Długosz further explains that before crossing the Polish frontier, Roman sent emissaries to the Bishop of Vladimir and asked for his blessing, as he intended to campaign in Poland for three years. The Bishop declined Roman's gifts and denied him any blessing, explaining that "he cannot bless Roman or his enterprise, since he has previously started unjust and wicked wars and is again embarking on one that is quite unjustified, considering that the Poles have so often exposed their bodies to danger and death to defend the Ruthenians against the barbarians." Roman responded by telling the bishop that he will cut his head off when he returns from his victory.


Many of the Rus' drowned and many more died at the hands of the local population, as Polish troops chased them all the way to Vladimir. Few survived the massacre and at the order of Leszek and Konrad, Roman's body was buried in Sandomierz. The two factions came to an agreement and the Russians released all their prisoners and paid 1,000 silver marks to recover the body of Roman, which was then buried in Vladimir.


After his triumph, Leszek's reputation took a positive turn, earning him credibility and the trust of Kraków, which would give him temporary power over the city. Konrad, coming of age, asked for his share of power and at the meditation of their mother and a selected group of aristocrats, the two brothers divide the country under their authority. Rus' turned unstable from its internal conflicts and the country is invaded by Lithuanians, this being the first time the Poles hear of that name. The Ruthenians suffered great casualties, but managed to defeat the invaders. In 1208, the country fell into civil war.


Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska (), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


The region should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only the southwestern part of Lesser Poland. Historical Lesser Poland was much larger than the current voivodeship that bears its name. It reached from Bielsko-Biała in the southwest as far as to Siedlce in the northeast. It consisted of the three voivodeships of Kraków, Sandomierz and Lublin.


It comprised almost 60,000 km2 in area; today's population in this area is about 9,000,000 inhabitants. Its landscape is mainly hilly, with the Carpathian Mountains and Tatra Mountain Range in the south; it is located in the basin of the upper Vistula river. It has been noted for its mighty aristocracy ("magnateria") and wealthy nobility ("szlachta").


Between the 14th and 18th century, the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown also encompassed the historical region of Red Ruthenia. In the era of partitions, the southern part of Lesser Poland became known as Galicia, which was under Austrian control until Poland regained its independence in 1918. As a result of this long-lasting division, many inhabitants of the northern part of Lesser Poland (including those in such cities as Lublin, Radom, Kielce and Częstochowa) do not recognize their Lesser Polish identity.


However, while Lublin "(Lubelskie)" was declared an independent Voivodeship as early as 1474, it still has speakers of the Lesser Polish dialect.


Across history, many ethnic and religious minorities existed in Lesser Poland as they fled persecution from other areas or countries. Poland's once tolerant policy towards these minorities allowed them to flourish and create separate self-governing communities. Some minorities still remain, but are on the verge of extinction, most notably Wymysorys-speaking Vilamovians, Halcnovians, Gorals, Lemkos, Uplanders, and once Polish Jews and Walddeutsche Germans.


Almost the whole area is located in the Vistula Basin, with the exception of the western and southern parts, belonging to the Odra and Dunaj Basins. The main rivers of the province are the Vistula, upper Warta, Soła, Skawa, Raba, Dunajec, Wisłok, Wisłoka, San, Wieprz, Przemsza, Nida, Kamienna, Radomka, and Pilica. The major lakes of the province are Lake Rożnów, Lake Czchów, Lake Dobczyce, Lake Czorsztyn, Lake Czaniec, Lake Międzybrodzie, Lake Klimkówka and Żywiec Lake. Most of them are man-made reservoirs.


Lesser Poland stretches from the Carpathians in the south to Pilica and Liwiec rivers to the north. It borders Mazovia to the north, Podlaskie to the northeast, Red Ruthenia to the east, Slovakia to the south, Silesia to the west, and Greater Poland to the northwest. Currently, the region is divided between Polish voivodeships – Lesser Poland Voivodeship (whole), Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (whole), Silesian Voivodeship (eastern half), Podkarpackie Voivodeship (western part), Masovian Voivodeship (southern part), Łódź Voivodeship (southeastern corner), and Lublin Voivodeship (western part).


Around the year 1000, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kraków was created, and its borders covered whole area of Lesser Poland. During the reign of Casimir I the Restorer, Kraków for the first time became the capital of Poland (around 1040), since Greater Poland and Silesia, with main Polish urban centers, such as Gniezno and Poznań were ravaged by Duke Bretislaus I of Bohemia. In 1138, following the Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty, the country was divided between his sons (see also Fragmentation of Poland). Bolesław III Wrymouth created the Seniorate Province, which, among others, consisted of Kraków. At the same time, Lesser Poland was divided into two parts, when its eastern part formed the Duchy of Sandomierz, carved by the ruler for his son Henry of Sandomierz.


In the late Middle Ages, Lesser Poland gradually became the center of Polish statehood, with Kraków being the capital of the country from the mid-11th century until 1596. Its nobility ruled Poland when Queen Jadwiga was too young to control the state, and the Union of Krewo with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the brainchild of Lesser Poland's szlachta.


In the 16th century, Lesser Poland retained its position as the most important province of the country. As no major conflicts took place on its territory, it was the center of Renaissance in Poland. The province was home to numerous scholars, writers and statesmen, and it was here where Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created in 1569 (see Union of Lublin). In the Commonwealth, Lesser Poland proper was the base of the Province of Lesser Poland, which covered southern lands of the vast country. The province was made of Lesser Poland itself, also Red Ruthenia, Volhynia, Podolia, and Ukrainian voivodeships – Kijów Voivodeship (Kyiv), Czernihów Voivodeship (Chernihiv), and Bracław Voivodeship (Bratslav), which, until 1569, had been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.


After the conflict, Lesser Poland began a recovery, which was hampered by several other factors. Province's cities frequently burned (Lublin 1719, Nowy Targ 1784, Nowy Sącz, Dukla 1758, Wieliczka 1718, Miechów 1745, Drzewica), there also were numerous outbreaks of plagues and typhus (in 1707–1708, some 20,000 died in Kraków and its area)


Lesser Poland was one of main centers of the Bar Confederation. On 21 June 1786 in Kraków, local confederation was announced, and on the same day Voievode of Kraków, Michal Czarnocki, urged his citizens to join the movement. Soon afterwards, Kraków was captured by the Russian troops, and the center of Lesser Poland's insurgency moved to the mountainous south – areas around Dukla and Nowy Sącz. During the Confederation, several battles and skirmishes took place there. In 1770, after the Battle of Iwonicz, the Russians ransacked Biecz. The movement ended in 1772, and its decline was connected with the Partitions of Poland. Another local center of the movement was Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa, which was defended by Kazimierz Pulaski for almost two years (1770–1772).


The Partitions of Poland began earlier in Lesser Poland than in other provinces of the country. In 1769, Austrian Empire annexed a small territory of Spisz, and next year, the towns of Czorsztyn, Nowy Sącz and Nowy Targ. In 1771, the Russians and the Prussians agreed on the first partition of the country, and in early 1772, Austrian Emperor Maria Theresa decided to join the two powers. In the first partition of the Commonwealth, the Austrians seized the territory which would later be called Galicia, and which included southwestern corner of Lesser Poland (south of the Vistula river), with Żywiec, Tarnów, and Biecz, but without major urban centers of the province, such as Kraków, Sandomierz, Radom, Lublin, Częstochowa, and Kielce.


As a result of their support of the failed insurrection, several Lesser Poland's towns lost their charters and were turned into villages. Among them were Kraśnik, Bodzentyn, Opatów, Iłża, Małogoszcz, Wąchock, Busko-Zdrój, Jędrzejów, Cmielow, Zwoleń, Drzewica, Wierzbica, Czeladź, Kazimierz Dolny, Wolborz, Stopnica, Daleszyce, Wiślica, Pajęczno, Lipsko, Pacanów, Ożarów, Wolbrom, Proszowice, Nowe Miasto Korczyn, Włoszczowa, Przysucha, Opole Lubelskie.


The division of Lesser Poland along the Vistula river, which lasted from 1772 until 1918, is visible even today. For more than 100 years, southern Lesser Poland (Kraków, Tarnów, Biala Krakowska, and Nowy Sącz) was administered by Austria, while northern, larger part of the province (Częstochowa, Sosnowiec, Kielce, Radom, Lublin, Sandomierz) was forcibly part of the Russian Empire. Inhabitants of Austrian part of Poland enjoyed limited autonomy, with Polish language institutions, such as Jagiellonian University. At the same time, Russian-controlled Poland was subject to Russification. As a result of decades of this division, most inhabitants of the areas stolen by Russia are not aware of their Lesser Poland's heritage. Furthermore, current administrative boundaries of the country still reflect the defunct border between the former Russian and Austria–Hungarian Empires.


In late 1918, Lesser Poland emerged as one of main centers of fledgling Polish administration and independence movement. According to historian Kazimierz Banburski of Tarnów's District Museum, Tarnów was the first Polish city which became independent, after 123 years of oppression. On 31 October 1918, at 8 am, Tarnów's inhabitants began disarming demoralized Austrian soldiers, and after three hours, the city was completely in Polish hands. On 28 October 1918, Polish Liquidation Committee was created in Kraków. A few days later, socialist peasants founded the Republic of Tarnobrzeg. In the night of 6/7 November 1918, "Polish People's Republic" was proclaimed in Lublin, by Ignacy Daszynski and other activists. In 1919, the legislative election took place in Lesser Poland without major problems.


Even though Lesser Poland's countryside was almost exclusively Polish, its towns and cities were inhabited by numerous Jews, whose communities were very vibrant. In Kraków, Jews made 25% of the population, in Lublin – 31%, in Kielce – 30%, and in Radom – 32%. Apart from the Jews, and Gypsies scattered in the south, there were no other significant national minorities in interbellum Lesser Poland.


Lesser Poland remained a center of Polish culture, with Kraków's Jagiellonian University, AGH University of Science and Technology, and Catholic University of Lublin, which was opened in 1918. Several important figures of interbellum political, military, and cultural life of Poland were born in Lesser Poland. Among them were Wincenty Witos, Władysław Sikorski, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki, Józef Haller, Władysław Belina-Prażmowski, Tadeusz Kutrzeba, Feliks Koneczny, Stefan Żeromski, Tadeusz Peiper, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Witold Gombrowicz, Jan Kiepura, Stefan Jaracz. In 1920, in Lesser Poland's town of Wadowice, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was born.


On 1 September 1939, armed forces of Nazi Germany attacked Poland (see: Invasion of Poland). Lesser Poland, due to its proximity to the then-border with Germany, became a battleground on the first day of the invasion. The Germans attacked the province both in its northwest (area west of Częstochowa), and in the south (Podhale), along the border with Slovakia, Third Reich's ally.


