Masovian Voivodeship (Polish: województwo mazowieckie [vɔjɛˈvutstfɔ mazɔˈvjɛtskʲɛ]) is one of sixteen provinces of Poland. The largest city and the capital of Mazowieckie - Warsaw is also the capital of Poland.

Understand

Masovia is located in central Poland and has many faces. For many centuries it was outside the main Polish areas, but gained importance with the Vistula river trade in the 15th century and Warsaw becoming the seat of Polish kings in the late 16th century. Nowadays the Warsaw Metropolis is the wealthiest area in the country with high life standards. More rural areas, especially in the northern part, are considered to be one of the poorest though.

The borders of the voivodeship do not correspond to the historic ones. This is why some Masovian areas around Łomża, Skierniewice or Łowicz are outside it, while important parts of Podlachia and Lesser Poland around Siedlce and Radom are incorporated.

History

Masovia was a part of Poland from the 10th century. At the beginning of the 12th century Płock in Masovia was for a short time the capital of Poland and two Polish princes from that period are buried in the Płock Cathedral. In 1138 Poland was divided in duchies united by the rule of the senior from Kraków and Masovia, with the capital in Płock, became one of these duchies ruled by Bolesław IV the Curly, the later senior of Poland, and his descendants from the local branch of the Piast dynasty. One of them was Konrad I of Masovia, who was the ruler who summoned the Teutonic Order to fight against the Old Prussians tribes in 1226. The duchy was divided into three smaller states ruled from Płock, Czersk (since 1413 Warsaw) and Rawa Mazowiecka. When the Polish kingdom was restored in 1295, the Duchy of Masovia remained first independent, but in 1351 the dukes of Masovia became vassals of the Kingdom of Poland. After the death of the last Masovian ruler, Janusz III of Masovia, in 1526, Masovia became an integral part of Poland.

15th and 16th centuries are considered to be the golden age of Masovia, as well as Polish Kingdom. Along major rivers cities were flourishing, especially Warsaw, Płock, Łomża, Ciechanów, Pułtusk. In the 16th century it was a densely populated, but weakly urbanised area. Many settlers from the region moved to the neighbouring regions of Prussia and Lithuania. Masovia was annexed by Prussia in the 1795 during the third partition of Poland. In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw during the Napoleonic Wars and later part of the Congress Poland after the Congress of Vienna. In 1918 Masovia was included within the newly formed the Second Polish Republic. During World War II Nazi Germany occupied Poland and Masovia was divided between the General Government and the Province of East Prussia. It was subsequently restored to Poland after the war.

In 1999 the new Masovian Voivodeship was formed. Despite its name, the new borders aren’t historic ones.

Cities

• 1 Ciechanów – a small city in the north of the region known for the gothic castle ruins and the regional brewery Ciechan
• 2 Ostrołęka – a small city in the north-eastern Masovia in the middle of Kurpie folkloristic region
• 3 Płock – old Medieval centre of Masovia with many historic sites, located on a picturesque hill above the Vistula river
• 4 Radom – a city within the historic Lesser Poland region, but integrated in 1999 into Masovia. Historic centre and several museums
• 5 Siedlce – a small baroque city on the border between historic lands of Lesser Poland, Podlachia and Masovia.
• 6 Warsaw — the capital of Poland, a city of unique, long and turbulent history is nowadays one of the EU's new thriving business centers. The Old Town has been rebuild according to classicist paintings of Canaletto after the destruction of World War II

Other destinations

• 1 Czerwińsk nad Wisłą — a historic town on the Vistula River known for one of the best preserved romanesque churches in Poland
• 2 Kampinos National Park
• 3 Konstancin-Jeziorna — a spa resort on the Vistula River
• 4 Szydłowiec – small historic town south of Radom in the historic Lesser Poland region
• 5 Żelazowa Wola was the birthplace of the pianist Fréderic Chopin
• 6 Grodzisk Mazowiecki has several 19th century vilas, with one shaped like a railway locomotive

Talk

Being home to Warsaw, travelers here will find the most diverse population group of Poland in Masovian Voivodeship and with that the most diverse collection of languages can be found here too. Naturally, Polish is the most widely spoken language, but following that, people will also find a multitude of Poles and foreigners who speak other languages such as English and German. Russian, Ukrainian, and Czech can be understood by a fair amount of Slavic language speakers. Some Poles will also be able to speak Spanish and French. Outside of Warsaw Metropolitan Area, the accessibility of information in other languages may be a bit lower. As it is common in Poland, knowledge of English is more widespread among the people under 40.

Get in

Due to the central location of Warsaw, the region is fairly easily accessible from all around the world by plane, train or car.

By plane

There are three airports with regular passenger traffic in Mazowieckie, two major ones serving Warsaw, and a small and new one in Radom.

Warsaw's Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW ^IATA) is the major airport, an intercontinental hub served by most of Europe's traditional airlines, including the national carrier LOT Polish Airlines (who offers direct flights to Chicago, New York, Toronto and Beijing), as well as Emirates and Qatar Airways. From the Chopin Airport you can reach most other major European airports directly, and with transfers you can easily reach other continents or smaller airports in Europe. Most domestic airports in Poland also have connections to the Chopin Airport via LOT's short-haul subsidiary, Eurolot.

The Modlin Airport (WMI ^IATA) to the north of Warsaw was opened in 2012 to serve low-fare airlines, and WizzAir and Ryanair offered a rich variety of connections. In late 2012, Modlin was closed temporarily due to technical problems. For at least the first half of 2013, all WizzAir and Ryanair flights were rerouted to Chopin Airport because of that. Airport is reopened and has low-fare airlines again (WizzAir and Ryanair)(May 2019).

Łódź Lublinek Władysław Reymont airport is about 1.5 hours drive from Warsaw and close to many destinations in Southern and Western Mazowieckie.

Get around

Public transportation is a great way to move around the major cities as well as between them. More rural areas are often more car dependent though.

By train

Koleje Mazowieckie is the regional train company in Masovia. The main routes within the region are from Warsaw to Skierniewice, to Kutno, to Łuków, to Małkinia, to Dęblin, to Skarżysko-Kamienna, and to Iłowo.

See

• Royal Castle in Warsaw
• One of many museums in Warsaw
• Płock cathedral
• A small town of Pułtusk
• Masovian Village Open Air Museum in Sierpc
• Castle in Czersk
• Historical center in Góra Kalwaria

Stay safe

Outside of Warsaw there are not many dangers and the region in general is quite safe with few natural disasters or crime. In case of Warsaw capital city issues apply with protests, public happenings and VIP events being common which may disrupt traffic. In some places, especially rural north far from main roads there may be no gas stations around for many kilometers, prepare accordingly.

Go next

Masovian Voivodeship borders six other Polish voivodeships:

• Podlaskie,
• Warmińsko-Mazurskie,
• Kujawsko-Pomorskie,
• Łódzkie,
• Świętokrzyskie
• and Lubelskie.