Although some of the largest ecclesiastical estates were frequently situated along the borders of the country, and were sometimes in a somewhat primitive condition,[314] yet as a rule the lands of the church were most favorably located, and were compact and very productive.[315] They were usually grouped around the episcopal sees or monastic institutions in the most productive, most thickly settled, and most easily accessible parts of the country. A large portion of the landed property of the bishop of Poznań was located in the county of Poznań, in close proximity to the episcopal see and to the city. In the county of Gniezno, the lands of the archbishop of Gniezno constituted 22 per cent. of its area cultivated by peasants. In the Palatinate of Łęczyce, the most thickly settled and the most productive, the ecclesiastical lands made up also 22 per cent. of the total under peasant cultivation. In Mazovia in the Palatinate of Płock 71 villages belonged to the bishop of Płock. In Red Russia in the most thickly settled and most productive district around Lwów the church lands constituted 5 per cent. of the area cultivated by peasants. And when we come to Little Poland, we find that half of the ecclesiastical lands of that province,--388 villages, 49 sections, and 9 towns, or between 440 to 450 landed estates,--were located in the Palatinate of Cracow. The counties containing most of them were Proszowice, Szczyrzyce, and Ksiąsk, Proszowice leading with 183 ecclesiastical estates.[316] The number of “łanów kmiecych” per square mile shows that these counties were the best cultivated, most productive, and the richest. The County of Proszowice numbered 62.7 “łanów kmiecych” to the square mile, the County of Ksiąsk 40.1, and that of Szczyrzyce 32.4. In the Palatinate of Sandomir the County of Wiślice, where again numerous ecclesiastical estates were found, numbered 41 “łanów kmiecych” to the square mile.[317]