The crisis of settlement in present-day Poland is dated from around the 4th to the 7th century. It is characterized by the abandonment of settlements and a significant thinning out of traces of human presence. However, the slow process of resettling abandoned areas is visible from the 6th century onwards when analyzing archaeological materials. The oldest of such sites in the middle course of the Prosna River is considered to be the Kalisz-Wydarte site, located where the Provincial Integrated Hospital in Kalisz now stands. Artefacts discovered during archaeological excavations preliminarily date the beginnings of this settlement to the 7th century. By the 9th century, a whole complex of settlements was already functioning in the middle course of the Prosna River. In the Kalisz-Ogrody district, in the river valley, a small defensive stronghold was erected during this period, adjacent to which a settlement operated.

South of it, in the area of present-day Zawodzie, another, larger stronghold was founded. This area was more attractive for settlement due to its terrain conditions. The river valley widens to about 2.5 km here. Additionally, the Prosna River is joined by two right-bank tributaries – the Swędrnia and the Pokrzywnica (Cienia). Another concentration of settlements is associated with sites in Kalisz-Piwonice and Lis. During the 9th and 10th centuries, the central point of the entire complex becomes the stronghold located in the present-day Kalisz-Zawodzie district.

Here, most likely already in the 9th century, a cluster of initially small settlements emerges. By the 10th century, it evolves into a well-organized community. Traces of its presence in the form of residential and production facilities, ceramics, and coins likely used in daily transactions, are found during archaeological research conducted in the districts of Kalisz-Stare Miasto, Kalisz-Zawodzie, and Kalisz-Rajsków. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the area of present-day Kalisz-Stare Miasto is occupied by a large artisanal and commercial settlement. During archaeological excavations, numerous workshops associated with ironworking, pottery, and glass production have been discovered here. In addition, over the years of research, furnaces, hearths, and residential buildings have been found. Undoubtedly, one of the most interesting findings is the unique glassmaking workshop at the national level, with remains of furnaces and a unique collection of artifacts related to glass production – fragments of crucibles for glass melting, hundreds of glassware and semi-finished products.

The discovered artifacts allow for the reconstruction of trade contacts between the settlements’ inhabitants and the territories of Rus, as well as southern and northern Europe. Numerous coins indicate significant monetization of the market and indirectly suggest the wealth of the community inhabiting the settlements associated with the stronghold. Within the craft and trade settlement, there was a church of the Virgin Mary, where, at the end of the 12th or perhaps rather at the beginning of the 13th century, the seat of the Kalisz archdeacon was established. Its beginnings probably date back to the 12th century.

In the second half of the 12th century, the church of St. Gotthard was probably founded in the settlement established on the slope of the plateau, by the road towards the crossing through the Prosna Valley. The exact time of the foundation of the church of St. Adalbert remains unknown; undoubtedly, it functioned at the end of the 13th century in the settlement near the stronghold. However, it is difficult to determine whether it existed earlier. Scholarly literature presents views linking this fact to the 12th or even 11th century.

The development of the planned city in the second half of the 13th century had a negative impact on the settlements associated with the center in today’s Zawodzie. In the settlements of Stare Miasto, Rajsków, and the settlement near the stronghold, villages were established at the end of the 13th century.

Dariusz Wyczółkowski