Załęże

Załęże (German: Zalenze) is a part and a district of Katowice, located in the north-western part of the city, in the central part of the Upper Silesian conurbation, on the Rawa river. It runs along Gliwicka Street in a characteristic, winding course from the city center to the border of Chorzów. It also borders Osiedle Tysiąclecia, Dąb, Śródmieście, Załęska Hałda-Brynów, and Osiedle Witosa.

It is one of the oldest districts of Katowice, dating back to the 13th century. By the end of the 18th century, the community was an agricultural area, when it began to develop coal mining, iron and zinc industry, which enabled, among other things, rapid population growth. The main industrial plants that had a significant impact on the development of the settlement were the Kleofas Coal Mine and the Baildon Steelworks. On 15 October 1924, Załęże became a district of Katowice. After the collapse of the major industrial plants in the early 21st century Załęże became mainly a service and residential center with a developed cultural base – two theaters are located there: Gry i Ludzie and Żelazny, as well as the Punkt 44 entertainment center.

Development consists mainly of tenements and familoks from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as residential and commercial buildings created after World War II. The most valuable objects in Załęże include the Gothic Revival Church of St. Joseph and the Załęże Palace, which is a remnant of a farm complex. Załęże is very well connected by the A4 motorway and Drogowa Trasa Średnicowa, as well as the international E 30 railway line and tram line. The district has an area of 3.39 km² (2.05% of the city's area) and at the end of 2020, it had 8,589 inhabitants.