The beginnings of the city of P\u0142ock date back to the 9th century. The people were encouraged to settle in this place by the convenient areas for living and defence. The most important was the Tumskie Hill, about 50 m high from the Vistula water table. But the spring floods of the Vistula often damaged the escarpment of the hill, which resulted in landslides. The area of today’s P\u0142ock together with Mazovia became part of the Piast state. A ducal fortified town was built on Tumskie Hill. A trading and fishing settlement was established next to the stronghold.<\/p>\n For a while, the Piasts lost control over P\u0142ock, but already in 1047, the stronghold was re-incorporated into Poland by Prince Casimir II the Restorer. During the times of King Boles\u0142aw II the Bold (1058\u20131079), the Benedictine Fathers were brought to the town, and from 1075, there was a bishopric here. In the period 1130 – 1144 a Romanesque cathedral was erected in P\u0142ock. During the reign of princes W\u0142adys\u0142aw II Herman and his son Boles\u0142aw III Krzywousty (1079 – 1138), P\u0142ock served as the main center of power in Poland. From 1138, P\u0142ock became the capital of the Mazovian dukes, who ruled all of Mazovia. After the division of districts, P\u0142ock was the capital of the district of Boles\u0142aw IV K\u0119dzierzawy. In 1237, P\u0142ock received Polish city rights, granted by Duke Konrad I\u00a0Mazowiecki. The stronghold and the castle were destroyed several times during the invasions of the Ruthenians, Prussians and Lithuanians, but they were always rebuilt. During the times of King Casimir III the Great, P\u0142ock was expanded. In 1435, Prince W\u0142adys\u0142aw I repeated the right of location of the town under the Che\u0142m law. In the fifteenth century, a water supply system was established in P\u0142ock and a hospital was founded. A school has been operating in P\u0142ock since 1180, which is currently called "Liceum Og\u00f3lnokszta\u0142c\u0105ce im. Marshal Stanis\u0142aw Ma\u0142achowski", popularly known in P\u0142ock as Ma\u0142achowianka. It is the oldest school in Poland and in Europe that continuously exists in the same place. P\u0142ock developed trade, crafts, boatbuilding, cloth, brewing and distilling.<\/p>\n P\u0142ock was not spared by fires, epidemics, cataclysms and wars. In 1532, a landslide on the Vistula escarpment contributed to the destruction of part of the castle. In 1603, as a result of the plague, 2,000 inhabitants of the city died. In 1616, 70% of the buildings burned down. P\u0142ock was destroyed by the Swedes twice: in 1657 and then in 1705. During the second partition of Poland in 1793, P\u0142ock was occupied by the Prussian plague. Under the rule of the Prussians, P\u0142ock became the capital of New East Prussia. Since then, the influx of Germanic people began, for whom the so-called New Town was built.<\/p>\n In the period 1820 – 1830, a number of buildings in the neoclassical style were built, including the town hall. In 1846, steam navigation on the Vistula was launched, and the river shipyard was expanded. P\u0142ock became a trading center again, where grain, wood and overseas goods were traded. A number of food, metal and agricultural factories were established.<\/p>\n The population of P\u0142ock heroically defended itself during the Polish-Bolshevik war in August 1920. On April 10, 1921, next to Lviv, P\u0142ock received the title of City-Hero and the Cross of Valor for heroic defense from Marshal J\u00f3zef Pi\u0142sudski.<\/p>\n In October 1939, together with northern Mazovia, the Germans incorporated P\u0142ock into the Reich, under the name of Schr\u00f6ttersburg, to the Ciechan\u00f3w district of East Prussia.<\/p>\n In 1945, P\u0142ock returned to Poland. In 1945, the P\u0142ockie Przedsi\u0119biorstwo Rob\u00f3t Mostowych was established, which, for example, built the \u0141azienkowski bridge. In 1959, the Refinery and Petrochemia was established. The Harvesting Machines Factory was developed, producing "Bizon" combine harvesters, and the factory existed since 1870. The shipyard was expanded into the largest plant in Poland.<\/p>\n In P\u0142ock, the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy is the destination of religious pilgrimages. On February 22, 1931, Sister St. Faustyna Kowalska had her first revelation of the image of Merciful Jesus. On the 100th anniversary of her birth, the Museum of St. Faustina.<\/p>\n On June 7-8, 1991, Pope St. John Paul II the Great visited P\u0142ock. It was the fourth pilgrimage of the Holy Father to his homeland, the first after the political change. In addition to meetings with the faithful on Celebry Square and in the P\u0142ock cathedral. He was the first pope to meet prisoners in the prison in P\u0142ock. In the evening of June 7, 1991, young people met with the Holy Father. The Pope spoke to them from the window of the bishop’s house. In the same window, the next morning, the Pope appeared to say goodbye to the inhabitants, after which he left for Warsaw.<\/p>\n As a result of the Second World War, Poland fell under the influence of the CCCP. State borders have been changed. For nearly 50 years, all decisions concerning Poland were made in Moscow. The CCCP wanted to make dependent countries dependent in every respect: political, military and economic. Russian language became compulsory in schools.