Bielawa lies in the central part of Lower Silesia, along the Bielawica stream in the Owl Mountains region. The town covers an area in excess of 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi).
Bielawa lies at an altitude range of 280 and 964 m above sea level, in the Owl Mountains. The town is a year-round tourist destination; its outdoor attractions include four major hiking trails of varying difficulty in an 80 km2 (31 sq mi) park, as well as cycling trails and ski lifts.
History
The oldest known mention of Bielawa dates back to 1288, when it was part of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland.[1] Its name is of Polish origin and is derived from the word biela, bila, current Polish biała ("white").[1]
In 1720 the first brick house was built in the village and in 1741 it was captured and afterwards annexed by Prussia. In 1805 Christian Dierig founded a weaving company (Christian Dierig AG). During the Napoleonic Wars, the village was occupied by France. In 1844 it was the site of the Weavers' Uprising, brutally crushed by the Prussians.[1] From 1871 to 1945 it was part of Germany. In 1891 the Dzierżoniów–Bielawa railway line opened. In 1924 Bielawa obtained town rights.[1] During World War II the Germans established the FAL Langenbielau IIsubcamp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in the town.[6] In 1945 it was captured by the Soviets and eventually reintegrated with Poland. Greeks, refugees of the Greek Civil War, settled in Bielawa in the 1950s.[7]
Demographics
Main sights
There are numerous historical buildings in Bielawa. At its center is the 19th-century Neo-Gothic Church of the Assumption with a 101 m tall tower, the third tallest in Poland. Other buildings include a late-Renaissance palace originally built as a fortified manor house; the Church of the Corpus Christi, erected in 1743; and numerous 18th-century Baroque houses that were restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is also a home to a number of medieval penitential crosses.
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