Skępe

Poland, Poland

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Skępe is a town in north-central Poland's Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in Lipno County, situated between two lakes—Jezioro Wielkie and Jezioro Małe—along historic trade routes, with around 7,800 residents and roots in a 12th-13th century Slavic stronghold known locally as "Okop."

Granted Chełmno rights in 1445 by Mikołaj Kościelecki under King Casimir IV Jagiellon, it flourished as a private noble town in Inowrocław Voivodeship, peaking economically in the late 16th century with 230 houses, fairs, and crafts before Prussian annexation in 1793, brief Duchy of Warsaw inclusion, and Russian rule until 1918.

Bernardine monks arrived from Koło in 1498, building a monastery and Church of the Annunciation (1508-1510) that became Dobrzyń Land's main Marian sanctuary after the 1755 image coronation, enduring closures in 1864, Soviet looting in 1920, and WWII occupation while preserving its Baroque courtyard, 18th-century pilgrimage complex, and central market square.