Wolin


Wolin

or

Wollin

(both: vô`lēn), island, 95 sq mi (246 sq km), off the coast of Pomerania, in the Baltic Sea, and belonging to Poland. Wolin is separated from the mainland by the Zalew Szczeciński (Stettiner Haff). It is generally a lowland, with forests and several lakes. Fishing and livestock raising are the chief industries. There are numerous bathing resorts. The principal town, Wolin, is a fishing port. A fortress and Slavic settlement once occupied the site of the town, whose history dates from the 9th cent. The island passed to Sweden in 1648, to Prussia in 1721, and to Poland after World War II. It is administratively part of Szczecin prov.

Wolin

 

a town in Poland, located on the island of the same name at the mouth of the Odra River. Population, 2,900 (1967); a fishing port. Wolin arose in the late eighth century and was mentioned for the first time in written sources in the tenth century. From the tenth century to the 12th it was an important artisan and commercial center and port on the Baltic Sea. It was a city republic. Excavations begun in 1934 have uncovered the remains of a fortified Slavic city, which was located in a settlement surrounded by an earthen wall. The settlement stretched for about 4 km along the Dziwna Strait. The buildings of ancient Wolin were of wood and the streets were paved with wood. Excavations have uncovered artisan workshops, places where ships were built, fishermen’s dwellings, and the remains of an ancient port.

REFERENCE

Kiersnowski, R. Szczecin i Wolin we wczesnym sredniowieczu. Wroclaw, 1954.