Lesser Poland was defended by the following Polish armies:


On 12 October 1939, upon a decree of Adolf Hitler, General Government, a separate region of the Greater German Reich was created, with Hans Frank as its Governor-General. Its capital was established in Kraków, and it covered most of the area of historical Lesser Poland, except for its western counties, which were directly incorporated into Nazi Germany's Upper Silesia Province (Będzin, Sosnowiec, Zawiercie, Biała, Żywiec, Chrzanów, Olkusz).


Anti-Nazi resistance was particularly strong in Lesser Poland, and it was in the extreme northwestern corner of the province (around Opoczno), that armed struggle against the occupiers began in late 1939 and early 1940 (see Henryk Dobrzański). Structures of the Home Army were well-developed in the region. Lesser Poland's independent areas of the Home Army were located in Kraków, Kielce-Radom, and Lublin. During Operation Tempest in mid-1944, several Lesser Poland's towns were liberated, also uprising in Kraków was prepared, but never realized. Apart from the Home Army, other resistance groups were strong in the province, such as pro-Communist Armia Ludowa, peasant's Bataliony Chłopskie, and right-wing National Armed Forces, with its Holy Cross Mountains Brigade.


In all major Lesser Poland's cities, Jewish ghettos were opened, with the biggest ones in Kraków, and Lublin. At first the Nazis were planning to create a so-called "reservation" for European Jews, located around Lesser Poland's town of Nisko (see Nisko Plan), but they changed the plan, and decided to murder all Jews. Condemned to death, Jews in Lesser Poland took to fighting (see Częstochowa Ghetto Uprising), but their efforts failed. As a result of The Holocaust in Poland, once thriving and numerous Jewish population of Lesser Poland was decimated.


The government of Communist Poland invested in heavy industry, following the pre-1939 idea of Central Industrial Area. In Kraków, a new district of Nowa Huta was constructed in the 1950s. In Częstochowa and Zawiercie, the steelworks were significantly expanded, and in early 1970, the government initiated construction of Katowice Steelworks, which, despite its name, is located in Lesser Poland's Dąbrowa Górnicza. To connect Katowice Steelworks with Soviet plants, in late 1970s Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line was opened, which crossed Lesser Poland from west to east. Among other major factories, opened in Lesser Poland during Communist rule, there are:


Other Lesser Poland's major plants were significantly expanded after 1945, including Żywiec Brewery, Okocim Brewery, Fablok, Łucznik Arms Factory, FŁT-Kraśnik, Jaworzno Power Station, Siersza Power Plant, Huta Stalowa Wola, Janina Coal Mine, Sobieski Coal Mine, Zakłady Azotowe Tarnów-Mościce. Furthermore, in early 1950s significant sulfur resources were discovered in Tarnobrzeg, as a result of which Siarkopol company was founded, and the city of Tarnobrzeg quickly grew. In 1975, coal was discovered northeast of Lublin, and soon afterwards, Bogdanka Coal Mine and Piaski Coal Mine were opened.


Between 1971 and 1977, Central Trunk Line was opened, which goes along western boundary of the province, and which connects Kraków and Katowice, with Warsaw. In the early 1980s, construction of a highway between Kraków and Katowice began. The 61-kilometer road is now run by Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska, and is part of A4 highway.


Residents of Lesser Poland frequently protested against Communist government. Major centers of anti-Communist resistance were in Kraków, Nowa Huta, Radom, and Lublin. Among major protests that took place in the province were 1968 Polish political crisis (with Kraków as one of major centers of protests), June 1976 protests (in Radom), Lublin 1980 strikes, 31 August 1982 demonstrations in Poland (in several locations), 1988 Polish strikes (with Stalowa Wola as one of major centers). Several anti-Nazi, and anti-Communist leaders hailed from Lesser Poland: Jan Piwnik, Emil August Fieldorf, Leopold Okulicki, Ryszard Siwiec, Stanisław Pyjas, Hieronim Dekutowski, Andrzej Gwiazda, Andrzej Czuma.


A number of key personalities of Communist government were born in Lesser Poland, including Józef Cyrankiewicz, Bolesław Bierut, Edward Gierek, Wojciech Jaruzelski, Czesław Kiszczak, Stanisław Kania, Hilary Minc, Edward Ochab, Michał Rola-Żymierski, Józef Oleksy.


Among prominent personalities of Polish cultural life of the 20th century, who were born in Lesser Poland, there are: Xawery Dunikowski, Witold Gombrowicz, Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Sławomir Mrożek, Tadeusz Kantor, Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, Marek Kondrat, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Krzysztof Penderecki, Zbigniew Preisner, Leon Schiller, Jerzy Stuhr, Jan Sztaudynger, Grzegorz Turnau, Jerzy Turowicz.


In 1998, the government of Poland carried out administrative reform of the country. For the first time in history, Lesser Poland Voivodeship was created, with capital in Kraków, and area of 15,108 square kilometers. The new province covers only a small, southwestern part of historical Lesser Poland.


Today, Lesser Poland is divided between several voivodeships: whole Lesser Poland Voivodeship, whole Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, western half of Lublin Voivodeship, western part of Subcarpathian Voivodeship, eastern half of Silesian Voivodeship, southern part of Mazovian Voivodeship and southeastern corner of Łódź Voivodeship (around Opoczno).


There were suggestions that Lesser Poland voivodeship should stretch from Bielsko-Biała, to Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and Sandomierz. Furthermore, creation of Old Poland Voivodeship was proposed, on the historical lands of northern Lesser Poland. Also, since about half of territory of current Silesian Voivodeship belongs to historical Lesser Poland, there are suggestions to rename it into "Silesian – Lesser Poland Voivodeship".


The list is based on the Polish Central Statistical Office list of 100 biggest cities of Poland, as for 30 June 2008.


In the Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, several other locations used to be important urban centers of Lesser Poland, but in the course of the time, their significance declined. The main example is Sandomierz, which for hundreds of years was one of the most important cities of Poland, but now is a town of 25,000. Other examples of historically important places, which are now little towns or villages are:


In the 20th century, natural resources were also discovered in central and eastern counties Lesser Poland.


In 1964, the world's largest open-pit sulfur mine was opened in Machów near Tarnobrzeg. Other sulfur deposits in the area of Tarnobrzeg are Jeziorko, Grzybów-Gacki, and Grębów-Wydza. The mine at Machów is now closed. In the late 1960s, eastern Lesser Poland became one of three coal basins of the country, when Lublin Basin was created. Major coal mine in the area is KWK Bogdanka near Łęczna, which is the only coal mine in Poland which has continuously generated a profit. Other Polish coal mines located in Lesser Poland are those found in western part of the province, along the boundary with Upper Silesia – KWK Janina in Jaworzno, KWK Sobieski, and also in Jaworzno. Copper and silver are extracted in Myszków (see Myszków mine).


In the late 1930s, the government of the Second Polish Republic created Central Industrial Region, which was almost exclusively located in Lesser Poland. Currently, within borders of the province, there are following industrial regions:


Several European roads (see International E-road network) cross Lesser Poland. The most important one is the European route E40, which goes from west to east, across whole Europe. In Lesser Poland, the E40 goes from Jaworzno, via Kraków and Tarnów, towards eastern border of the country. Another main European road in Lesser Poland is the E77, which goes from north to south, via Radom, Kielce and Kraków, to southern border of Poland at Chyżne. Third major European road in Lesser Poland is the E30, which crosses the territory of the province in its extreme northeast corner, in Siedlce. Apart from these roads, Lesser Poland is crossed by the following European routes:


Within borders of historical Lesser Poland, there are two airports – John Paul II International Airport Kraków – Balice, and Katowice International Airport, which is located in the village of Pyrzowice, on the border between Lesser Poland and Upper Silesia. Pyrzowice is part of Gmina Ożarowice, which after Partitions of Poland, and Congress of Vienna belonged to Będzin County of the Russian Empire. In the interbellum, the area of future airport belonged to Lesser Poland's Kielce Voivodeship, and in 1945, was transferred to Katowice Voivodeship (initially "Silesian-Dąbrowa Voivodeship"). In 1998, Ożarowice, together with the airport, was attached to Tarnowskie Góry County, despite the fact that it is not located in Upper Silesia


Further airports in Lesser Poland will be opened in the future – Lublin – Świdnik, Kielce – Obice, and Radom – Sadków. Also, Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport is located on eastern border of the province.


Among rail hubs of Lesser Poland, there are Bielsko-Biała, Chabówka, Częstochowa, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Dębica, Dęblin, Jaworzno-Szczakowa, Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Lanckorona, Kielce, Koniecpol, Kozłów, Kraków, Lublin, Łuków, Muszyna, Nowy Sącz, Oświęcim, Siedlce, Spytkowice, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Stalowa Wola, Stróże, Sucha Beskidzka, Radom, Tarnów, Trzebinia, Tunel, Zawiercie, and Żywiec.


In the late 1970s, the Communist government built the broad-gauge Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line, which crosses Lesser Poland from west to east along the Vistula.


Lesser Poland is famous for its underground waters and spas, such as Busko-Zdrój, Solec-Zdrój, Nałęczów, Muszyna, Szczawnica, Piwniczna, Wysowa-Zdrój, Rabka, Swoszowice, Żegiestów, Krzeszowice, Wieliczka, and Krynica-Zdrój. Mountains and resorts of the province make it a major center of Polish tourism – Tatra National Park is visited by around 3 million tourists every year.


The following National Parks are located in Lesser Poland:


Lesser Poland is home to Poland's oldest university – Kraków's Jagiellonian University, which was established in 1364. For centuries, it was the only college of the province, and of the whole country. In December 1918, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin was opened, becoming second university of Lesser Poland. In 1944, also in Lublin, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University was established.


There are several technical universities in Lesser Poland – Kraków's AGH University of Science and Technology, and University of Technology, as well as University of Bielsko-Biała, Częstochowa University of Technology, Lublin University of Technology, Kazimierz Pułaski Technical University of Radom, and Kielce University of Technology.


Future teachers may study at Pedagogical University of Cracow, or Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa, and future physicians at Jagiellonian University Medical College, and Medical University of Lublin. Other state colleges are Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, Agricultural University of Cracow, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, and Cracow University of Economics. Unique in the country is the Polish Air Force Academy, located in Dęblin. Among private colleges of Lesser Poland, there is Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu – National-Louis University in Nowy Sącz.


