Bià Âgoraj (, Bilgoray) is a town in Lublin Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland with 25,838 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located south of Lublin and it is also the capital of Bià Âgoraj County. Historically, the town belongs to Lesser Poland. Bià Âgoraj is surrounded by a forest, with three rivers flowing through it.
The name of the town probably comes from a hill called Biely Goraj, on which Bià Âgoraj was founded in the 16th century.
Bià Âgoraj lies in northern part of Sandomierz Basin, near Roztocze. The town is surrounded by Solska Forest, from Roztocze National Park. An average July temperature in Bià Âgoraj is , an average January temperature . The town is crossed by four small rivers: Biaà Âa à Âada, Czarna à Âada, Osa and Próchnica. Bià Âgoraj lies on the elevations ranging from 184 to 212 meters above sea level. The area of the town is , of which forests covers 9%. Built-up area stretches along eastern bank of the Biaà Âa à Âada, for (northâÂÂsouth) and (westâÂÂeast).
The area of current Bià Âgoraj was covered by dense forests and swamps, where establishment of human settlements was difficult. In the first half of the 16th century, local noble family of Gorajski built first settlements in this sparsely populated corner of Lesser Poland. At that time, the villages of Gromada, Dàbrowica and Olendrów were founded.
The town of Bià Âgoraj was officially established in 1570 by Adam Gorajski, and incorporated by King Stephen Báthory at Lwów on 10 September 1578. Its main market square was placed on the hill called Biaà Ây Goraj. The town, surrounded by rivers, held a strategic position and was easy to defend. Bià Âgoraj quickly grew, due to a busy merchant road from Jarosà Âaw to Lublin. Bià Âgoraj town was surrounded by a defensive wall with watchtowers, although the town's further growth extended into suburbs. A bridge was built over the Biala Lada. Until 1693 Bià Âgoraj remained in the hands of the Gorajski family. Throughout the 18th century, it belonged either to the Szczuka family or the Potocki family. Most houses in Bià Âgoraj were made of wood, which resulted in several fires. Furthermore, the wars of the mid-17th century destroyed the town twice; first in 1648, when the town was burned by the Cossacks of Bohdan Khmelnytsky; then in 1655, by the Swedes during the deluge.
Bià Âgoraj was an important center of the Bar Confederation, and in the area of the town several skirmishes took place between the Poles and the Russians. The town was annexed by Austria in the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. After the Polish victory in the Austro-Polish War of 1809, it became part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw, and after the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In the late 18th century its population was 3,000; and grew to 6,000 by 1865. At that time, it was the third biggest town of Lublin Governorate, after Lublin and Hrubieszów.
In 1806, Bià Âgoraj â which was still privately owned and on the verge of bankruptcy â was purchased by the local entrepreneur named Stanisà Âaw Nowakowski, who built for himself a palace in Bià Âgoraj's district of Roznowka, modelled after Warsaw's famous à Âazienki Palace. The town remained in the hands of the Nowakowski family until 1850, when it was sold to the Tsarist official Nikolay Platonov, and in 1864 appropriated by the government as the seat of a county. During the January Uprising, several skirmishes took place Bià Âgoraj and its vicinity.
After World War I, in 1918, Bià Âgoraj returned to newly created Second Polish Republic. Its population in 1921 reached 5,600. In 1928, electrification reached the town, but Bià Âgoraj nevertheless remained poor and underdeveloped, where most houses were constructed of wood. Historically, the town was a center of a large Jewish community, whose population in 1931 reached 4,596.
On 11 September 1939 a unit of German-minority fifth column agents set fire to the town, which destroyed most of it. A few days later Nazi German troops entered the town and immediately organized anti-Jewish pogroms. Furthermore, the Luftwaffe bombed Bià Âgoraj twice (8 and 14 September). On 15âÂÂ16 September 1939, units of Kraków Army and Lublin Army retreating towards Tomaszow Lubelski, fought the Wehrmacht in the Battle of Bià Âgoraj. The Germans tried to capture the towns several times, but they did not manage to do so until 17 September, after yet another fire. On 28 September, units of the Red Army entered Bià Âgoraj, but they retreated after a few weeks, and the town became part of the Nazi-ruled General Government. On 25 June 1940 a ghetto was established.
