Myślenice is a town in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

situated in the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). Its capital and largest city is Kraków. The province's name recalls the traditional name of a h ...

, 30 km south of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. The town is divided into six districts. The most popular of them, Zarabie, is a famous tourist destination. It is located behind the

Raba river Raba may refer to: Places *Rába (Danube), a river in Austria and Hungary *Raba (Vistula), a river in Poland *Raba, Croatia, a village in Slivno, Dubrovnik-Neretva County *Raba, Indonesia, a town in Bima Regency, on the eastern part of the island ...

(Zarabie meaning "Beyond the (River) Raba"), next to Chełm district on the slope of the hill of the same name, where is a view tower and a landscape park and

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

s. Myślenice is a city located in the tectonic window area, between the Dalin, Chełm and Uklejna hills. The city is also located on the border of two Beskids (in the south) and the foothills (in the north). From the western bank of the Raba River these are

Maków Beskids The Maków Beskids () is a mountain range in south-central Poland, part of the Western Beskids within the Outer Western Carpathians. Its highest peak is Mędralowa (1169 meters), within a total area of 900 square kilometers, about 60 km len ...

and

Wieliczka Foothills Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

while on the eastern bank of the river -

Island Beskids The Island Beskids (in Polish language, Polish, ''Beskid Wyspowy'') is a mountain range in southern Poland, part of the Western Beskids of the Outer Western Carpathians, with significant natural resources, folk culture, medieval history, and dev ...

and

Wiśnicz Foothills Wiśnicz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Małogoszcz, within Jędrzejów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Małogoszcz, north-west of Jędrzejów, and west of the ...

. Myślenice has a direct and very convenient bus connection with

however there is no train station in the city.

History

First mentions of Myślenice come from the years 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 (, , ; 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 cities and villages gr ...

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 (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...

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 of ...

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

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

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 or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

. In 1772 (see

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

), Myślenice was annexed by Austria, and until 1918, it belonged to the province of Galicia. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

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

4th Ukrainian Front The 4th Ukrainian Front () 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, by renaming the Southern Front and was involved in the Lower ...

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

Twin towns – sister cities

Myślenice is twinned with: *

Bełchatów Bełchatów () is a city in central Poland with a population of 55,583, as of December 2021. It is located in Łódź Voivodeship, southwest of Warsaw. The Bełchatów Power Station, Elektrownia Bełchatów, located in Bełchatów, is the largest ...

, Poland * Csopak, Hungary * Dahlonega, United States *

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers whic ...

, Germany *

Tinqueux Tinqueux () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. It is a suburb, adjacent to the west of Reims. Tinqueux is twinned with Myślenice, Poland. Population See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is ...

, France

Sports

* Dalin Myślenice - football team playing in Jako

IV liga Lesser Poland IV liga Lesser Poland group (grupa małopolska), also known as Jako IV liga małopolska for sponsorship reasons, is one of the groups of IV liga, the fifth level of Polish football league system. The league was created in the 2000–01 season afte ...

cluster and also a 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 playing in Polish Seria A Women's Volleyball League * Orzeł Myślenice - football team playing at the seventh hierarchy level Liga Okręgowa (group: Kraków III) * LKS Górki Myślenice - football team playing at the eighth tier of the Polish football hierarchy in Myślenice group * TKKF Uklejna Myślenice - sports association that brings together activities such as badminton, running, gymnastics, cycling, volleyball and tennis.

Notable people

* Daniel Obajtek, president of the management board of Orlen company was born in Myślenice *

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

slotback Dave Stala was born here. *

Waldemar Fornalik Waldemar Fornalik (born 11 April 1963) is a Polish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of Ekstraklasa club Zagłębie Lubin. He spent his entire playing career with Ruch Chorzów. From July 2012 to O ...

who was born in Myślenice and moved to

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

where he played for the entire career before becoming a manager * Myślenice is a family town for famous Polish actress Urszula Grabowska who was raised there * Polish

mountain biker Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durabilit ...

Anna Szafraniec Anna Szafraniec (born 16 February 1981) is a Polish mountain biker. She was born in Myślenice. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as ...

comes from Myślenice as well

References

External links

Jewish Community in Myślenice
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Myślenice County