The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Lomza

LOMZA, lōm'zhạ, Poland, town on the Narew, 100 miles northeast of Warsaw. It contains an ancient church, a theatre, gymnasium and government buildings. It formerly had a large trade with Prussia and Lithuania; was well fortified; had two citadels, but was several times taken by Germans, Tartars and Cossacks. It fell to Prussia in 1795, but in 1807 came under the rule of Russia. In the Great War of 1914 a battle was fought here between the Germans and Russians, in which the latter were defeated and forced to fall back. In 1918 it became part of the newly erected Polish state. Pop. 28,000, mostly Poles and Jews.