During the German occupation, Bià Âgoraj was an important center of the resistance. Local units of the Home Army and other clandestine organizations took part in the Zamoà ÂàUprising. Germans knew well that Solska Forest was filled with Polish partisans, and the Poles frequently attacked German units in Bià Âgoraj. The most famous incident of this kind took place on 24 September 1943, when a Home Army unit under Tadeusz Sztumberk-Rychter attacked Bià Âgoraj's prison, releasing 72 inmates, including Ludwik Ehrlich.
There was also Jewish partisan resistance in the Bilgoraj area. On 17 and 26 August 1943, two other clashes are recorded: one in the village of Podgranicznik, northwest of Krasnystaw, in which two Jews were killed; and another in the village of Poreba, east of Bià Âgoraj, between a large partisan unit and the Nazi German Truppenzpolizei.
Six transports to Belzec gas chambers took place from Bià Âgoraj: 500 Jews in April 1942; 1,000 Jews in May 1942; 1,200 Jews in August 1942; 5,000 Jews in September 1942; 500 Jews in October 1942; and 2,000 Jews in November 1942. On 15 January 1943 the last 27 survivors who had remained in hiding were shot. Very few of the Jewish partisans from Bià Âgoraj survived the war due to great efforts by the Nazi Germans to hunt them down in the woods.
Most of Bià Âgoraj's Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. Only around 50 Jews survived the war. The Germans left Bià Âgoraj on 24 July 1944. During the war, 80% of the town was destroyed, and it lost 50% of its population.
After 1945 Bià Âgoraj was rebuilt, becoming by 1975 a regional industrial center. The town was a part of the Lublin Voivodeship from 1945 to 1975, Zamoà ÂàVoivodeship from 1975 to 1998, and once again in Lublin Voivodeship since 1999.
Bià Âgoraj is divided into twelve districts:
Bià Âgoraj is located away from main Polish roads. It is a junction of two voivodeship roads - road nr. 835 (northâÂÂsouth, from Lublin to Przemyà Âl), and road nr. 858 (eastâÂÂwest, from Zamoà Âàto Nisko). Nearest national road nr. 74 (Zamoà Âà- Stalowa Wola) goes north of the town. Bià Âgoraj has a rail station on a secondary-importance line from Zamoà Âàto Stalowa Wola, through the town also goes the Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line. Nearest airport, Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport, is located to the south.
In Bià Âgoraj are located a headquarter and main factories of Black Red White, leading furniture manufacturer in Poland. The town is also known as a center of wine industry (Ambra company bottling plants are located in village Wola Duà ¼a, east of the city), knitting (mainly thanks to Mewa factory) and production of cardboard packaging, wooden doors and windows.
Bià Âgoraj is an important center of local folklore, with highly developed folk art, regional clothes and customs. This is due to the town's location, among forests, where communication with other communities was limited. There are several âÂÂBià Âgoraj-styleâ houses, and in the area numerous wayside shrines can be found. Bià Âgoraj's folklore was used by Grzegorz Ciechowski in his songs written as Grzegorz z Ciechowa. Until the 19th century, famous green Bià Âgoraj beer was produced in the town. Furthermore, for centuries Bià Âgoraj was a major national center of sieve makers. The town has a Regional Museum and an Open-air museum Zagroda Sitarska. Due to its proximity to Roztocze National Park, it is visited by a number of tourists. It also has a Baroque church of Holy Trinity (17th century) and 12 different monuments.
Bià Âgoraj is twinned with:
Former twin towns:
Cooperation with Kruhlaye was ended due to Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.