The town was first mentioned in 1148. At that time it was the seat of a
castellan, and a market center, located near the Vistula crossing. In 1205, the
Battle of Zawichost was fought nearby, in which
Roman the Great of
Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia was defeated by Lesser Poland’s army of
Leszek I the White, and Mazovian army of
Konrad I of Masovia. It is not known when Zawichost was granted town rights, most probably it happened before 1255. In 1257, prince
Bolesław V the Chaste gave the town together with 25 nearby villages to the
Order of Poor Ladies. In the 14th century, Zawichost became a royal town and the seat of a
starosta. King
Kazimierz Wielki built a castle here, which guarded the Vistula crossing. Like other towns in Leser Poland, Zawichost prospered in the 15th and 16th centuries. At that time, it was located along a merchant route from
Kraków to the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and profited from taxes on goods transported on the Vistula. In 1564 the town had a number of artisans, a town hall and 126 houses. Good times ended during the
Deluge. Zawichost was ransacked and destroyed first by the Swedes (1655), and then by the Transilvanians of
George II Rákóczi. The invaders burned the castle, which remained in ruins until 1813, when during a flood its walls collapsed into the Vistula. In 1666 Zawichost experienced a great fire and then a plague, in which most residents died. After all these misfortunes, the town never recovered. Furthermore, after the
Partitions of Poland Zawichost was located near Russian - Austrian border, which hampered its development. At the beginning of the 18th century, the town of
Starostów (later known as
Prosperów) was established near Zawichost. Most of its inhabitants were Jewish, and in 1820, Prosperów merged with Zawichost. Since then the division between the
Polish town, and the
Jewish town was established. In 1827, Zawichost had 281 houses (most of them wooden) and 2,320 inhabitants. In 1888 it lost its town rights and was reduced to the status of a village, to regain town privileges in 1926. During
World War II, German occupiers opened a ghetto in Zawichost, with 5,000 Jews. Most of them were murdered in October 1942 at
Bełżec death camp. In 1944, fierce fighting between the
Wehrmacht and the
Red Army took place in Zawichost, in which most of the town was destroyed. == Point of interest ==