Dęblin

Dęblin [ˈdɛmblʲin] is a town, population 19,500 (as of 2003), at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants. Dęblin is part of historic province of Lesser Poland, and for centuries the area of the town belonged to Stężyca Land, Sandomierz Voivodeship. Since 1927 it has been the home of the chief Polish Air Force Academy (Polish: Wyższa Szkoła Oficerska Sił Powietrznych), and as such Dęblin is one of the most important places associated with aviation in Poland. The town is also a key railroad junction, located along the major Lublin - Warsaw line, with two additional connections stemming from Dęblin – one westwards to Radom, and another one northeast to Łuków. Dęblin is home to a sports club Czarni.

History

Dęblin was first mentioned as a village in historical documents dating from 1397. At that time, it was ruled by Castellans from Sieciechów, and belonged to Lesser Poland's Sandomierz Voivodeship. The village was owned by several Polish noble families (such as the Mniszech family) until 1836 when it was taken over by the government of the Russian-controlled Congress Poland. In 1840 the village was handed to Russian field marshal Ivan Paskievich, who played a prominent role in the suppression of the November Uprising. From then on until the end of Russian rule in this part of Poland (1915) Dęblin was often referred to by its new Russian name of Ivangorod.