sports club KS Jastrząb.
