Dobczyce is a town in southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, situated since 1999 in the

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

(previously in

Kraków Voivodeship Kraków Voivodeship may also refer to: *Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) * Kraków Voivodeship (1816–1837) *Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) *Kraków Voivodeship (1945–1975) *Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998) The Kraków Voivodeshi ...

from 1975 to 1998). As of December 2021, the town has a population of 6,388. There is a large dam with

Lake Dobczyce {{Infobox lake , name = Jezioro Dobczyckie Lake Dobczyce , image = Dobczyce_tama_A.jpg , caption = View of Lake Dobczyce together with the dam , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Lesser Poland Voivodeship , coords = {{ ...

on the

Raba river The Raba is a river in the south of Poland (Lesser Poland Voivodeship), right tributary to the river Vistula. Its source is in the Beskids, between the towns of Rabka-Zdrój and Nowy Targ. It flows to the north and then to the northeast. Towns alo ...

, and a partially rebuilt 14th-century

Dobczyce Castle Dobczyce Castle ( pl, Zamek w Dobczycach) is a castle in Dobczyce, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is located on a rocky hill above Lake Dobczyce. The castle was first mentioned in written sources in 1362, but had been fortified s ...

, with ruins of a 14th-century

defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

- which is open for tourists. Dobczyce is also the name of a small part of Bobrowniki Małe, a village in Lesser Poland. Dobczyce received its

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

town charter probably in 1310, during the reign of

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

. The town was famous for its castle, where

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histor ...

liked to stay and work on his chronicles. Here, in 1450, Polish astronomer and dean of

Kraków Academy The Jagiellonian University (Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

Leonard Vitreatoris (Leonhard von Dobschütz) was born. Dobczyce enjoyed several royal privileges, allowing its residents to buy salt from nearby

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

. The town was a local center of cloth and wool making, but the period of prosperity ended during the

Swedish invasion of Poland The Deluge ( pl, potop szwedzki, lt, švedų tvanas) was a series of mid-17th-century military campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce ...

(1655–1660). After the

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

, Dobczyce was annexed by the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

, and from 1772 to 1918 belonged to Galicia. On the main square there is a 19th-century parish church.

Gallery

File:Skansen Dobczyce.JPG, Open-air museum File:Kosciol dobczyce.jpg, St. Mary's Church File:Dobczyce, Rynek.jpg, Market Square File:Dobczyce, brama miejska.jpg, City gate

References

External links

Jewish Community in Dobczyce
on Virtual Shtetl
Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Myślenice County Kraków Voivodeship (14th century – 1795) Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939) {{Małopolska-geo-stub