Muszyna is a town in

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). It was created on 1 ...

, southern Poland. Population: 4,989 (2006). It is a railroad junction, located near border with

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, with trains going into three directions - towards

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; hu, Újszandec; yi, Tzanz, צאַנז; sk, Nový Sonč; german: Neu-Sandez) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. It has ...

Krynica-Zdrój Krynica-Zdrój (until 31 December 2001 Krynica, rue, Крениця, uk, Криниця) is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in ...

and southwards, to Slovakia. The distance to the border is . Muszyna lies in the valley of the

Poprad Poprad (; hu, Poprád; german: Deutschendorf) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the t ...

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

. The town has the status of a spa, with Poprad Landscape Park and picturesque

Poprad River Gorge The Poprad River Gorge ( pl, Przełom Popradu) runs through the Western Carpathian Mountain Range in the southernmost part of Poland. It is formed by the river Poprad, the only large river flowing north from Slovakia into Poland, the tributary of ...

located nearby.

History

Muszyna's development is tied with proximity of the southern borders of the Polish state. The settlement was located along the so-called “Hungarian Trail”, as for centuries Slovakia belonged to the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

. Muszyna was first mentioned in 1209, in a document in which King

Andrew II of Hungary Andrew II ( hu, II. András, hr, Andrija II., sk, Ondrej II., uk, Андрій II; 117721 September 1235), also known as Andrew of Jerusalem, was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1205 and 1235. He ruled the Principality of Halych from 11 ...

allowed local parish priest to collect tolls at the Poprad river near Muszyna. At that time, the settlement belonged to the Niegowicki family (

Półkozic coat of arms Półkozic is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. History According to legend, this coat was assigned to knight Stawisz, who was defending the foreign castle of Ete ...

). In 1288 Muszyna passed into the hands of Bishops of Kraków, and in the early 14th century, King

Władysław Łokietek Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * W ...

, after a conflict with Bishop

Jan Muskata Jan Muskata (1250 – 7 February 1320) was bishop of Kraków from 1294 to 1309. Muskata was born in Wrocław, Silesia. He was the son of a German spice trader. The name Muskata is derived from Latin, for nutmeg. He had brother named Stefan (fl ...

, and the

Rebellion of wójt Albert Mayor Albert's Rebellion ( pl, bunt wójta Alberta) was a 1311–12 rebellion by the burghers of the Polish city of Kraków against Duke Władysław I the Elbow-high. The rebellion was led by Albert, the '' wójt'' ( la, advocatus), who under Mag ...

, decided to make the village a royal property. Muszyna remained in the hands of Polish kings for almost 100 years, and in 1356, it was granted

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

town charter by King

Kazimierz Wielki Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He ...

. On July 30, 1391, King

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...

granted the so-called Muszyna State (with two towns and 35 villages) to the Bishops of Kraków. As a result, the Muszyna State (''Państwo Muszyńskie'') was treated as a separate territorial unit, with its own administration, army and courts. On behalf of Kraków Bishops, the property was governed by

starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. The ...

s, and remained in the hands of the bishops until 1781. In the 15th century, influx of settlers from

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

and Transcarpathia resulted in construction of several Orthodox churches. Muszyna was an important center of the

Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation ( pl, Konfederacja barska; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles ( szlachta) formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia (now part of Ukraine) in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polis ...

, and after

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

, it became part of Austrian

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

, where it remained from 1772 to 1918.

Mineral springs

In the 1920s, thanks to the efforts of mayor Antoni Jurczak and doctor Seweryn Msciwujewski, Muszyna received the status of a spa town. In 1930 it became a member of the Association of Polish Spa Towns, and in 1932, first mineral springs (Antoni and Wanda) were opened. Muszyna's mineral waters contain several bioelements and make it a popular tourist destination across Poland.

Population growth

ImageSize = width:560 height:200 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:5500 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:500 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:250 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:19 align:left bar:1857 from:0 till:1596 bar:1869 from:0 till:1906 bar:1890 from:0 till:2358 bar:1900 from:0 till:2571 bar:1910 from:0 till:2728 bar:1921 from:0 till:2516 bar:1931 from:0 till:2979 bar:1943 from:0 till:3309 bar:1988 from:0 till:4806 bar:2002 from:0 till:5028 bar:2011 from:0 till:5123 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1857 at: 1596 text: 1,596 shift:(-12,5) bar:1869 at: 1906 text: 1,906 shift:(-12,5) bar:1890 at: 2358 text: 2,358 shift:(-12,5) bar:1900 at: 2571 text: 2,571 shift:(-12,5) bar:1910 at: 2728 text: 2,728 shift:(-12,5) bar:1921 at: 2516 text: 2,516 shift:(-12,5) bar:1931 at: 2979 text: 2,979 shift:(-12,5) bar:1943 at: 3309 text: 3,309 shift:(-12,5) bar:1988 at: 4806 text: 4,806 shift:(-12,5) bar:2002 at: 5028 text: 5,028 shift:(-12,5) bar:2011 at: 5123 text: 5,123 shift:(-12,5)

Sport

Muszynianka Muszyna MKS Muszynianka is a Polish women's volleyball club based in Muszyna and playing in the Orlen Liga. Previous names Due to sponsorship, the club have competed under the following names: * Poprad Muszyna (1982–1985) * Międzyszkolny Klub Sportow ...

- women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team playing in Polish Seria A Women's Volleyball League: 7th place in 2003/2004 season, 1st place in 2005/2006, 2007/2008, 2008/2009 season.

External links

Jewish Community in Muszyna
on Virtual Shtetl
Official website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Nowy Sącz County Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Populated places in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) Spa towns in Poland