Żyrardów

Żyrardów
Gothic revival church in Żyrardów
Flag Coat of arms
Żyrardów
Coordinates: 52°3′N 20°26′E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Masovian
County	Żyrardów County
Gmina	Żyrardów (urban gmina)
Established	1830
Town rights	1916
Government
• Mayor	Andrzej Wilk
Area
• Total	14.35 km2 (5.54 sq mi)
Population (2006)
• Total	41,161
• Density	2,900/km2 (7,400/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	96-300
Area code(s)	+48 046
Car plates	WZY
Website	http://www.zyrardow.pl

Żyrardów [ʐɨˈrarduf] ( listen) is a town in central Poland with 41,400 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodship (1975–1998) 45 km West of Warsaw. It is the capital of Żyrardów County. Żyrardów is located on the Pisia Gągolina river.

Education

• Szkoła Mistrzostwa Sportowego w Kolarstwie
• Wyższa Szkoła Rozwoju Lokalnego
• Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Stefana Żeromskiego

History

Founded by the Łubienski brothers as a textile factory in 1833. One of directors of the factory was French inventor Philippe de Girard (from Lourmarin). The town developed during the 19th century into a significant textile mill city in Poland. In honour of Girard, Ruda Guzowska was renamed to Żyrardów, a toponym derived of the polonised spelling of Girard's name. On September 13, 1939 Nazis captured the town. In 1941 they transported Jews into Warsaw ghetto. The town museum is nowadays located in the former palace of owner of factory K. Dittrich.

The web page of history of Żyrardów (in Polish) is here http://www.zyrardow.pl/index.php?strona=175 When you drive into Żyrardów you may see an old town map, and a statement it was the only city in Europe, entierely set up for a factory (jedyna w Europie osada fabryczna).

Monuments

Winter panorama of main square

Most of Żyrardów's monuments are placed in manufacturing's settlement which is from 19th and 20th's century beginning. It's widely believed that Żyrardów's settlement is single saved in Europe as a whole urbanist complex from 19th c. industrial town.

Famous people

• Paweł Hulka-Laskowski, a writer, translator and social activist
• A known son of the city is former Prime Minister Leszek Miller (born in Żyrardów on July 3, 1946), who started his professional life as electrician in a local textile factory.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Żyrardów is twinned with:

• Tangshan, China
• Delchevo, Republic of Macedonia

External links

• Official Site of Żyrardów
• Current Population
• Memorial Book of Zyrardow, Amshinov and Viskit