Gniezno ([ˈɡɲɛznɔ] ⓘ; Latin: Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of Poznań.

Rus went to the east, Čech headed to the west to settle on the Říp Mountain rising up from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech traveled north.

After the adoption of Christianity by Mieszko I, his son Bolesław I the Brave deposited the remains of Saint Adalbert in a church, newly built on the Hill, to underline Gniezno's importance as the religious centre and capital of his kingdom.

It is here that the Congress of Gniezno took place in the year 1000, during which Bolesław I the Brave, Duke of Poland, received Holy Roman Emperor Otto III.

[12] The emperor and the Polish duke celebrated the foundation of the Polish ecclesiastical province (archbishopric) in Gniezno, along with newly established bishoprics in Kołobrzeg for Pomerania; Wrocław for Silesia; Kraków for Lesser Poland[13] in addition to the bishopric in Poznań for western Greater Poland, which was established in 968.

In the next centuries Gniezno evolved as a regional seat of the eastern part of Greater Poland, and in 1238 municipal autonomy was granted by the duke Władysław Odonic.

After an administrative reform Gniezno, as a royal city, became a county seat within the Kalisz Voivodeship (since the early 14th century till 1768).

[13] Trade flourished in Gniezno, four large annual fairs took place, in which merchants from various Polish cities and European countries took part.

All this caused depopulation and economic decline, but the city was soon revived during the 18th century to become the capital of the Gniezno Voivodeship within the larger Greater Poland Province in 1768.

But because of Kościuszko's defeat at the Battle of Maciejowice he gave up his plan to winter in Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) and moved through Thorn (Toruń) and retreated to central Poland.

[17] Consequently, the town, once again as Gniezno, was included within the Duchy of Warsaw, but upon the defeat of Napoleon in Russia in 1812 it was occupied by the Russian army and was returned to Prussia in the 1815 Congress of Vienna.

[19] Following the Greater Poland Uprising (1918–1919) and the Treaty of Versailles the town became part of the Second Polish Republic and reverted to its original name of Gniezno.

[22] During the invasion of Poland, which started World War II, Gniezno was captured by Germans troops on 11 September 1939.

[25] Despite this, Gniezno remained a center of Polish resistance,[3] including the Tajna Organizacja Narodowa (Secret National Organization), which was founded in the city itself.

In August 1980, employees of local factories joined the nationwide anti-communist strikes,[28] which led to the foundation of the Solidarity organization, which played a central role in the end of communist rule in Poland.

During the second visit, celebrations took place on the millennial anniversary of the death of St. Adalbert with the participation of presidents of seven Central European countries and 280,000 pilgrims from Poland and the world.