Bełchatów () is a city in central Poland, with a population of 55,583, as of December 2021. 8,000 people work directly for the company that runs the coal mine and electricity plants.

Cuisine

The officially protected traditional food of Bełchatów (as designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland) is wyborowa krówka bełchatowska, a local type of krówka (traditional Polish candy).

Transport

National road 74 bypasses Bełchatów to the north.

Vovoideship road 484 connects the town to Kamieńsk and to Buczek.

The nearest railway station is in the town of Piotrków Trybunalski to the east.

Sports

  • Skra Bełchatów – men's volleyball team playing in PlusLiga (Polish top division), 9–time Polish Champions, 7–time Polish Cup winners.
  • GKS Bełchatów – men's football team playing in the lower divisions, which has also played in Ekstraklasa (top division) in the past.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Bełchatów is twinned with:

  • Aubergenville, France
  • Myślenice in Poland
  • Csongrád in Hungary
  • Alcobaça in Portugal
  • Tauragė in Lithuania

Former twin towns

  • Sovetsk, Russia

In February 2022, Bełchatów suspended its partnership with the Russian city of Sovetsk as a reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Notable people

  • Harry Haft (1925–2007), survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp and a professional boxer in the United States during 1948–1949

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Bełchatów -siedziba PGE 4.JPG|PGE headquarters

File:Stadion GKS Bełchatów (Poland).JPG|GKS Bełchatów Stadium

File:Dworek Olszewskich.jpg|Olszewski Manor

File:MiPBP Bełchatów.JPG|Library

File:Rogowiec, Elektrownia Bełchatów - fotopolska.eu (262558).jpg|A view of the Power Plants and the Lignite Mine

</gallery>

References

  • Official website
  • Local News Portal (in Polish)
  • Jewish community of Bełchatów on Virtual Shtetl