Myślenice is a town in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, situated in the

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 ...

(since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). Population: 20,261 (2007). The town is divided into six districts. One of them, Zarabie, is a popular local tourist destination. It is located behind the Raba river (Zarabie meaning "Beyond the (River) Raba"), and it has Chełm mountain, with a view tower, a landscape park and

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/ Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aeria ...

s. Myślenice is located on the so-called Zakopianka Road, which is a popular name of the

European route E77 European route E 77 is a part of the inter-European road system. This Class A intermediate north–south route is long and it connects the Baltic Sea with the central part of the continent. History In the version of the E-road network e ...

road, connecting

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

with

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been p ...

(the E77 itself separates itself from the Zakopianka at Rabka). Myślenice does not have a train station.

History

First mentions of Myślenice come from 1253 - 1258. At that time, it was a defensive settlement, with a castle and fortifications, designed to protect Kraków from the south. In 1342, Myślenice received its

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, and it started to develop into a local commercial center. Among visitors who came here, were Mikolaj Rej, who wrote part of his ''Life of an Honest Man'' during his stay there; King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. ...

and Queen Jadwiga; German emperor

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form o ...

; and other personalities. In 1557, Myślenice came under the jurisdiction of Kraków

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

s, who were much more concerned with their city. The town began to decline, and it was destroyed in the

deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Comm ...

. In 1772 (see Partitions of Poland), Myślenice was annexed by Austria, and until 1918, it belonged to the province of

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 ...

. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the town became part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

. On 22 January 1945, Myślenice was liberated by the troops of 38th Army of the

4th Ukrainian Front The 4th Ukrainian Front ( Russian: Четвёртый Украинский фронт) was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, b ...

. Between 1975-1998 the city was part of the Kraków Voivodeship.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Myślenice is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with:

Sports

Dalin Myślenice Dalin Myślenice is a Polish sports club based in Myślenice with association football and wrestling sections. The men's senior football team played for many years in the third national tier. The volleyball sections split to firm a separate le ...

- 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 Summ ...

team that has won Polish Seria B Women's Volleyball League in 2003/2004 season and was promoted to play in

Polish Seria A Women's Volleyball League The Polish Women's Volleyball League, known for sponsorship reasons as TAURON Liga (previously known as Orlen Liga and PlusLiga Kobiet) is the highest level of women's volleyball played in Poland. Current teams ''As of 2022-23 season'' Medal ...

in 2004/2005 season. * CFL slotback Dave Stala was born here.

References

External links

Jewish Community in Myślenice
on Virtual Shtetl {{DEFAULTSORT:Myslenice Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Myślenice County Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939)