{"id":48,"date":"2008-07-14T14:38:52","date_gmt":"2008-07-14T18:38:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=48"},"modified":"2014-06-10T13:19:33","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:19:33","slug":"bobrowniki-wielkie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/bobrowniki-wielkie\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobrowniki Wielkie"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the readers, Ed, had a question about a village called Bobrowniki Wielkie<\/a><\/strong>, located somewhere near Tarn\u00f3w<\/a><\/strong>. Ed\u2019s mother was born in Bobrowniki<\/strong> and he wanted to know more about the place. Initially, I was stumped, I never heard of it myself. But no worries, after a bit of searching, I found some info.<\/p>\n

\"Bobrowniki<\/a>

Bobrowniki Wielkie via Google Maps<\/p><\/div>\n

I was surprised to learn that the village still existed, in the same place nearby Tarn\u00f3w<\/strong> where it had been for centuries, and with the same name today as back in the olden days. What were the odds of that? Huh? But that\u2019s not all! I even found a whole web page dedicated to the village of Bobrowniki Wielkie<\/strong>. Now, what are the odds of THAT? There\u2019s a wee little village in Poland, it has all of 700 residents and one of them decides to set up a web page! Lucky for us!<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the page is in Polish only, so you will be stuck reading my English summary.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the name – Bobrowniki Wielkie<\/strong>. Back in the medieval ages, the inhabitants of the village used to raise and trap beavers. Yep, beavers, those furry little mammals with big teeth, who like to construct dams on rivers and streams. And the river nearby the village is the Dunajec<\/a><\/strong>. A quite famous river in its own right, mostly for the Dunajec<\/strong> Gorge. But that\u2019s a bit further south from Bobrowniki Wielkie<\/strong>, though I\u2019m sure the river by the village is also lovely.<\/p>\n

So, the first part of the name came from the word \u201cb\u00f3br<\/a><\/strong>\u201d, meaning \u201cbeaver\u201d.
\nThe adjective \u201cwielkie<\/strong>\u201d is the plural form of \u201cwielki<\/strong>\u201d and it means big, grand, large.
\nThere you have it, the name of the village used to mean a \u201cgrand beaver dwelling place\u201d, or something equally exciting. These days, according to its website, the village is far from grand. It\u2019s a small, quiet locale free from beavers \u2013 they were hunted to near extinction.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an old village, the first mention of it comes from 1387. I\u2019m not sure about the subsequent mentions, but it seems the place has managed to stay in relative obscurity since then.<\/p>\n

I have contacted the guy who runs the Bobrowniki<\/strong> website, and if and when I get an answer, I will ask him a few questions, borrow a few photos and then hopefully, I\u2019ll be able to tell you some exciting things about this village.<\/p>\n

For now, we have to make do with these exciting words instead:<\/p>\n