<\/p>\n Economic dependence consisted, for example, in buying raw materials exclusively from the CCCP. The decision to build a pipeline system for the transmission of oil, code-named "Friendship", was made on December 18, 1958, at the 10th session of Comecon in Prague. Originally, it was to be a system for transporting crude oil from Moscow to Comecon countries in Central Europe: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and East Germany. The "Friendship" pipeline crossed Poland from east to west, with a branch to Gda\u0144sk. In Poland, in December 1959, by order of the Minister of Chemical Industry, the state-owned enterprise Mazowieckie Zak\u0142ady Rafinercyjne i Petrochemiczne was established. The order entered into force on December 1, 1959. Locating the factory in P\u0142ock was logical. The oil was to be supplied by a pipeline from the Moscow state. The Vistula River provided sufficient water for technological processes. The existing railway line guaranteed efficient transport of products.<\/p>\n The refinery plant in P\u0142ock was built in the period 1960 – 1965. In the following years, the petrochemical plant was expanded and new technologies were introduced, including Japanese ones. The plant uses 15,000 m3 of water per hour, which is twice as much as a city with a population of 1 million. In 2002, another modernization of the plant was started, and its contractor was ABB Lummus.<\/p>\n On September 7, 2015, the cornerstone was laid for the construction of the country’s largest combined heat and power plant, which is to be implemented jointly by PKN Orlen and Siemens. The new plant is to fully cover PKN Orlen’s demand for electricity and process steam, and the fuel used is natural gas.<\/p>\n Currently (2022) the plant in P\u0142ock is called PKN ORLEN in P\u0142ock. The factory is one of the largest and most modern in Central and Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n Geographic coordinates: 52.562N 19.720E. Elevation 101 m above sea level. Type of airport – civil, sports. IATA-QPC code. ICAO code – EPPL. Runways\u00a0–\u00a0direction 12\/30, turf – 680 x 300 m. Radio – 122.800 MHz. The Aeroclub of the Mazovian Land is the host of the airport in P\u0142ock. The airport is called Kostrogaj. The airport is located in the northern part of the city, at street Bielska.<\/p>\n The airport was established in 1928 as a military airport. The Military Aviation School in D\u0119blin used the airport. During the Second World War, the airport was used first by the Germans, and then by the Soviets. After World War II, the airport was not used by the Polish Army, but it was a backup landing site. In the period 1952 – 1957, the airport was used for training parachute jumpers, organized by the Warsaw Aeroclub. The establishment of large factories in Polotsk turned the airport into a place of entertainment. The plants themselves often used the services of the Aeroclub. Many employees joined the Aeroclub. The modeling section is very strong. There is also a hang gliding group. After the economic transformation in 1989, more and more private aircraft are based at the airport. New gliders and planes appear.<\/p>\n At the time when the "Bizon" combine harvesters reigned supreme in Polish fields, an aviation technical team operated at the airport to remove failures of combine harvesters working in the fields. The team used PZL Mi-2 helicopters. PZL Mi-2 helicopters were also used by the Refinery and Petrochemia team to monitor the "Friendship" pipeline.<\/p>\n However, the biggest challenge facing the Aeroclub at present (2022) is the paved runway and modern airport infrastructure. The existing double hangar at the airport was built in 1963. However, one should know that the expansion of the P\u0142ock airport, similarly to the Toru\u0144 airport, is opposed by the European Union, a kind of European kolkhoz.<\/p>\n In 2008, the air ambulance station – HEMS was established at the airport. Since December 2007, a helicopter has been based here permanently. Initially, there was the PZL Mi-2 Plus, Ratownik 18 Air Rescue helicopter. Then the Eurocopter EC-135 helicopter was introduced. The official opening of the station took place in December 2008. The real estate of the HEMS Branch in P\u0142ock includes: a plot of land, a helicopter hangar with social and office facilities with a usable area of 400 m2, an airstrip and a petrol station. Currently (2022) helicopters are on duty during the day. Annually, the helicopter is sent to action about 360 times. In 2014, in P\u0142ock at ul. Medical, a sanitary landing pad for helicopters was commissioned.<\/p>\n Written by Karol Placha Hetman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" P\u0142ock is a Polish city that has a 1,000-year history and was also the capital of Poland. P\u0142ock is a large city in central Poland, which currently has poviat rights. The city is located in the Dobrzy\u0144 Lake District, in the P\u0142ock Valley, on the Vistula River, in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. A resident of P\u0142ock was the fighter pilot Jan Zumbach, who was the commander of the legendary 303 Squadron. In 2013, P\u0142ock had 123,000 inhabitants, and in 2020 118,628 people. The area of the city is 88.04 km2. Altitude above sea level from 58 m to 105 m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3186,"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions\/3186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polot.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}History of P\u0142ock.<\/h3>\n
Saint John Paul II and Sister Faustina in P\u0142ock.<\/h3>\n
Refinery and Petrochemia P\u0142ock.<\/h3>\n
Plock airport.<\/h3>\n