Trzebinia

Trzebinia (; Tchebin) is a town in Chrzanów County, Lesser Poland, Poland with an Orlen oil refinery and a major rail junction of the Kraków - Katowice line, with connections to Oświęcim and Spytkowice. The town became part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship after being part of Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998). With population of 20,175 (Dec. 31, 2010), Trzebinia is an important industrial center. The town lies in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, above sea level. Trzebinia is a rail and road hub, and lies at a junction of the A4 Motorway and National Road Nr. 79. The distance to John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice is .

==History== thumb|left|Old monastery in the early 20th century History of Trzebinia dates back to the late Middle Ages. In 1325, the settlement already had a church, which was mentioned in 1470 by Jan Długosz. Until the early 15th century, Trzebinia was a royal village, then it passed into the hands of local noble families. At that time, zinc and lead deposits were discovered here. Trzebinia, however, still remained a village, or rather a mining settlement, which from 1569 until 1802 belonged to the Schilhra Trzebiński family, Abdank coat of arms. Administratively Trzebinia was located in the Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In 1772, in the First Partition of Poland, it was annexed by the Austria and made part of Galicia. It was regained by Poles in the Austro-Polish War of 1809 and included within the short-lived Polish Duchy of Warsaw. After the duchy's dissolution, the town was part of the Free City of Kraków from 1815 to 1846, and then it was reannexed by the Austrian Empire. In the 19th century the area of Trzebinia went through the period of industrialization. In 1804–1843, five coal mines, two zinc mills and a glass factory were opened here. On September 6, 1817, the village received its town charter, and in the second half of the 19th century, further coal mines were opened here, as well as a calamine mine. In the early 20th century, Trzebinia had oil refinery, power plant, and cement mill. In 1903, the Salvatorians settled here, who in 1908 began construction of a church.