Lumen 2018

S TANISLAUS P APCZYNSKI 44 by Gostwica and Mokra Wies on the west, and by Naszacowice and Juraszowa 3 on the south. Podegrodzie is a village stretching along several roads across the sides of the hill, across the riverside terraces, and across the plain by the Dunajec. 4 For the most part, the farm buildings are grouped together to form characteristic little hamlets, whose names, like Katy, Pedzicha, Zaslonie, Kolonie, and others 5 , have been known for a very long time. The local soil is quite fertile — undoubtedly, a result of variety in the configuration of the land. 6 Good insolation of the crops and the mild climate of the Sandetian Valley 7 are conducive to the development of agriculture. People came to settle in the valley of Dunajec and the traces of their presence reach back to the remote past. Archaeologists found the remnants of the settlements typical for the Lusatian culture 8 here. There may have al- ready been a settlement in this area in the first millennium before Christ. 9 Remnants of early medieval castles have been discovered at “Grobla” and “Zamczysko.” But the largest in this area, in early me- dieval times, was the castle in Naszacowice, located on a hill 3.5 kilo- meters southwest of Podegrodzie, where the Dunajec River and the Jastrzebia Brook meet. It is to the proximity of this castle that Pode- grodzie owes its name [Translator’s note: “grod”- in Polish: castle or town; “Podegrodzie” (from: ”pod grodem”) — in Polish: near/by the castle. EStJ]. After the decline of the castle in Naszacowice in the 11 th or the 12 th century, a governor’s castle in Podegrodzie with a center at “Grobla” began to play a more prominent role in this area. The first mention, dating back to 1224, about a castle in Stary Sacz refers to Sacz Podegrodzki. It was only in 1257 that the center of the eco- nomic and political life moved to Stary Sacz and Podegrodzie became an agricultural settlement. In medieval times, an important commu- nication and transportation route ran through this area along the Dunajec River — from Cracow, via Bochnia, Wojnicz, Czechow, Gostwica to Pieniny, and farther, to Podhale and Orawa. 10 In the account by M. Leporini, Fr. Papczynski’s first biographer, the name of the Founder of the Marians’ place of birth is recorded