à Âapy is a town in north-eastern Poland, in Biaà Âystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship; the administrative centre of the urban-rural gmina à Âapy. It is situated in the North Podlasie Lowland, on the river Narew.
According to data from 31 December 2010, the town had 16,049 inhabitants.
Situated here are the bankrupt Railway Fleet Repair Works, a dairy, and the sugar refinery closed in February 2008. Now, à Âapy is a medical and educational centre for the region of the former à Âapy county.
The town of à Âapy is located in north-eastern Poland. According to Kondracki's division of Poland into physico-geographical regions, the town of à Âapy sits on North-Podlasie Plain, over the Upper Valley of Narew. The town of à Âapy lies by the Narew river. The terrain is elevated here from 120 to 130 metres.
Included in Biaà Âystok agglomeration, the town is situated in the buffer zone of Narew National Park.
According to data from 1 January 2010, the town area then was .
Between 1954 and 1975 à Âapy was the administrative centre of à Âapy County of Biaà Âystok Voivodeship. Between 1975 and 1998 the voivodeship was smaller.
Presently à Âapy comprises the following parts:
The name 'à Âapy' is of Masovian origin, and it initially represented a soubriquet of the kin, who founded the settlement on Narew. A legend links the foundation of the town with the nobleman à Âappa of the Lubicz coat of arms, who settled down here during the 15th-century Masovian colonisation.
The first historical records of these lands come from the early 13th century. It is known that in 1375 Pà Âonka Koà Âcielna was an independent parish. Firstly à Âapy was a backwater where the gentry cultivated patriotic traditions. Soon as a result of the village's development, new settlements emerged on the eastern and the western banks of the river Narew, which was a water trade route from Suraà ¼ to Gdaà Âsk in 16th and 17th centuries, and after World War II from Puszcza Biaà Âowieska to Tykocin; and at the east side of the high road from Suraà ¼ to Pà Âonka.
Following the expansion of the family, a series of backwaters were founded, including Rechy, BrusiÃÂta, Barwiki, Korczaki, Pluà Âniaki, Wàgle, Wity, ZiÃÂciuki, Kosmyki, à Âazie, Stryjce, Wojtysze. Some of those names disappeared replaced by others, such as: Goà ºdziki, DÃÂbowizna, Bociany, Leà Âniki. After the Third Partition of Poland, in 1795, à Âapy fell to the Prussian Partition. In 1807, after the Tilsit Peace Treaty, it became a part of the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw, and after its dissolution, in 1815, it passed to so-called Congress Poland in the Russian Partition of Poland. An important event for the future history of à Âapy was Napoleonic army's marching through twice in 1812. In the 1820s the backwaters had 1000 inhabitants and 180 houses. In 1825, a fusion of six backwaters (à Âapy-Barwiki, à Âapy-Leà Âniki, à Âapy-ZiÃÂciuki, à Âapy-Wity, à Âapy-Goà ºdziki, à Âapy-Bociany) produced the farm settlement of à Âapy.
à Âapy owes its development to the Saint PetersburgâÂÂWarsaw Railway with a station here, opened on 15 December 1862, and to the French having built here the works for repairing steam locomotives and carriages the same year. That caused an influx of tradesmen and labourers not only from the nearby villages, but also from distant Polish locations and from the Russian Empire.
In the beginning of the January Uprising, the railway station was captured by a Polish insurgent detachment of Wà Âadysà Âaw Cichorski nom de guerre "Zameczek" on the night of 22âÂÂ23 January 1863, and then recaptured by the Russians on 27 January 1863. Further clashes between Polish insurgents and Russian troops were fought in à Âapy on 11 and 18 July 1863. Following World War I, Poland regained independence and control of à Âapy.
The repair works exist today as 'ZNTK à Âapy S.A.' They played a decisive role in à Âapy's urbanization, the town charter granted on 1 January 1925.
At the eve of the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in 1939, the town population reached 8,000 citizens. Following the invasion, Ã Âapy was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, and then by Germany until 1944, when it was finally restored to Poland. During the war, the town was 80% destroyed, and the entire local Jewish population was murdered by the German occupiers in the Holocaust.
On Sunday, July 30, 1944, the Wehrmacht set Uhowo on fire. They also blew up the bridges over the Narew River. On July 31, they began destroying the city. Factory halls were blown up and the town was burning. The population hid in shelters and the church and Soviet planes shelled the church tower and German infantry positions near the cemetery on daily basis. On August 6, in the early morning hours, they launched a general assault. At around 11 in the morning, Soviet patrols entered the burning city. Following the end of the war the town became part of Biaà Âystok Voivodeship.
There are two voivodeship roads crossing the town:
Furthermore, the national road runs to the north, being upgraded to express-way.
There are two railway routes going through the town:
à Âapy hosts a railway station for all kinds of trains, which is situated in the town centre; and a railway stop à Âapy Osse for slow trains only, in the Osse quarter, from the centre.
à Âapy's railway destinations are numerous: Bielsko-Biaà Âa, Warsaw, Suwaà Âki, Biaà Âystok, Wrocà Âaw, Opole, CzÃÂstochowa, Kraków, Szczecin, Poznaà Â.
There are many small PKS bus stops and the main one â à Âapy, next to the railway station building in the centre, from which local lines operate in the directions of Biaà Âystok, Zambrów, Siemiatycze, Bielsk Podlaski, etc.
Choroszcz â Zawady â Baciuty â Dobrowoda â Turoà Âà  Dolna â Borowskie Michaà Ây â Suraà ¼ â à Âapy â Pà Âonka Koà Âcielna â Stara à Âupianka â Jeà Âki â Waniewo â Kurowo â Stare Jeà ¼ewo â Tykocin â Choroszcz
à Âapy Osse â Gàsówka-Osse â Pà Âonka Koà Âcielna â Pà Âonka-Strumianka â Stara à Âupianka â Bokiny â Jeà Âki â Waniewo â Kurowo â Stare Jeà ¼ewo
à Âapy Osse â Grochy â Turek â Pietkowo â Suraà ¼
Until 2009, Ã Âapy's economy was mainly based on the then functioning:
Unfortunately for the town, both of the works have been closed.
There are plans to create a subzone of Tarnobrzeg Special Economic Zone. A corresponding bill has been submitted at The Cabinet.
The development of industrial economy in à Âapy and its neighbourhood is hindered first of all by the close proximity of Narew National Park. On the other hand, the town has a potential for the tourism industry.
The officially protected traditional food of à Âapy (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland) is the klinek z à Âap, a local type of traditionally produced quark.