Send Gift Baskets to Biala Podlaska, Polanda

The first historical document mentioning Biała Podlaska was written in 1481. At first, Biała Podlaska belonged to the Illnicz family. The city may have been founded by Piotr Janowicz, nicknamed “Biały” (Polish for “white”), who was the hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Biała Podlaska was once part of Podlaskie Voivodeship and then Brest Litovsk Voivodeship in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (which was then merged with Poland).

In 1569, Biała Podlaska was repossessed by the Radziwis. Biaa Podlaska had grown steadily under their rule in the past two and a half centuries. Radziwi built the castle and fortress in 1622. The Bialska Academy was founded in 1628 by Krzysztof Ciborowicz Wilski as a regional center of education (since 1633, it had been part of the Jagiellonian University, then known as Kraków Academy). The construction of many churches and a hospital took place during this period.

As a result of the Swedish invasion in 1655, the prosperity period it was ended. In response, the Cossacks and Rákóczi attacked Biaa Podlaska. Despite considerable destruction, the town was built thanks to Micha Kazimierz Radziwi and Katarzyna Sobieska. Podlaska and its coat of arms, depicting archangel Michael standing on the dragon, were given by Micha Kazimierz Radziwi in 1670.

In 1720, Anna Katarzyna Radziwiłłowa began building the tower and gate – the two buildings still exist and are among the castle’s and palace’s most important sights. The city and fortress were destroyed and rebuilt in warfare in the 18th century. A colonel of the Polish army, Dominik Hieronim Radziwi, was the last heir to die on 11 November 1813 in France. In 1883, the palace fell into ruin and was demolished.

A temporary Austrian Habsburg rule over Biaa Podlaska (Austrian partition of Poland) was imposed after the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. It formed part of the Polish Duchy of Warsaw after the wars with Austria after Poles temporarily recovered from the Napoleonic Wars in 1809-1815.

As part of the Russian Partition of Poland, the town became part of Congress Poland in 1815. Biaa Podlaska was a large garrison town of the Imperial Russian Army at the end of the 19th century. A cemetery for World War I soldiers is near Brzeska Street and Aleje Tysiclecia Avenue.