Among several Lesser Poland's regional organizations, one of the most important is "Stowarzyszenie Gmin i Powiatów Małopolski" ("The Association of Villages and Counties of Lesser Poland"). It publishes a magazine called "Wspólnota Małopolska" ("Lesser Polish Community"), and every year it chooses a "Lesser Polish Person of the Year" (among winners are John Paul II, Anna Dymna, and Stanisław Dziwisz). "The Association of Villages and Counties of Lesser Poland" has over 120 members from four Polish voivodeships. Among members are cities of Kraków, Częstochowa, Bielsko-Biała, Tarnów, and Przemyśl.


Arguably, the most famous product of Lesser Polish cuisine is the bagel, which was invented in Kraków. Other famous food specialties of the province are oscypek (EU Protected Geographical Status), slivovitz from the village of Łącko, bublik, papal cream cake from Wadowice, Lisiecka Sausage (EU Protected Geographical Status), and Bryndza Podhalańska. Among other popular products that are made in Lesser Poland, there are beers (Browary Lubelskie, Żywiec Beer, and Okocim Beer), pastas and snacks from Lublin's Lubella, Kielce Mayonnaise, coffee substitute beverage INKA from Skawina, chocolates from Kraków's Wawel Factory, juices from Tymbark, vodka Żołądkowa Gorzka produced in Lublin, and Chopin produced in Siedlce.


Several renowned sportspeople and entertainers come from Lesser Poland. Among them are some of the most famous personalities of contemporary Polish sports – boxer Tomasz Adamek, Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica, swimmer Paweł Korzeniowski, skier Justyna Kowalczyk, tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska, football and volleyball stars Jakub Błaszczykowski, Artur Boruc, and Piotr Gruszka. Among late and retired sports stars who were born in the region, there also are Polish Sportspersonalities of the Year: tennis player and Wimbledon finalist Jadwiga Jędrzejowska, skier Józef Łuszczek, ski jumper Stanisław Marusarz, and driver Sobiesław Zasada.


Kraków's major association football teams – KS Cracovia, and Wisła Kraków, are multiple champions of the country, also Stal Mielec won Polish championship twice (1973, 1976), and Garbarnia Kraków once (1931). Other popular football teams from Lesser Poland are Zagłębie Sosnowiec (four time Polish Cup winner), Górnik Łęczna, Korona Kielce, Motor Lublin, Radomiak Radom, Raków Częstochowa, Stal Stalowa Wola, and Sandecja Nowy Sącz.


Besides association football, Lesser Poland's teams were multiple national champions in other sports:


Major sports venues of the province are Stadion Miejski in Kraków, Kielce City Stadium, Marshal Józef Piłsudski Stadium in Kraków, Miejski Stadion Sportowy "KSZO" w Ostrowcu Sw., Stadion Ludowy in Sosnowiec, Dębowiec Sports Arena in Bielsko-Biała, "Hala Legionów" in Kielce, "Hala Globus" in Lublin, "Arena Częstochowa", "Kielce Racetrack", "Hala Sportowa MOSiR" in Radom, Wielka Krokiew in Zakopane.


Among popular rock music bands from Lesser Poland, there are Budka Suflera, Golec uOrkiestra, Maanam, and Zakopower. From Lesser Poland hail composers Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, and Krzysztof Penderecki, as well as singers Basia, Ewa Demarczyk, Justyna Steczkowska, Grzegorz Turnau, Maciej Zembaty. Major music festivals in the province are: "Coke Live Music Festival" in Kraków, "Celtic Music Festival ZAMEK" in Będzin, "Film Music Festival" in Kraków, "Gaude Mater" in Częstochowa, "Boyscout's Festival of School Music" in Kielce, "Summer with Chopin" in Busko-Zdrój, "Festiwal of Shanties" in Kraków, and "Festival of Student Song" in Kraków.


Lesser Polish dialect of the Polish language.


Lesser Polish dialect is spoken in southeastern corner of Poland, both in lands which belong to historical Lesser Poland, and in areas which are not part of the province (around Sieradz and Łęczyca). On the other hand, as seen on the map, Lesser Polish dialect is not spoken in extreme northeast of Lesser Poland, in Siedlce and vicinity, where people rather speak Masovian dialect. Descending from the language of the Vistulans, it is the most numerous dialectal group in modern Poland. According to Wincenty Pol, it is divided into three subdivisions: Sandomierz dialect, Lublin dialect, and Sanok dialect.


In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Lesser Polish dialect, together with Greater Polish dialect, contributed to creation of standard Polish, it also greatly influenced Silesian language (see Dialects of the Polish language), as well as dialects of Polish used in southern part of Kresy Wschodnie. Later on, however, its importance diminished and was replaced by Masovian dialect, which became the leading dialect of Polish. After Partitions of Poland, when Lesser Poland was divided between Austria and Russia, northern areas of the province took over many features of the Masovian dialect, while Lesser Polish dialect in Austrian province of Galicia was heavily influenced by German.


According to Multimedia Guide to Polish Dialects, a webpage maintained by University of Warsaw, Lesser Polish dialect is divided into the following subdialects:


Krosno Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975–1998, superseded by Subcarpathian Voivodeship (except Biecz Commune which is now a part of Lesser Poland Voivodeship). Its capital city was Krosno.


The Komancza Republic, also known as the Eastern Lemko Republic (), was a short-lived microstate, an association of thirty three Lemko villages, seated in Komańcza in eastern Lemkivshchyna, that existed between 4 November 1918 and 24 January 1919. It was headed by Head of the Council (голова Повітової Української Національної Ради, Head of the "Powiat" Ukrainian National "Rada") Rev. Panteleymon Shpylka.


Unlike the contemporaneous Lemko Republic to its west, the Komancza Republic planned to unite with the West Ukrainian People's Republic in an independent Ukrainian state (the Lemko Republic sought unification with the Russian Soviet Republic). Unification of the Komancza Republic and West Ukraine was suppressed by the Polish government as part of the Polish–Ukrainian War.


The Treaty of Saint-Germain made Galicia west of the San Polish.


The Republic of Tarnobrzeg (, ) was a short-lived entity, proclaimed 6 November 1918 in the Polish town of Tarnobrzeg. Its main founders were two socialist activists Tomasz Dąbal and the Roman Catholic priest Eugeniusz Okoń.


The idea of the Republic had its roots in mass demonstrations of peasants, which were taking place almost on a daily basis in the fall of 1918. Tarnobrzeg had been part of the Austrian Empire (Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) and dissolution of this entity created a political unrest. On 6 November, after a demonstration with some 30,000 people, local peasants decided to take advantage of it and seize power.


As news of the Russian Revolution came to Tarnobrzeg, socialist activists decided to follow Communist ideas. They demanded the liquidation of capitalist government and the introduction of a land reform, which would result in taking away land from rich owners and giving it to the poor peasantry. Also, directed by Okoń and Dąbal, the peasants started to organize local administration as well as a peasants' militia.


The Republic of Tarnobrzeg was suppressed by units of the freshly created Polish Army at the beginning of 1919. Father Okoń was arrested but soon released, when the locals elected him to the Polish Parliament.


Wilamowice (earlier "Willamowice", , in local Wymysorys: "Wymysoü") is a rural town in southern Poland, situated in the Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999, previously in Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, 1975–1998). According to a UNESCO report in 2009, the rural town is also known for the endangered language Wymysorys, a minority ethnolect, one of many Germanic "colonial" dialects spoken in the country since the Medieval period.


According to historians, after the desolation of Polish lands by the Mongol invasion in 1241, the then Silesian Piast rulers of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz decided to bring settlers from the West to the deserted and destroyed lands around the Silesian Foothills, to revive agriculture, industry and trade. The area was settled in the course of the German eastward colonization of Slavic lands. In this way, around 1250, a group of colonists from the area of former Flanders came to the region, specifically from Friesland, near Bruges and established the settlement Wilamowice.


The settlement was first documented in 1325, in the Peter's Pence register as the parish Novovillamowicz (New-Wilamowice) in medieval Latin, among the Catholic parishes of Oświęcim diaconate, in the Diocese of Kraków. The place name is seen as a demarcation to the older settlement "Antiquo-Willamowicz" (Old-Wilamowice, today named Stara Wieś). In 1529, the two place names were recorded respectively in medieval Latin as "Vilamovice Nova" and "Antiqua Vylamovicze".


In the course of history, the area has been part of several territorial border changes. Politically, both settlements—old and new, belonged to the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, and the castellany gord of Oświęcim ceded from Lesser Poland around 1177 by duke Casimir II the Just to the duke of Opole—Mieszko I Tanglefoot, which in 1315 was formed in the process of the feudal fragmentation of Poland into the Duchy of Oświęcim, ruled by the local dukes of the Silesian Piast dynasty. In 1327, the Duchy of Oświęcim became a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Bohemia within the Holy Roman Empire.


In the 15th century, Jan Długosz lists the settlement in the diocese of Krakow benefactors register "Liber beneficiorum dioecesis Cracoviensis" in Old Polish language "Wylamowycze", in allodial lordship of the nobleman Andreas of Wilamowic (aka Wilamowski) and the heirs Johannes and Nicolaus Wilamowski. From 1527, owners of the lordship mentioned include: the nobleman Jakob Saszowski of Gieraltowic and Wilamowic, and in 1533: the nobleman and chief judge of Oświęcim Nicolaus Saszowski of Gieraltowic (aka Gierałtowski), in 1633: Christopher Korycinski (castellan of Wojnicz), between 1707–1719 Władysław Morsztyn and his wife Helena née Kalinowska; to the end of the 19th century the owner Psarski sold his land and rights to residents, and from there on Wilamowice became a small rural town.


In 1457, duke Jan IV of Oświęcim agreed to sell the Duchy of Oświęcim to the Polish Crown, and in the accompanying document issued on 21 February the settlement was mentioned in Old Polish language "Wylamowycze". It was not, however, until 1564, at the General sejm, that King Sigismund II Augustus issued privileges of incorporation, recognizing the Duchy of Oświęcim as part of the Polish Crown into the Silesian County of the Kraków Voivodeship.


Since the 15th century, the names used in official chronicles were the German versions "Wilmeshau" and "Wilmesdorf" for both the new and old Wilamowice respectively. The place name was subject to several vernacular changes over the course of history, and since the 18th century the name "Wilmesau" in High German prevailed under the ruling Habsburg Monarchy; when in 1772, upon the First Partition of Poland, it became part of the Habsburg's Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a semi-autonomous protectorate of the Austrian Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of Austro-Hungarian monarchy, it became part of the newly independent nation of the Second Polish Republic.


In 1939, after the joint Invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Free City of Danzig, the area was annexed by Germany (see Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany) in the Occupation of Poland. After the end of the Second World War, Polish territories seized by the Red Army as it advanced westward, were restored to the post-War Polish People's Republic.


