Siedlce

Poland

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Article History

Siedlce, city, Mazowieckie województwo (province), east-central Poland. It is an economic centre for the eastern section of the province, with food processing, textile milling, and toy production. It lies on the Warsaw-Moscow road and rail line.

Siedlce was first chronicled in 1448 as a settlement on the crossroads of several trade routes and received municipal rights in 1547, though it did not prosper until the mid-18th century. At that time the town’s owners, the wealthy Ogiński family, built a Neoclassical palace there. Siedlce passed to Austria in 1795 and was returned to Poland in 1918. During World War II, Nazi concentration camps were located there. Pop. (2011) 76,333.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.