Suraż

Suraż stands on the Narew in Podlasie, where an old fortified settlement guarded the river crossing. Its history followed the changing frontier between Masovia and Lithuania. In 1445 Casimir Jagiellon granted Suraż Magdeburg town rights and endowed its Catholic parish with the village of Uhowo. Settlement of the surrounding lands proceeded from the town, bringing Masovian nobles, boyars and peasants who founded villages in the district. Suraż remained part of the varied border country of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.