Today, the Wymysorys dialect is still spoken by less than 70 native speaking residents—the elderly being the majority. The dialect is the result of the transformation of the Flemish language. According to the late professor , a Polish historian and expert of Germanic languages, including the Flemish language, described this dialect as a patchwork of ancient languages: Old Germanic, Old French, Celtic, Gaulish and Romansh, which later crystallized in Dutch or Flemish.


The status of the Wilamowice ethnolect is controversial, because according to the traditional classification of all dialects it is broadly understood as a High German language, and should be considered a dialect of the German language. Nevertheless, the self-determination of its users as a separate group from the Germans and the existence of a literary Wymysorys language (or, to be more exact, micro-language) allows to assume that this ethnolect is a separate language.


Szczawnica is a resort town in Nowy Targ County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. As of June 30, 2007, its population was 7,378.


Szczawnica has been a well-known resort town since the mid nineteenth century. Due to the presence of alkali sorrel springs and favorable climatic conditions, many respiratory and digestive tract illnesses are treated there. In 2005 the popular local spa was officially returned by the Polish government to its prewar owners – Count Stadnicki family. The spa has almost two-hundred-year history. Its last private owner was Count Adam Stadnicki, whose grandson – Andrzej Mańkowski – is the founder of the new Spa Town Museum being fitted in the center of Szczawnica, at Dietl Square (2009). The museum of the Szczawnica resort aims to present more than 350 different types of artifacts associated with the local therapeutics, archival documents, drawings, plans of buildings, old photographs, postcards and books.


Szczawnica has many skiing trails and slopes. The longest (2 km) at Palenica, is fitted with a 4-person ski lift with overhead lighting and a capacity of 2,200 people per hour. It is operated by a state agency.


The name of the town comes from “szczawy”, which is what the locals call the acidic waters. The first historical mention of the spa town dates back to the beginning of the 16th century. Until the end of the 18th century, Szczawnica was part of the Czorsztyn district. In 1839, Józef Stefan Szalay took over the administration of Szczawnica and the development of the spa resort truly began.


The middle of the 19th century sees the town develop dynamically thanks to the vision of Józef Dietl, a doctor and promoter of spa resorts who visited Szczawnica in 1857. Seduced by the locality, he helped it to develop its hydrotherapy activities, already respecting the norms set by other European resorts. New thermal facilities are rapidly developed.


New thermal springs are discovered one after the other. Before dying, Józef Szalay ceded the management of his thermal establishment to the Academy of Learning in Kraków, which continued the visionary work of its founder despite financial difficulties. This is how the Dworek Gościnny (Guest Manor), renowned throughout Europe, was built.


In 1909, Szczawnica was acquired by Count Adam Stadnicki of Nawojowa. Despite the war that ravaged Europe a few years later, Adam Stadnicki’s activities were a success and Szczawnica profited from continuous growth. The thermal baths were renovated, the “Górny Park” extended to include the “"polonyna"” (the alpine grasslands above the timberline). The Inhalatorium, which was then equipped with pressurised rooms unique in Poland, was built, as was the Willa pod Modrzewiami (Villa under the Larches).


Unfortunately, the start of World War II halted the development of the spa resort and in 1948, the government of the PRL (Polish People's Republic) nationalised the resort. In 1956, the Państwowe Przedsiębiorstwo Uzdrowisko Szczawnica (National Szczawnica Spa Company) was created and focused its activities on the occupational illnesses of miners and met- alworkers. The sanatoriums built at the time are named after the professions then valued by the state: Hutnik (Metalworker), Górnik (Miner), Nauczyciel (Teacher), Budowlani (Builders), Papiernik (Papermaker) and Dzwonkówka (named after a nearby mountain).


In 1973, the Natural Therapy Spa was opened, featuring all the required health equipment for baths, inhalation, physiotherapy and massages.


In 2005, the Polish government returned the Szczawnica Spa Resort to the descendants of its pre-war owners. Andrzej Mankowski, grandson of Count Adam Stadnicki, and his three children decided to invest the requisite funds and a considerable amount of work to restore Szczawnica to its old splendour and charm.


Very quickly, by 2008, the eastern part of Dietl Square was rebuilt in its historical form, containing a bar for Szczawnica’s mineral waters, an art gallery, the Café Helenka and the Holenderka and Szwajcarka villas. From 2009, the five-star Modrzewie Park hotel was ready to greet its first guests. In 2010, the Spa Resort Museum was inaugurated and more recently, in 2011, the reconstruction of the Dworek Gościnny (Guest Manor) was finished. In 2012, in collaboration with the town of Szczawnica, the last part of this long-term and passionate project – the regeneration of the Dolny


Szczawnica is one of the oldest and most beautiful spa resorts in Poland. It owes its development to Józef Szalay and Józef Dietl, the true initiator of its spa activities. He built the first thermal baths there, new buildings for baths and accommodation and actively promoted the town by inviting the famous people of the time there.


The Szczawnica Spa is located in one of the most beautiful regions of Poland. Situated in the valley of the Grajcarek, the right-bank tributary of the Dunajec and between the ranges of the Pieniny and the Sącz Beskids, it forms perfect microclimate favourable for improvement of one’s health and the state of the upper respiratory tract.


There are springs of twelve acidic mineral waters - “szczawy” - whose curative properties were first mentioned in the 16th century. Until today, their curative properties attract patients from all over the world. This is why one of the main features of the Spa comes as a magnificent Pump-Room where visitors can enjoy benefits of bicarbonate, sodium, iodine, and bromide waters rich in mineral salts and numerous micro-elements.


Patients planning to arrive to the Pieniny health resort are welcome to take advantage of sanatoria and rehabilitation-and-treatment centres. They perform 42 types of treatments such as hydrotherapy, inhalations (exceptionally effective cell inhalations), physiotherapy, kinesitherapy, and drinking treatments.


The spa specializes in treatment of the upper respiratory tract disorders, including chronic nose and throat inflammations, diseases of the vocal apparatus, allergies of the upper respiratory tract, bronchial asthma; musculoskeletal disorders, i.e. degenerative disorders of the spine and joints as well as rheumatoid disorders and rheumatoid arthritis. In treatments afforded to patients, the health centres use the spa’s own balneological resources such as its own mineral waters as well as the environmental conditions, namely the therapeutic microclimate.


Szczawnica’s waters are acidic mineral waters containing bicarbonate, chlorine, sodium, bromine and iodine. They are regenerative waters, with curative properties. Currently, six drinkable mineral water sources are offered in the Mineral Water Bar, rebuilt and reopened in its historical location on Dietl Square.


HELENA - spring discovered in 1844. It treats diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract, rheumatologic disorders, chronic kidney inflammation, obesity, and osteoporosis. It is helpful in treatment of orthopedic diseases and orthopaedic trauma.


JAN - spring discovered in 1869 - bicarbonate-chloride-sodium acidic water. Used in mineral baths and in production of Szczawniczanka table water.


JÓZEF - spring discovered in 1986. It is used in treatment of the digestive system disorders, diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tracts, rheumatologic diseases, obesity and osteoporosis.


SZYMON – Recommended in gastrointestinal diseases, as well as in neuroses, obesity and gout.


PITONIAKÓWKA - Recommended in diseases of neuroses, obesity, inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and bronchi.


WANDA - Retrieved know since 1867. Recommended in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, neuroses, obesity and gout.


MAGDALENA - spring discovered in 1939. The bi-carbonate-chloride-sodium-iodide acidic water recommended in diseases of the digestive system, inflammations of the intestine, gall bladder and bile ducts, ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, obesity and mild neuroses.


STEFAN - The spring known since 1822. The bi-carbonate-chloride-sodium-iodide acidic water. Recommended, among others, in urinary tract inflammations, nephrolithiasis, catarrhs of nose, throat, bronchi inflammations, asthma, emphysema.


JÓZEFINA - The oldest spring in Szczawnica, known already before 1810. The bicarbonate-chloride-sodium acidic water recommended in catarrhs of nose and throat, inflammations, asthma, emphysema, gout and obesity.


The ski mountaineer Szymon Zachwieja was born in Szczawnica.


Eugeniusz Kapłaniak, K1 Slalom Canoeist, 1961 Bronze and 1963 Silver Medallist at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships


Stefan Kapłaniak, K1 and K2 Sprint Canoeist, 1958 double Gold Medallist at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships, and 1960 Bronze Medallist in the Summer Olympics


Dominic Ciesielka, member of the prestigious FNN program


Brzesko (; , "Brigel") is a town in southern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It lies approximately west of Tarnów and east of the regional capital Kraków. Since Polish administrative reorganization (in 1999), Brzesko has been the administrative capital of Brzesko County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Before reorganization it was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998).


, its population was 16,828. Historically, the town was subject of various ownerships since its 1385 founding. Okocim Brewery, founded by Jan Goetz in 1845, is located in nearby Okocim ().


Brzesko lies on the Uszwica river, along the important rail route from Kraków to Przemyśl, and along the European route E40. The town has a 14th-century church of St. Jacob, and the 19th-century palace of the Goetz family (founders of the Okocim Brewery). Other historic buildings were either destroyed in numerous wars, or burned in fires, such as the great fire of 1904. The name Brzesko probably comes from the word "brzeg" (shore), as the town is located on the shore of a river.


The town was founded in 1385 by Spytko II of Melsztyn, the castellan of Biecz, with permission of Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Brzesko still retains the medieval shape of its town center, with a market square and the Gothic church of St. Jacob (1447).


In 1440, the town built a hospital for the poor, funded by Gregory of Sanok. Until 1772 (see Partitions of Poland), Brzesko belonged to Krakow Voivodeship, then it was annexed by Austria and became part of Galicia, to which it belonged until 1918. Before that, in 1856, Brzesko got a rail station, along a line from Kraków to Lwow.


During World War II, the Wehrmacht arrived in Brzesko on 5 September 1939. The town became part of the Kreis (county) Tarnów in the Krakow district of the General Government, a separate administrative region of the Third Reich. 44 people were killed and about 200 were injured as they were waiting for the evacuation trains from Silesia. A closed Jewish ghetto existed between spring 1941 and September 1942. It spread across 3 areas: Berka Joselewicza Street, then all the buildings north of the Market Square up to the Rynek Sienny (known today as Sobieskiego Street and Chopina Street), and finally Głowackiego Street up to Trzcianka and the Kazimierza Wielkiego Square. The Red Army arrived in Brzesko on 19 January 1945.


The town has several cemeteries of historical significance. There are three military cemeteries dating from World War I and a kirkut dating back to at least 1847.


