Kościelec is a village in Koło County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Kościelec. It lies approximately 6 km south-west of Koło and 116 km east of the regional capital Poznań.

History

As part of the region of Greater Poland, i.e. the cradle of the Polish state, the area formed part of Poland since its establishment in the 10th century. Kościelec was a royal village of the Kingdom of Poland, administratively located in the Konin County in the Kalisz Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province. In 1827, it had a population of 285. During the German invasion of Poland which started World War II, on September 14, 1939, German troops carried out a massacre of a group of hiding Poles (see Nazi crimes against the Polish nation).