Braciejowice and the Parishes to Which it Belonged
Braciejowice, the ancestral village of the Markiewicz family is located in eastern Poland in Gmina Łaziska, Powiat Ziemski Opolski, Wojewódstwo Lubelskie. In a previous post, I translated the entries for Braciejowice from the Słownik Geograficny which described the place as a village and grange (a grange is a large farmstead associated with a manor) between two arms of the Vistula River. At one time, the village belonged to the Benedictine Monks.
The descriptions in the Słownik Geograficny also mention that in 1569 the village belonged to the Roman Catholic parish in Solec (currently Solec is called Solec nad Wisła – Solec on the Vistula), and that in 1880 it belonged to the parish in Piotrawin. Today, Braciejowice belongs to the Zagłoba parish, in the Opolski Deaconate, in the Lubelski Archdiocese. The current churches in Piotrawin, and Zagłoba are:
- Piotrawin – św. Tomasza Apostoła i św. Stanisława BM (Saint Thomas the Apostle and Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr)
- Zagłoba – NMP Królowej Polski (Our Lady, Queen of Poland)
I could not find information on any existing church in Solec nad Wisła but, according to Lidia Müllerowa’s book Roman Catholic Parishes in the Polish People’s Republic in 1984 (Polish Genealogical Society of America, Chicago, 1995), there was a church there in 1984.
Further information about the parishes in Piotrawin and Zagłoba, including the names of the priests and the address and phone number is available online in Polish. The parish in Piotrawin maintains a chapel in Braciejowice itself. Information on the architecture of the churches in Piotrawin and Zagłoba is also available online in Polish.
The name Braciejowice comes from the Polish word for brother – brat. In fact, it seems that the Locative form of the word is used – bracie, which is a form specific for location. The name Piotrawin seems to come from the Polish proper name for Peter – Piotr. Other villages in the region also seem to be derived from proper names: Józefów from Joseph – Józef, Wandalin from Wanda – Wanda, Kazimierz Dolny from Casimir – Kazimierz, Helenówka from Helen – Helena, Wojciechów from Adalbert, Albert, or George – Wojciech, Piotrków from Peter – Piotr, Paulinów from Pauline – Paulina.
Relatively little information on Braciejowice or Piotrawin is available online, but rootsweb provides some information on these villages on the Lubelfind pages.
In Lubelfind, Braciejowice is described as
A village on a country road in an area devoted solely to orchards. The land is flat. There is a gully on the western side of the village, parallel to the road.
In Lubelfind, Piotrawin is described as:
A village on the east bank of the river Wisla, on minor highway 825. The land to the east rises slowly and is open arable fields. To the south there are some orchards. There is a 14th century brick Gothic parish church here.
Lubelfind also mentions a cemetery at the north end of Piotrawin, almost opposite the chapel.
Tomorrow: Photographs from the nearby village of Kazimierz Dolny