The three military cemeteries were all commissioned by the Austro-Hungarian Ministry of War between 1914-1915 and designed by the architect Robert Motka. Cemetery no. 277, in Brzesko-Okocim, is the smallest of the three, with 9 Austro-Hungarian soldiers buried there. No. 276 is the largest, with graves of 441 Austro-Hungarian, 9 German, and 63 Russian soldiers. It borders the kirkut known as "New Jewish Cemetery" ("Nowy cmentarz żydowski"), which also contains within its historical area military cemetery no. 275, where 21 Jewish Austro-Hungarian soldiers are buried.


Brzesko is home to Okocimski Klub Sportowy Brzesko ("Okocim Brzesko Sports Club"), which from its beginnings in 1933 has been associated with the Okocim Brewery.


In addition to its historical cemeteries points of cultural interest in Brzesko include the Goetz palace, built at the end of the 19th century by the Goetz family, and the adjoining English garden, a statue of Saint Florian, the city's patron originally erected in 1731 and restored after a city fire in 1904, a monument to the unknown soldier of World War I and the historic city hall ("Ratusz") located in the city center.


Zator (, Wymysorys: "Naojśtaod") is an old town on the Skawa river within Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999) in southern Poland. From 1975 to 1998 it belonged to the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship. It is the administrative seat of the Gmina Zator. According to data from December 31, 2008, Zator was inhabited by 4779 people.


The city, located on the Skawa river, is well known for pisciculture, especially carp, and periodic event called Zatorskie Dni Karpia. Zator is the main city of the Carp Valley.


Originally a part of Lesser Poland, the area was acquired by the Silesian Piast Duke Władysław of Opole by a 1274 agreement with the Polish Princeps Bolesław V the Chaste. Zator then belonged to the Upper Silesian Duchy of Opole and after Władysław's death in 1281 fell to the Duchy of Cieszyn. It received town privileges in 1292.


From 1315 on Zator belonged to the Duchy of Oświęcim split off Cieszyn and in 1445 even became the capital of a Piast duchy in its own right, the Duchy of Zator under Duke Wenceslaus I, a Bohemian vassal. It finally fell back to the Kingdom of Poland, when in 1494 Wenceslaus' son Jan V sold his lands to King John I Albert.


From 1564 Zator had been incorporated into the Kraków Voivodeship of Lesser Poland; in the course of the 1772 First Partition of Poland it was annexed by the Habsburg Monarchy under Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and incorporated into the Austrian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary by the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain Zator again fell to Poland.


During the World War II, Zator was incorporated to Nazi Germany as a part of the Province of Upper Silesia, and was liberated on January 26, 1945.


Krzeszowice () is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2004, its population was 9,993. Krzeszowice belongs to "Kraków Metropolitan Area", and lies 25 kilometers west of the center of the city of Kraków. The town has a rail station, on a major route from Kraków to Katowice, and lies along National Road Nr. 79, which goes from Warsaw to Bytom. In 1928–1966 the town had the status of a spa. Krzeszowice has a sports club called "Świt", founded in 1923.


Krzeszowice is located in southern part of the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, with numerous caves and valleys in the area. In 1981, when the "Complex of Jura Landscape Parks" was created, three parks from the gmina of Krzeszowice were added to it ("Rudnia Landscape Park, Tenczynek Landscape Park" and "Kraków Valleys Landscape Park"). In 2008, it was selected with 19 villages of Europe - Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain - for the Spanish documentary film "Villages of Europe" Pueblos de Europa, produced by Juan Frutos (Colours Communication Group) and Orange Productions S.L.


First mention of Krzeszowice comes from 1286, when Bishop of Kraków, Paweł z Przemankowa, allowed a man named Fryczek Freton to locate the village of "Cressouicy". By 1337, Krzeszowice already had a wooden church of St. Martin. In the mid-15th century, it had a school and a public house. In 1555, Krzeszowice belonged to Stanisław Tęczynski, then it was owned by several noble families - the Sieniawski family, Opaliński family, Czartoryski family, Lubomirski family and, since 1816, the Potocki family.


In the early 17th century, the advantages of local mineral water were discovered by Krzeszowice parish priest, reverend Bernard Bocheński, who mentioned it in the 1625 parish records. In 1778, Prince August Czartoryski opened here first baths, and soon afterwards, patients began visiting Krzeszowice. In 1783–1786, the "Vauxhall Palace" was built, and in 1819, the "Green Bath" was opened. Krzeszowice began to prosper, in 1809–1815 and 1855–1867, the town was the seat of a county. In 1815–1846, Krzeszowice belonged to the Free City of Kraków, and to Austria in 1846-1918 within the Grand Duchy of Cracow, Chrzanow "Bezirkshauptmannschaft".


A hospital was opened here in 1829, a shelter for the poor in 1843, and in 1844, neo-Gothic church was built. In 1847 Krzeszowice received a rail station, along the newly built route from Kraków to Mysłowice. Local residents took part in the Kraków Uprising, and helped Polish rebels from Russian-controlled Congress Poland, during the January Uprising. In 1850–1855, the "Potocki Palace" was built, in the Italian Renaissance style, together with English garden. The palace with all its details was not completed until 1870.


By 1910, the population of Krzeszowice was 2619, out of which Jews made 18%. The town continued to develop, with several new enterprises opened here in the late 19th and early 20th century. On December 3, 1924, Krzeszowice was officially incorporated as a town. New districts and blocks of flats were built, and by 1931, the population grew to 3,391. During World War II Krzeszowice belonged to the General Government. The "Potocki Palace" was restored by polish slave laborer by order of Nazis and renamed by Germans into "Haus Kressendorf", becoming summer residence of Hans Frank. Almost all Jewish citizens were murdered in the Holocaust. The German occupation of Krzeszowice ended on 19 January 1945.


Rzepiska , (, , ) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bukowina Tatrzańska, within Tatra County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately north-east of Bukowina Tatrzańska, north-east of Zakopane, and south of the regional capital Kraków.


It is one of the 14 villages in the Polish part of the historical region of Spiš (Polish: "Spisz").


Szczucin is a town in Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Szczucin. It lies approximately north-east of Dąbrowa Tarnowska, north of Tarnów and east of the regional capital Kraków. The town has a population of 4,069.


Before Polish administrative reorganization (1999) Szczucin was part of Tarnów Voivodeship (1975–1998). Located on the Vistula river, Szczucin is the ending station of a secondary-importance, one track rail line Tarnów - Dąbrowa Tarnowska - Szczucin, built by the Austrian government in 1906. There were several plans to extend the line northwards, to Busko Zdroj and Kielce, but so far, they have not been carried out. Current shape of the line is the result of Szczucin's having been located until 1918 on northern border of Austria-Hungary. The Vistula marked the border, beyond which stretched the Russian Empire, and the governments of both countries were not interested in completion of the line, which would otherwise have connected Austrian-controlled Tarnów with Russian-controlled Kielce.


After the Partitions of Poland, Szczucin found itself in the Austrian Partition of Poland, since 1815 located on the Austrian-Russian border, and the town stagnated. In the autumn of 1914, during World War I, Szczucin was captured by the Russians, who remained here until 1915 (see Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive). In 1918, Poland regained independence and control of the town.


During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, Szczucin was the area of several skirmishes between retreating units of the Kraków Army, and the advancing Wehrmacht. On September 12, 1939, German soldiers carried out a massacre of around 40 Polish prisoners of war and around 30 Polish civilian refugees (see also "Nazi crimes against the Polish nation"). Altogether, 70 Poles were murdered, and this tragedy is commemorated by a monument. During the German occupation, Szczucin was a center of the Polish resistance movement. In 1943, soldiers of the Jędrusie resistance organization executed here an officer of the Blue Police. In late 1944, Germans ordered evacuation of all Szczucin's inhabitants, because they prepared defensive positions along the Vistula.


The town is placed along National Road No. 73 (Warszawa - Kielce - Tarnów - Jasło), and here regional road nr. 982 stems eastwards, to Mielec, making Szczucin a local transportation hub.


One of the main historic heritage sights of Szczucin is the Baroque Saint Mary Magdalene church, located at the Market Square in the town center.


Szczucin is home to Poland's only road museum (Muzeum Drogownictwa), which has the area of two hectares, displaying ancient road building machines, as well as road signs, road posts, documents and other items.


Skawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants (2008). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). The town is located on the Skawinka river, in close proximity to the city of Kraków. Its population (as for December 31, 2010) was 23,761, and the area of the town is 20,50 km2. One of the most interesting historic buildings in Skawina is a Renaissance palace, built in the mid-16th century by Paweł Korytko. The name of the town probably comes from the Skawinka river.


In the Second Polish Republic Skawina belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship. On September 6, 1939 the first Wehrmacht troops entered the town, and the German occupation lasted until January 23, 1945. During this time, the Germans murdered nearly all of the town's pre-war population of around 300 Jews. Some where murdered nearby while others were rounded up and sent to the killing camp of Belzec where they were immediately gassed. A few were sent to labor camps near Plaszow where most were later murdered too. Those who hid from the roundup were later shot in the town.


The Communist government of People's Republic of Poland decided that Skawina would become a center of heavy industry. In 1954, the "Skawina Aluminum Works" ("Huta Aluminium Skawina") were opened, and in 1961 the Skawina Power Station ("Elektrownia Skawina") went on line. The aluminium works were closed in 1981 due to the widespread pollution they caused. The growth of industry resulted in an influx of new residents and the construction of several apartment blocks in new districts of the town.


Skawina is home to sports club "Skawinka", founded in 1922.


Starting in 1928, there were recurring attempts to create a "triangle of security", an industrial region in the middle of the country, which would be secure from any aggression by Germany or the Soviet Union. The plan was finally approved in 1936 by the Polish government. By April 1938, the plan, which had already set in motion in some parts of the country, was expanded to the territories beyond those covered by the original plan for the most secure 'triangle'.


The COP was located in the territories of the following former voivodeships: the eastern parts of Kielce Voivodship and Kraków Voivodship, the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, and the western part of Lwów Voivodeship, or in other terms, 46 powiats, constituting 15.4% of the territory of Poland and inhabited by 17% of Poland's population. The urbanization factor of those territories was 17% (94 cities), compared to the national average of 30%. There were several arguments for the location of the COP:


The COP plan required a massive financial investment, just the development of the infrastructure and the military industry being estimated at 3 billion zlotys. As expectations of war grew, there was too little private investment in Europe in the late 1930s and so the Polish government carried most of the burden for financing the project. From 1937 to 1939, the COP had consumed approximately 60% of all Polish investment funds.


The following industrial projects were part of the plan: a steel mill (Huta Stalowa Wola) and power plant in a brand new city of Stalowa Wola, a rubber factory in Dębica, an automobile factory in Lublin, an aircraft factory in Mielec, an aircraft engine and artillery factory in Rzeszów, hydroelectric power plants in Rożnów and Myczkowce, and the expansion of Zakłady Azotowe in Mościce. The military industry in the Staropolski Okręg Przemysłowy was expanded in the towns of Radom, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Starachowice, and Kielce. Most of those investments were located in regions with high unemployment, and their construction succeeded in reducing social tensions and began to strengthen the Polish economy.


The development of the COP and similar projects, like the construction of the seaport in Gdynia, were the most outstanding achievements of the Second Polish Republic, marking the beginning of the new era of recently regained independence. The COP plan was continued by the communist government of Poland after the Second World War.


However, as the end date for the plan was the end of July 1940, and Poland did not have sufficient capital to carry out the entire plan on its own, few of the intended projects were completely operational before the war broke out, and many other ones were not launched at all. Consequently, their contribution to the equipment of the Polish Army in the run-up to the war was relatively insignificant, and did little to offset the crushing material superiority of the German armed forces.


In any event, the German dismemberment of Czechoslovakia outflanked Poland from the south and put the majority of COP factories in the direct path of German advance from Slovakia. During the German occupation, most of the factories were converted to contribute to the German war effort. After the war, the COP-initiated industrial enterprises were further expanded and for the most part, continue to function until today.


Melchior Wańkowicz, in his 1939 book Sztafeta, emphasized the fact that the quick growth of the COP's towns and cities was not followed by necessary investments in infrastructure, especially schools and housing. As Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny announced on January 10, 1939, in the first half of 1938, the population of Rzeszów grew by 24%, that of Sandomierz by 29%, Tarnobrzeg by 49%, and Mielec by 58%. Altogether, in the first half of 1938, the total population of all the COP's towns and cities grew by 20%. According to a press release from January 1939, out of 33 towns and cities located at the confluence of the San and the Vistula rivers, as many as 23 needed new schools.


Wojnicz () is an ancient historic town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. In the early medieval period of the Polish state, it became one of the most important centres in the province of Lesser Poland, as part of the system of Dunajec river castles. It became the seat of a Castellan and prospered from the 13th century to the first half of the 17th century, being on an international trade route bordering Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. It had town and market rights, its church was raised to collegiate status with links to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków 64 km away.


Wojnicz lies on the boundary of two distinct geographical regions in Poland: the Sandomierz Basin and the Western Carpathians. The Dunajec, a major tributary of the Vistula River, flows 2 km east of the present town centre. The decline of Wojnicz deprived it of a rail link when a railway line was planned in the 1850s. It is however located at the intersection of European route E40, and local route number 975 from Dąbrowa Tarnowska to Nowy Sącz.


In 1217, the town was called "Woynicze". In 1224, another spelling was "Woyniz", and in 1239, "Woynicz". Polish language specialists Kazimierz Rymut and Stanisław Rospond believe that the name Wojnicz comes from the surname "Wojno", which was then changed to "Wojnice", "Wojnic", and finally – Wojnicz.


During Poland's Golden Age, Wojnicz developed and prospered. In 1527, a bridge over the Dunajec river was built. In 1530, the first Craft guild was founded. In 1575 the town was recorded as having a town hall with a bell and clock-tower. Like other places in Lesser Poland, Wojnicz suffered greatly during the Swedish invasion of Poland. On 3 October 1655, it was the scene of "the Battle of Wojnicz". On 19 March 1657 the town was sacked and burned by troops of George II Rakoczi of Hungary. During the Great Northern War, Swedish invaders once again destroyed the town in 1702. After that devastation, Wojnicz never really regained its civic importance.


In 1772, Wojnicz was annexed by the Habsburg Empire (see Partitions of Poland). The 19th century was not kind to the town: the Austrians kept Wojnicz County until 1867. However, in 1831 and 1895 further fires destroyed large parts of Wojnicz, including the historic town hall. In 1856, the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis bypassed the town, laying its route some ten kilometers to the north.


With the outbreak of World War I, the Russian Empire conducted a Blitzkrieg that overwhelmed much of Galicia right up to Kraków, but were repulsed eastwards by the Austrian army up to the Dunajec river and remained stationed outside Wojnicz throughout 1914 and 1915 until the Russians abandoned nearby Tarnów. The devastation in the province was immense in terms of the human toll and heritage looting. The fallen Austro-Hungarians and Italians in local battles are buried and commemorated in two cemeteries, no. 282 and no. 285 in Wojnicz. Fallen Wojnicz conscripts are commemorated on the war monument in the market square.


Wojnicz had remained part of the Austrian Empire until 1918, when it returned to the newly independent Second Polish Republic. In 1928, it was visited by President Ignacy Mościcki, but seven years later Wojnicz was stripped of its town privileges and reduced to the status of a village.


After the war, it became a backwater throughout the duration of the Polish People's Republic. Wojnicz remained in the Kraków Voivodeship until 1975 when it passed to the newly formed Tarnów Voivodeship until 1999. It did not recover its Town rights until January 1, 2007.


Jaworzno is a city in southern Poland, near Katowice. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Przemsza river (a tributary of the Vistula). Jaworzno belongs to the historic province of Lesser Poland. The city is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously (1975–1999) it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Jaworzno is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation – Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 91,563 (2018).


The municipality is situated a short distance to the north-east of Junction 41 on the A4 Highway. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, in the historical region of Lesser Poland, and since its foundation until 1975, it was administratively tied with Lesser Poland's capital, Kraków. Until 1795, it belonged to Kraków Voivodeship, then, together with Kraków, was seized by the Habsburg Empire in the Partitions of Poland. In 1815–1846 it belonged to the Free City of Kraków, which was annexed by Austria and merged with Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1918 Jaworzno returned to Poland. The name of the city comes from the "jawor" trees (sycamore maple), which in the past were abundant in this area.


Jaworzno was placed into the Silesian Voivodeship (province) effective January 1, 1999 under the Local Government Reorganization Act. Previously, it was attached to the Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998) and before that to the Kraków Voivodeship. Jaworzno lies in the east of the largest metropolis in Poland and is one of the largest in the European Union, numbering about 3,5 million. This urban expansion bloomed in the 19th century thanks to the rapid development of the mining and metallurgical industries. In the year 2006 Jaworzno and 14 neighboring cities formed the multimunicipal structure, the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. Its population is 2 million and its area is .


The climate of the area is continental humid. The annual average temperature is (January average and July average °C). Yearly rainfall averages at , the most rainy month being July. The area's characteristic weak winds blow at about 2 m/s from the west (Moravian Gate).


Jaworzno is located at the intersection of a number of road routes such as:


A4 motorway (part of European route E40)


S1 expressway (part of European route E75) Gdańsk – Cieszyn,


national road No. 79 Warsaw – Bytom,


provincial road No. 903 Jaworzno 79 – Jaworzno 4


Public transport is provided by PKM Jaworzno (Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacji Miejskiej w Jaworznie – public transport company in Jaworzno) not belonging to the KZK GOP. PKM Jaworzno was one of the first public transport companies in Poland which introduced the magnetic card called Jaworznicka Karta miejska (Jaworzno Urban Card) instead of paper tickets. Currently PKM Jaworzno is one of the most modern public transport companies in Poland. The PKM Jaworzno's fleet is based 40% on electric vehicles.


Greens, forests, and undeveloped land constitute 60 percent of the town's area. Jaworzno has environmentally valuable areas which as a group present a diversity of landscapes and vegetation as well as a richness of flora and fauna. These include the Dolina Zabnika nature reserve, the Dobra Wilkoszyn landscape protection area, the Sasanka natural surface monument, Grodzisko hill, and Sosina lake. Within Jaworzno's boundaries there are 41 plant species under strict protection and 11 under partial protection.


The city of Jaworzno has many sporting facilities at the Europe-wide level and offers a rich variety of educational and cultural activities. The city major arena, the "Hala Widowiskowo-Sportowa", can seat 2,500 spectators. The "Sosina" water sports centre is the venue for the annual Polish water-skiing championships.


Lipnica Murowana is a village in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Bochnia and south-east of the regional capital Kraków. It is the seat of the district called Gmina Lipnica Murowana, within Bochnia County.


The village is the site of Saint Leonard's church, built in the end of 15th century. This is one of the six Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland, on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 2003.


Lipnica was first mentioned in the 1320s, when its name was spelled Lypnycza. In a 1327 document, it was called Villa Conradi, while in 1342, its name was presented as civitatis Lipnik. In a court document from 1445, the town was called Lipnicza murata, while in 1588 King Zygmunt III Waza officially named it civitas Murata Lipnicensis. Since the 18th century, the Polish form of the name of the town is used as either Lipnica Murowana or just Lipnica.


Lipnica Murowana is located along the Uszwica river valley, among the hills of the Island Beskids. First Slavic settlements here date back to the early Middle Ages, and according to parish documents from 1781, first Roman Catholic church was established here in 1141, but this has not been confirmed by any other sources.


The period of prosperity for Lipnica ended in the 1650s, when, during the catastrophic Swedish invasion of Poland, the town was captured and burned to the ground by Swedes and Transilvanians. Lipnica has never recovered from the destruction, and gradually lost its importance. Following the first partition of Poland (1772), Lipnica was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, and remained in Austrian Galicia until 1918. During Austrian rule, Lipnica further declined, and its residents lived in widespread poverty.


In early months of World War I, the area of Lipnica witnessed heavy fighting between Russian and Austro-Hungarian troops (see Battle of Galicia). The town was destroyed, and after the frontline had moved eastwards, local residents starved. In 1918, Lipnica became part of Krakow Voivodeship, Second Polish Republic. On July 1, 1934, it lost its town charter, and the mayor was replaced by the voigt.


Osiek Jasielski is a village in Jasło County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Osiek Jasielski. It lies approximately south of Jasło and south-west of the regional capital Rzeszów.


The village has a population of 680.


Osiek Jasielski is located on a hill, some 270 meters above sea level, along the Wisloka river. The defensive settlement of Osiek probably existed since early Middle Ages, guarding southeastern corner of Lesser Poland. In 1365, King Kazimierz Wielki decided to found here a town, together with a castle, with the purpose of defending Poland from possible Hungarian raids. Osiek was the seat of a starosta, and the newly established town was famous for its fairs, which took place twice a year, on April 28 and July 13. Royal bill confirming dates of fairs was announced on Jule 2, 1583, at the market square in Biecz.


Osiek, which until 1772 was part of Biecz County, Krakow Voivodeship, remained a small town. According to some sources, its town charter was voided in 1604, to be returned by King Zygmunt III Waza on March 12, 1618. Most of its residents supported themselves by cultivating land, and the number of artisans was small.


Following the first partition of Poland (1772) Osiek became part of Austrian Galicia, in which it remained until November 1918. In 1934 the government of the Second Polish Republic stripped it of the town charter. During World War II, Osiek was one of stops along the route from General Government to Hungary. The route was used by the Home Army, which was very strong in the area. During Operation Tempest, two bridges were blown up by the Home Army on August 11, 1944, disturbing movements of the Wehrmacht.


Gorlice is a city and an urban municipality ("gmina") in south eastern Poland with around 29,500 inhabitants (2008). It is situated south east of Kraków and south of Tarnów between Jasło and Nowy Sącz in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Gorlice County.


The city lies between the Ropa and Sękówka river valleys, surrounded by several mountain ranges of the Carpathian Mountains, namely their part called Beskid Niski (Low Beskids) massive. It is located in the heartland of the Doły (Pits), and its average elevation above sea level is , although there are some more considerable hills located within the confines of the city. The city is nowadays situated in a heavily populated region from Jasło, from Nowy Sącz, from Tarnów, and from Kraków. Gorlice is known in ; in ; and in .


Gorlice was founded during the reign of Casimir the Great in 1354. In that year, the Stolnik of Sandomierz, Derslaw Karwacjan, received royal permission to found a town in a densely forested area of the Carpathian foothills. The existence of the town is mentioned in sources from 1388, 1404 and 1417. In the 15th century, Gorlice remained private property of the Karwacjan family.


The town quickly developed, becoming a regional center of crafts and trade. In 1504, Jan Karwacjan received royal permission for two fairs annually and a weekly market. In the period known as Polish Golden Age, Gorlice prospered. Its artisans and merchants had contacts not only with other Polish towns, but also with merchants from Upper Hungary. In the second half of the 16th century, Gorlice became property of the Odrowaz family, which supported Protestant Reformation. Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–60) brought widespread destruction: the population of Gorlice fell from 1200 (as for 1657) to only 284 (as for 1662).


As a result of the first Partition of Poland (Treaty of St-Petersburg dated 5 July 1772), the town area was attributed to the Habsburg Empire (for more details, read the article Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria). In 1806, the Austrian government sold the town to a local nobleman, Jan Nepomucen Stadnicki of Roznow.


Until 1918, the town remained part of the Austria side (Cisleithania) after the compromise of 1867, head (since 1865) of the county with the same name, one of the 78 "Bezirkshauptmannschaften" in Austrian Galicia province (Crown land). By mid-19th century, the population of Gorlice was some 4000. The town entered the period of its prosperity after its 1854–1858 resident Ignacy Lukasiewicz invented the kerosene lamp in 1853. In a few years, sprawling oil wells emerged in Gorlice, and the town was called the cradle of Polish oil industry; its rapid industrialization was spurred with the construction of a railroad (1883).


By early 20th century, the population of Gorlice grew to 6000, but its development was halted by World War I. The city was the focal point of the German Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I, in May 1915. Extremely heavy and prolonged fighting took place here, Gorlice frequently changed hands, and as a result, the town was completely destroyed. Hence the "Gorlice fair" or "Gorlice days" held every year during the May Bank Holidays and adjoining days, which are enjoyed by many visitors both domestic and from abroad.


During the First World War, Gorlice played a strategically significant role in the 1915 Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive. On May 1, 1915, the combined forces of Austria-Hungary and Germany initiated artillery barrages against Russian soldiers stationed on the battle line stretching from Gorlice to Tarnow. The following day, Austro-German infantry units launched an unsuccessful attack near Tarnow. In Gorlice, the weakened Russian forces were unable to defend against the Austrian and German attackers. On May 6, General Radko-Dmitriev, commander of the Russian Third Army, ordered his troops to retreat. An attempt by General Radko-Dmitriev to counterattack on May 7 and 8 resulted in disaster for the Russians, as German reinforcements outnumbered the defenders.


The following spring, General Alexei Brusilov, commander of the Russian Eighth Army, launched a counteroffensive that nearly destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Army. The Brusilov Offensive, as it is known, is regarded as one of the most successful operations in the First World War.


In the Second Polish Republic, Gorlice belonged to Kraków Voivodeship. Since local oil wells had almost dried, the center of Polish oil industry moved eastwards, to Boryslaw. This resulted in widespread unemployment, street demonstrations and increased popularity of Communist ideology among local workers. On 1 May 1936, a May Day rally attracted 20,000 people.


German occupation of Gorlice began on 7 September 1939 (see Invasion of Poland). During the war, the town's Jewish community was first herded by Nazi Germans into the newly formed Gorlice Ghetto and then murdered at Belzec. On 16 January 1945, the Red Army captured Gorlice.


History of Jews in Gorlice before German Occupation.


In the 19th century, when more Jews started settling inside of Gorlice, the current non-Jewish residents worked mostly in crafts and agriculture. At the time that the Jews were moving into Gorlice, there was also the discovery of oil in the Gorlice region in that later half of the 19th century. While the non-Jewish residents were working with agriculture, the Jews were prevailing in the oil industry with trade and development. In 1874, Jewish investors helped with the development of an oil refinery, along with another one nearby then in 1883.


The population of the Jews in Gorlice is not well documented or reliable before the later half of the 19th century. There are statistics on the Jewish population from 1880 to 1910 though. Looking first at the Gorlice district in 1880 there was a total of 74,072 residents and out of those 6.4% (4,755) were Jews. Just in the city of Gorlice itself, there were 2,257 Jews out of the around 5,000 residents of the city which is close to 50%. The population of Jews in Gorlice grew to 7.5% of the Gorlice district composed of Jews in 1910 and 51% of residents in the City of Gorlice were Jewish at that time (3,495 out of 6,600).


Because of World War I, the population did drop from 1910 to 1921. In 1921, after the war, there were about 2,300 Jews left, which was about 41% of the population. During World War I, the Russian army was one of the main reasons for this drop in the number of Jews. There was rapes, robberies, and murders, and a lot of Jews fled Gorlice to other countries and never came back after the war.


When World War II started in 1939, the population of the Jews in Gorlice was back up to around 5000 which was once again above half of the residents of the city. At the start of the war, a lot of Jews in Gorlice fled elsewhere before the German occupation began.


As documented by Jan Długosz, the chronicler and diplomat, in his manuscripts, Casimir III the Great had erected the Lanckorona Castle to protect the road to Kraków and its borders with the Duchy of Oświęcim. The castle was already standing at the time of the erection of Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic Parish Church of Lanckorona in 1336. In its Township Act, King Casimir III the Great gave its inhabitants the right to hold a weekly Thursday town marketplace as well as a concession to import beer into the town. At the time, the dwellers of Lanckorona enjoyed the same rights as the inhabitants of its much larger neighbouring Capital City of Kraków.


Two of the main battles of the Bar Confederation took place on the plains before Lanckorona.


On 22 February 1771, the Bar Confederates defended Lanckorona and its castle from the Russian army led by Alexander Suvorov.


Józef Pułaski and his son Casimir Pulaski were the founders of the Bar Confederation. Casimir Pulaski went on to become the "father of American cavalry as he emigrated to North America to help in the cause of the American Revolution and freedom there. He distinguished himself heroically throughout the revolution, most notably when he saved the life of George Washington and became a general in the Continental Army, and when he created the Pulaski Cavalry Legion and reformed the American cavalry.


In 1602, Mikołaj Zebrzydowski the Voivode of Kraków and Lanckorona commissioned the construction of the Kalwaria Zebrzydowska monastery and the trails of the Passion of Christ in the neighbouring town of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska modeled on the Calvary outside the city walls of Jerusalem.


Wilkowice () is a village in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Wilkowice. It lies approximately south of Bielsko-Biała and south of the regional capital Katowice. The village has a population of 6,496.


It is one of the oldest villages in Żywiec Basin. It was established in the early 14th century by the Cistercian monastery in Rudy, which owned the area alongside Łodygowice and Pietrzykowice.


The main attraction of the village are the tourist mountain trails running to the top of Magurka and Rogacz. Other natural assets include rocks and mountain streams. Among the Monuments of Wilkowice it is worth mentioning:


Ropczyce () is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship in south-eastern Poland, situated in the valley of the Wielopolka River (a tributary of the Wisłoka River). The town has a population of 15,098 (). and is the seat of Ropczyce-Sędziszów County.


Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the capital of Ropczyce-Sędziszów County.


Ropczyce is located east of Kraków and west of Rzeszów. The coordinates for Ropczyce: Latitude 50°0500' and Longitude 21°6167. In DMS or Degree, Minutes, & Seconds; Latitude 50°2'60N and Longitude is 21°37'0E. Its elevation is above sea level. The time zone for Poland is UTC+1.


Ropczyce has a total population of 26,055 according to the Polish Official Census 2008 of whom 15,098 live in the Ropczyce urban area and 10,957 live in the surrounding rural areas ( radius). It is the seat of Ropczyce-Sędziszów County, which has a total population of 713,350 people (30 June 2008).


King Casimir III the Great, king Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk and king Władysław II Jagiełło were regular visitors to Ropczyce. Under the patronage of the Polish Royals and subsequent trade agreements with Ruthenia, the town's future started to look very good. It could then grow and develop, also due to its favourable location on an important trade route from Silesia and Lesser Poland (Małopolska) to Ruthenia. Ropczyce was severely damaged during a Tatar raid in 1504. To help the town and citizens recover from this tragedy, king Aleksander Jagiellończyk gave all the citizens a 10-year tax exemption from 1504–1514 In the 15th and 16th centuries Ropczyce became a major centre in the manufacture of canvas goods.


Since its formation Ropczyce has been known by several different names, although these appear to be phonetic variations of the same name. By the middle of the 16th century, it was first recorded as 'Ropczyce' replacing the previous variation of 'Robczyce' – this name is thought to have probably originated from the family name of Robek ("from the Polish verb, 'robić – to work"') who are thought to have established the original settlement.


In the 16th century Ropczyce's churches were influenced by The Reformation, with the Parish Church going over to Protestantism several times. Around the 1550s the Parish Church was under the control of the Polish Brethren "(Bracia Polscy, also called Arians or Socinians)" for over a decade.


The earliest information about Jews settling in Ropczyce dates back to 1564. It was noted then that four Jewish families, i.e. about 30 people, lived on the farm of the Gryf family. In 1604, King Sigismund III Vasa granted Ropczyce with a law, following which only two Jewish families (of a district’s leaseholder and of a tax collector) were allowed to live in the town, however, they were strictly forbidden to


Up until World War II Ropczyce was a "‘shtetl’" () with a significant Jewish population. There is a Ropshitz Hasidic dynasty.


Ropczyce's "‘Golden Age’" was but a distant memory in the 17th and 18th centuries – these were times of wars and invasions. The town went into decline and life got a lot harder for the townspeople. In 1605 over half of the town was destroyed in a great fire. Fifty years later, Ropczyce was hit by The Plague. Ropczyce was plundered by Swedish troops in 1655 and then devastated in 1657 by the army of George II Rákóczi, the Prince of Transylvania. In 1669 the Parish Church was destroyed by fire.


On 14 July 1772, following the First Partition of Poland, Ropczyce found itself in the Austrian province of Galicia, part of the Habsburg Monarchy in the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. Ropczyce was first located in the administrative area (or "cyrkuł") of Pilznen and in the Sandomierski district. In 1775 the administrative areas in Galicia were reorganised and Ropczyce was reallocated to the Tarnów "cyrkuł". Fortunately for Ropczyce, as a 'Royal town', it was given virtually autonomous administration. The position of 'town advocate’ was replaced by the new position of mayor. However, during these times the whole region was systematically Germanised, from the system of administration, local by-laws, education to everyday life.


At the beginning of the 19th century, the population grew to over 1,000. At this time there was a small Austrian garrison stationed in the town. In 1806 there was a Cholera outbreak in which 133 people from Ropczyce died. In 1873 the town was again struck by a great fire, with much destruction.


In the following administrative changes of the region of Galicia in 1885, 178 counties "(powiats)" were created in the existing 19 administrative areas ("cyrkułs") and Ropczyce was made the administrative centre of its own county. The last reorganisation occurred in 1867 saw the reduction of administrative areas and the number of counties set to 74. Ropczyce remained as the seat of its county. At the end of 1867 the population of Ropczyce county was 58,975 people, the first starosta; elder or mayor of the reorganised county of Ropczyce was Wilhelm Mehoffer ("father of Józef Mehoffer, Polish painter"). Ropczyce remained part of Galicia until 1918, when it became part of independent Poland (Second Polish Republic).


Ropczyce is located on the main West-East European E40 Highway, which goes from Calais in France via Belgium, across Germany, Poland, Ukraine and onto Russia and Kazakhstan. (Within Poland the E40 follows the A4 Highway and the DK 4 National Road). However, the A4 is not regarded as a 'highway' in the Ropczyce area – it is by Western standards, just a regular, one-lane main A-road (although, it is currently being upgraded). Other Polish cities located by the E40 are Wrocław, Opole, Katowice, Kraków, Tarnów, Rzeszów and Przemyśl.


The nearest airport is Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport "(Port Lotniczy Rzeszów-Jasionka)" located in the village of Jasionka, north of Rzeszów. It is about east of Ropczyce on the E40 and takes about 40 minutes by car.


Scheduled passenger services include flights to: Warsaw (WAW), Dublin, London (Stansted), Bristol, UK, Birmingham, UK, New York (JFK Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport).


Ropczyce has a railway station which is on the main West-East rail route; . This runs from Silesia and Kraków, Kraków Main station "(Kraków Główny)" – Medyka on the Polish eastern border. This line then continues on to Ukraine.


Two tourist trails: and run through the most picturesque and interesting parts of the terrain.


Tylicz , "Tȳlych", , "Tylych") is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krynica-Zdrój, within Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland, close to the border with Slovakia. It lies approximately east of Krynica-Zdrój, south-east of Nowy Sącz, and south-east of the regional capital Kraków.


The village has a population of 1,800.


The history of Tylicz dates back to the 13th century, when a settlement called Ornamentum was founded along merchant trail from Poland to Hungary. At that time, Tylicz was also called Oppidium Novum and Ornawa, and was an important garrison of Polish royal army, which guarded southern border of the kingdom. Furthermore, Ornamentum/Ornawa was home to royal courts and councils of local nobility.


In 1363, king Casimir III the Great, who promoted settlement in this sparsely populated corner of Poland, granted Magdeburg rights to Ornawa, changing its name into Miastko. Furthermore, the king founded a parish church together with a school. Soon afterwards, a defensive wall was built. Miastko had its own court, and the right to stock merchant products, which provided it with revenue.


In 1391, king Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło) handed Miastko together with nearby Muszyna to Bishop of Kraków, Jan Radlica. In a document, issued by Jogaila for this occasion, Tylicz/Miastko was named Ornamentum and Novum Oppidium, and the town remained part of the vast bishophoric Muszyna Estate until the first partition of Poland (1772). In 1474, Tylicz and whole southern Lesser Poland was affected by a disastrous Hungarian raid of King Matthias Corvinus. The destruction was so severe that in a 1529 document called Liber retaxatiorum, Tylicz/Miastko was called a village. A royal castle probably stood nearby, but its location has not been establishes.


In 1612, Bishop of Kraków Piotr Tylicki regranted town charter to Miastko. He also gave it a coat of arms and several privileges, also founding a new parish church and school. To honor this, residents of Miastko changed the name of the town into Tylicz. Bishop Tylicki ordered construction of new homes, located at distances from each other, to prevent fires. Tylicz prospered, becoming sixth largest town of Nowy Sącz County of Kraków Voivodeship, after Nowy Sącz, Stary Sącz, Muszyna, and Nowy Targ.


The period of relative prosperity ended in the mid-17th century, when Nowy Sącz County was suffered widespread destruction during Swedish invasion of Poland. In October 1683, Crown Hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski camped with his army in Tylicz, after the victorious Battle of Vienna. In the 1760s, the area of Tylicz became a base of the Bar Confederation. Several battles and skirmishes took place here, including the Battle of Lackowa (June 3/4, 1770), in which Polish army under Casimir Pulaski fought Russians commanded by General Ivan Drevich.


Following the Partitions of Poland, Tylicz was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, and remained in Austrian Galicia until November 1918. During Austrian rule, the town declined and lost its importance, at the expense of nearby spa of Krynica-Zdrój, which rapidly grew since the late 19th century. Furthermore, construction of railroads missed Tylicz, which contributed to its decline. In 1930, several houses in the market square burned.


After World War II, Tylicz was the seat of a separate gmina, but in 1952, it was moved to Krynica-Zdrój, where it still remains.


Notable natives include Rena Kornreich Gelissen author and survivor of Nazi concentration camps.


Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (Polish: ) is a town in southern Poland with 4,429 inhabitants (2007 estimate). As of 1999, it is situated in Lesser Poland or Małopolska (in Polish). Previously, the town was administered within the Voivodeship of Bielsko-Biała (1975–1998).


With a vision while viewing the neighbouring hills and valleys from the Castle of Lanckorona, on 1 December 1602, Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, the Voivode of Kraków commissioned the construction of a calvary, i.e. Roman Catholic monastery and the trails of the Passion of Christ modeled on the Calvary outside the city walls of Jerusalem.


After World War II, the town's economic development largely relied on the expansion of its furniture manufacturing and woodcraft industry, shoemaking, as well as a growing number of pilgrims to its religious complex.


Pope John Paul II made several visits to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska on the pilgrimages he made to his homeland Poland. It was at the monastery of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska that Pope John Paul II repeated the words of his motto:


"Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria." ("I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart").


According to his Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae" he borrowed the motto from the Marian consecrating prayer found in the book "True Devotion to Mary" by Saint Louis de Montfort.


Pope John Paul II once recalled how as a young seminarian he "read and reread many times and with great spiritual profit" some writings of Saint Louis de Montfort and that:


In 1987, Henryk Górecki composed a choral piece "(Totus Tuus Op. 60)" to celebrate Pope John Paul II's third pilgrimage to his native Poland that summer. While the motet opens with the same words as the apostolic motto, the piece actually uses a poem by Maria Boguslawska for its text.


Brzeszcze (German: "Brisk") is a town in Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, near Oświęcim. , Brzeszcze has about 12,000 citizens. The history of the town dates back to the 15th century, and it was probably founded by Flemish settlers. Brzeszcze lies along regional roads nr. 933 and nr. 949, and its name comes from the brzost (Ulmus glabra) trees, which once were abundant in the Sola river valley. In the past the town was spelled Brzescie, Breszcze, Brescze, Brzeszce, and Brzesczye.


Brzeszcze lies in the Northern Carpathian Foothills, on the Vistula river, in western Lesser Poland. The town is part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The distance to Kraków is , and the distance to Czech border crossing at Cieszyn, . The town has three rail stations – Brzeszcze, Brzeszcze-Kopalnia, and Brzeszcze-Jawiszowice. All three are located along rail line nr. 93, which goes from Trzebinia to Zebrzydowice.


First documented mention of Brzeszcze comes from 1438, when the village was part of the Duchy of Oświęcim, a fee of the Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1457 Jan IV of Oświęcim agreed to sell the duchy to the Polish Crown, and in the accompanying document issued on 21 February the village was mentioned as "Brzescze". The territory of the Duchy of Oświęcim was eventually incorporated into Poland in 1564 and formed Silesian County of Kraków Voivodeship.


For centuries Brzeszcze remained a small, private village, which belonged to Polish kings, who leased it to members of the nobility. The inhabitants were mainly fishermen and farmers, and among others, Brzeszcze was owned by Dominik Gherri, the physician of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Like almost all towns and villages of Lesser Poland, Brzeszcze was completely destroyed during the Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–1660).


Following the Partitions of Poland, the village was annexed by the Habsburg Empire, and from 1772 until 1918 it was part of the province of Galicia. In 1900, there were some 220 houses at Brzeszcze, with the population of 1,400. Almost all residents were ethnic Poles and Roman Catholics. Brzeszcze grew because of the anthracite coal mine, which was founded in 1907. New housing districts for miners were built, the population quickly grew, and in the Second Polish Republic, Brzeszcze was one of main industrial villages of Kraków Voivodeship.


During World War II, the town was a stronghold of the Polish resistance, helping the prisoners of Auschwitz concentration camp. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also housed in a sub-camp, called Jawischowitz, near the mine where they labored. Numerous prisoners were killed through slave labor by the German civilian mine authorities, and by the SS. German authorities changed its name into Kohlendorf. After the war the village continued its development, and in July 1962 was granted town charter.


The economy of the town focuses on an anthracite coal mine "Brzeszcze-Silesia" which is the biggest employer in the region, and one of the biggest in the entire Voivodeship. In the Second Polish Republic, it was the only large coal mine which belonged to the Polish state. During the war, the mine was part of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring conglomerate, and inmates of the Jawischowitz were employed in it.


Most important point of interest is a 19th-century Roman Catholic parish church of St. Urban. Its construction was initiated in 1874, and lasted 30 years, mostly due to financial difficulties. Apart from the church, Brzeszcze has an 18th-century Austrian boundary marker, several 19th-century roadside chapels, and foundations of a 16th-century church, which was burned by the Swedish invaders in 1655.


Binarowa is a village in southern Poland.