Puławy

Today
Puławy today is a city with a population of 53,000 and a major scientific, research, industrial and tourist center. It is the second largest (after Lublin) economic center in the Lubelskie Province. Zakłady Azotowe "Puławy" S.A. (nitrogen plant) is the largest plant in the city and one of the largest chemical plants in Poland, with an output that constitutes approx. 45% of the domestic production of chemical fertilizers. Other major companies operating in the city include: Puławskie Zakłady Przemysłu Bioweterynaryjnego "BIOWET" (bio-veterinary medicine plant), Przedsiębiorstwo Przemysłu Betonów "PREFABET" (concrete manufacturer) Przedsiębiorstwo Budownictwa Przemysłowego "Puławy" (industrial construction plant) and MOSTOSTAL Puławy S.A. Over four thousand business entities are listed in local business registry. Several state-owned companies, over a hundred private companies, including those with foreign capital, and several dozen cooperatives and business societies are among them. The local authorities are creating a business climate favorable for investors and the development of private companies. "Puławskie Centrum Przedsiębior-czości" foundation, which includes the  "Incubator of Entrepreneurship" Supporting the Development of Local Businesses, are also active on the local arena. In 1995, the City Office in cooperation with the Polish-British Enterprise Project founded an Business Support Center. It has been designed to provide services to small and medium-sized business, such as training, counseling, promotion and providing access to technical infrastructure. Two years later, with the participation of the Center, the Puławy Entrepreneur Club was founded.

Puławy avails of well-developed scientific facilities. Five scientific institutes working in the field of agriculture, with the leading Institute of Cultivation, Fertilization and Soil Science, are operating in the city.
Puławy is also active on the international scene. For several years, it has intensively cooperated with the French town of Douai, the Dutch town of Nieuwegein and the German town of Stendal. The cities have exchanged experiences related to local government and administrative operations, the functioning of the health service, as well as the organization and financing of housing construction, city spatial layout, environment protection and many other issues. Recently, Puławy has initiated cooperation with two more partners, Ukrainian Boiarka and Belarussian Nesvez.
Modern Puławy is a place where tradition is combined with modernity, and where all the institutions and tools indispensable for effective business cooperation are in place. Moreover, in your leisure time, you can find traces of the long history and enjoy beautiful nature.

Yesterday
Puławy has secured an important role in Polish history and culture thanks to the powerful and influential Czartoryski family line. When in 1785, as a result of royal court intrigues, the most eminent couple of the times, Izabella née Fleming and duke Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, moved their residence from Warsaw to Puławy, they created an artistic, cultural and scientific center there, which successfully competed with the capital city. In 1794, the Czartoryski family, who where supporters and protectors of Tadeusz Kościuszko, supported an uprising which he led. In retaliation, the Puławy residence was demolished and the family property confiscated. The family regained their possessions only after the intervention of the Austrian court. After that time, the Puławy manor served as a "little motherland". Duchess Izabella treated reconstruction of the residence with even more splendor as her patriotic duty. She reconstructed the palace and built new structures in the park, which at that time was one of the most beautiful and famous in Europe. The park pavilions included the Sibilla's Temple, which housed a collection of national memoirs with the motto: "The Past for the Future", and was the first Polish national museum, and a Gothic House, where apart from national memoirs, foreign exhibits were stored. The golden age for Puławy ended with the outbreak of the November Uprising. The son of Izabella and Kazimierz, Adam Jerzy, headed an interim government. After the uprising he had to emigrate in order to avoid death sentence. The Puławy property was once more confiscated.  Fortunately, the family collection was saved. It traveled to Sieniawa and Paris, and in late 19th c. returned to Cracow, where, although thinned out by consecutive wars, it constitutes the basis for the Museum and Library of the Czartoryski Family collection.
Later, Puławy developed as a major agricultural science center. In the 1930's, it was included in the development plans of COP (Central Industrial District), which gave the city a major developmental boost. A gelatin plant was founded and there were plans for the development of the chemical industry there; however this was halted by the outbreak of WWII, during which 60% of the town was destroyed. After the war, Puławy was slowly rebuilt, and the construction of a Nitrogen Plant in the 1960's accelerated the city development. The population increased four-fold, and Puławy became a modern urban center, which has managed to preserve its tradition and nature of unique beauty.