Świekatowo

Świekatowo () is a village in Świecie County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Świekatowo. It is located in the Tuchola Forest in the historic region of Pomerania.

==History== thumb|left|Memorial at the site of the German massacre of Poles from 3 September 1939 In the 10th century, the area became part of the emerging Polish state under the Piast dynasty. The oldest known mention of the village comes from 1277, when it was granted by Duke Mestwin II to the Diocese of Włocławek. It was invaded and occupied by the Teutonic Order in the 14th century. In 1454, the region was reincorporated to the Kingdom of Poland by King Casimir IV Jagiellon upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466, the Teutonic Order renounced any claims to the region and recognized it as part of Poland. Świekatowo was a private church village of the Diocese of Włocławek, administratively located in the Świecie County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1686, it was visited by Bishop Bonawentura Madaliński. It was administered by the chapter of the Diocese of Włocławek until the First Partition of Poland in 1772, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia.