Tykocin trip planner

Tykocin טיקטין Тыкоцін Tykocin) is a small town in north-eastern Poland, with 2,010 inhabitants (2012), located on the Narew river. Tykocin has been situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship since 1999. Previously, it belonged to Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is one of the oldest settlements in the region.History of the townThe name of Tykocin was first mentioned in the 11th century and through the 14th century it was a Duchy of Masovian castellany seat and castle on the Masovian border neighboring the growing medieval pagan Lithuania. Tykocin received city rights from prince Janusz I of Warsaw in 1425, but several months later it was given to Grand Duchy of Lithuania by the Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło.Shortly later, or about 1433 AD, Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis gave the town along with other towns to Jonas Gostautas, and it became the most important power seat of that Lithuanian magnate Gostautai family clan. During the 1560s, upon the family's last member passing away, the town became one of the most favorite properties for Polish king and Lithuanian Grand Prince Sigismund II Augustus who had a Renaissance castle built there instead of the medieval one. It became property of the Crown and eventually it was awarded to hetman Stefan Czarniecki, later on through marriage of Czarniecki's daughters it passed to Branicki Gryf coat-of-arms family.