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Silesia (Slaskie) Voivodeship was formed on 1st January, 1999 out of the former: bielskie, czestochowskie and katowickie voivodeships.
There are 166 gminas in the voivodeship: 48 town gminas, 21 town-village gminas, and 97 village gminas. The voivodeship is divided in 36 poviats, the number includes 17 land poviats and 19 city poviats.
Borders of the present Silesia Voivodeship should not be identified with historical borders of the Silesian region. Historical Silesia included lands which now are in Oder's and Vistula's river-basins. Several changes of Silesia's nationality and its divisions made the history of this land complicated. During the last eleven centuries, Silesia has been under the rules of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Austrians and Prussians. Many times it came from hands to hands but now most of its lands are inside the borders of the Republic of Poland (provinces of Lower Silesia, Opole, a part of Silesia and Lubin). A little piece of Lower Silesia belongs to Germany (town called Heyeswerda) and to Czech Republic (Silesia Opawsko-pomorski and Western part of Silesia called Zaolzie)
Throughout centuries, administrative borders of Silesia underwent several changes and now it is hard to say exactly which lands are historically Silesian and which are not. Everything depends on historical period we will refer it to. In the Middle Ages main fortified castles were: Wroclaw (Breslau), Glogow, Niemcza and Legnica. Places in Lower Silesia which are not parts of the present Silesia Voivodeship. The name itself Upper Silesia' appeared in 15th century and its lands were in the shadow of economically predominant Lower Silesia till 18th century. Not historical factors but economic ones decided that these lands are parts of Silesia Voivodeship.
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Church of St. Michael the Archangel was built in 1305 as a sancctuary to citizens of neighbouring villages in case of incursion. This is why near the church the bell tower was built - not only to ring the bell but also as a good point to observe surroundings. The whole was protected by .historic lych-gate and wooden fence around the churchyard. In 1510 the church occured to be too small for the local society and it was decided to extend it to the size we can see today. In 1938 the church was transferred to Katowice from Syrynia (Rybnik district). The bell tower was built in XVII century.
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The University of Silesia was established in Katowice in 1968 as the ninth university in Poland. It now has campuses in four cities in the region: Katowice, Sosnowiec, Chorzow and Cieszyn. The majority of faculties are located in Katowice. University of Silesia has 75 departments and 23 institutes. It has more than 45 thousand students and almost 2 thousand teachers, 215 professors and 274 hab. doctors.
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The immaculate conception catholic church was built in 1862 - 1870. It was designed in neo-ghotic style by Alexcus Langer from Wroclaw. The secession stained glass windows in chapels were designed by A. Bunsch. Address: Szramka squareDirections: from the market square go along Warszawska street, the church is on the right
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 Silesian Museum by ZiOOlek
The Musem is open from Tuesdays to Friday (10am - 5pm) and on Saturday and Sunday (11am - 4pm). Monday closed. On Saturdays the admission is for free.
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Upper Silesian Centre of Culture offers a vide variety of exhibitions, concerts (including Jazz) and education (meetings, lectures and workshops).
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The cathedral under the invocation of Christ the Lord was constructed in 1927-1956, neo-baroque. Its architects are Zygmunt Gawlik and Franciszek Maczynski, the participatnts of the competition for the cathedral edifice in 1925. The competition for the cathedral design and the discussion after the competition, also about the final decision connected with its execution were one of the most important events of the architectural life in the interwar Poland. The cathedral is a central structure, with a dome on the nave intersection and unclearly exposed presbytery - the altar part. According to the lay out the dome was to be mounted on a very high drum. Unfortunately the postwar authorities did not agree with that. The lack of drums destroys the stylish baroque effect of the structure to a great extent, giving the cathedral more classicistic character, emphsized by a monumental column portico, which makes the church facade.
The interior decorations are dominated by the altar table with a sculpture of the Resurrected Christ hanging over it (designed by Jerzy Kwiatkowski). Jerzy Kwiatkowski is also an author of the bas relief door of the cathedral.
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 Theatre by ZiOOlek |
 by ZiOOlek |
The Church of St. Michael Archangel contains some unique furnishings and other parts of the church. You can find a wooden, XVII - century pulpit, a wooden, late-gothic sculpture of Our Lady with Jesus from XVI century (transferred in 1970 from Debiensk) and in the church's porch: a stone stoup from XV century and a wooden box (coffer) from XVIII/XIX century. Address: Kosciuszko ParkDirections: The church is located on the highest point of Kosciuszko Park.
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