Mazowieckie
Masovian Voivodeship (polish: województwo mazowieckie [vɔjɛˈvutstfɔ mazɔˈvjɛtskʲɛ]) is a province of Poland. The largest city and the capital of Mazowieckie - Warsaw is also the capital of Poland.
Cities
- 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
- Czerwińsk nad Wisłą — a Romanesque town on the Vistula River
- Gąbin
- Konstancin-Jeziorna — a spa resort on the Vistula River
- Płock
- Radom
- Żelazowa Wola
Other destinations
Understand
Masovia was a part of Poland from the 10th century. At the beginning of the 11th century Płock in Masovia was for a short time the capital of Poland and two Polish kings 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 savage Old Prussians tribes in 1226. 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, and after the death of the last Masovian ruler, Janusz III of Masovia, in 1526, Masovia became a voivodeship of the Poland. In the 16th century the region of Warmińsko-Mazurskie was largely populated by colonists from Masovia. 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.
Since 1999 Masovia has formed the main part of one of the new administrative regions of Poland called the Masovian Voivodeship.
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.
Get in
By plane
There are two airports with regular passenger traffic in Mazowieckie, both serving Warsaw.
Warsaw's Frederic Chopin Airport [1] (WAW) is the major airport, an intercontinental hub served by most of Europe's traditional airlines, including the national carrier LOT Polish Airlines [2] (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) 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 are rerouted to Chopin Airport because of that. Please note that this is a temporary solution and will likely change once Modlin is reopened and check with airlines for details.
An airport is also under construction in Radom, expected to open in late 2013 and be serviced by low-fare airlines.
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
By train
Koleje Mazowieckie [3] 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
Do
Eat
Drink
Stay safe
In Warsaw and other cities, commonsense precautions should prevail - don't flash large amounts of cash around, ensure the safe keeping of valuables, and the like. In rural areas, you'll need to take a few more precautions to save yourself time and hassle. Outside of Warsaw, you'll have a much more difficult time finding doctors or police. In some places, there won't be any gas stations or populated places around for many kilometers. So, you'll want to bring a map so as not to get lost.
Go next
Masovian Voivodeship borders six other Polish voivodeships: