à Âroda Wielkopolska (; until 1968 à Âroda) is a town in western-central Poland, situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, about southeast of Poznaà Â, with 22,001 inhabitants (2009). It is the seat of à Âroda County, and of Gmina à Âroda Wielkopolska (a district within the county).
A stronghold existed at the site in the Middle Ages. The oldest known mention of à Âroda dates back to 1228. à Âroda was probably granted town rights in 1261. It was a royal town of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. In 1402âÂÂ1413 Polish King Wà Âadysà Âaw II Jagieà Âà Âo built a Gothic castle in à Âroda. In the 15th century à Âroda was one of the largest towns in Greater Poland, trade and crafts developed, and from 1454 the sejmiks (regional parliaments) of both the Kalisz and Poznaà  voivodeships were held in the town.
In the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 the town was annexed by Prussia. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806, it was regained by Poles and became part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it was annexed by Prussia for the second time, and from 1871 it also was part of Germany. It was an important center of Polish resistance, and during the Greater Poland uprising (1848) the largest insurgent camp was established there, led by . The town was restored to Poland in 1919, after Poland regained independence after World War I. According to the 1921 census, the town had a population of 7,231, 96.6% Polish and 3.2% German by nationality.
During World War II à Âroda was under German occupation from September 1939 to January 1945. Poles were subjected to mass arrests, expulsions and massacres. The Einsatzgruppe VI entered the town after September 12, 1939. A prison for Poles was established in the town. On September 17, 1939, the Gestapo murdered 21 Poles from à Âroda in the neighbouring village of Kijewo, and on October 20, 1939, Germans carried out a public execution of 29 Poles, including teachers, merchants, engineers, lawyers, landowners, and post and bank employees, at the market square. Leonard Cybichowski, principal of the local agricultural school, was one of Polish school principals and teachers murdered in the Dachau concentration camp. In 1939, Germans expelled families of Poles who were either murdered in the massacres or deported to Nazi concentration camps as part of the Intelligenzaktion. In 1940, Germans expelled the owners of shops, workshops and bigger houses, which were then handed over to German colonists as part of the Lebensraum policy. Further expulsions were carried out in February 1941. In 1940 the local parish church was closed down.
In 1968 the town's name was changed to à Âroda Wielkopolska by adding the adjective Wielkopolska after the region of Greater Poland, within which it is located, to distinguish it from the town of à Âroda à Âlàska in Lower Silesia. From 1975 to 1998 à Âroda was administratively part of the former Poznaà  Voivodeship. In 2017 and 2018 town limits were extended by including parts of the neighbouring village of Kijewo.
à Âroda lies on the main railway line from Poznaà  to Katowice (via Jarocin). There is also a steam railway which runs to Zaniemyà Âl, to the southeast.
National Road 11 bypasses the town to the south. National Road 11 connects Koà Âobrzeg on the Baltic Sea coast to Bytom via the city of Poznaà Â.
The nearest airport is Poznaà Â-à Âawica Airport.
à Âroda Wielkopolska is twinned with: