Jordanów, is a town in southern Poland, on the Skawa river. As of 2018, the town had a population of 5,360.

History

Jordanów was founded in 1564 by Spytek Wawrzyniec Jordan on the salt road from

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

and

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 ...

to Orava and Hungary. In 1581 it got a right to organize annual fairs, which in 17th century became famous in south regions of

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

. Main goods traded there were

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

. Since 1999, Jordanów has been situated in

Sucha County __NOTOC__ Sucha County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland, on the Slovakia, Slovak border. Its administrative seat and largest town is Sucha Beskidzka, which lies ...

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

. It was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998. Jordanów is the oldest town on the territory of Sucha Beskidzka County. Its history dates back to a royal privilege, issued in 1564 by King Zygmunt August, upon which Spytek Jordan of Zakliczyn was allowed to found a new town. Jordan himself was a rich and influential nobleman, a

starosta Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

of Kraków and Crown

podskarbi Podskarbi in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was Minister (government), minister responsible for the treasury. Since 1569 also a senatorial office. The title although meaning treasurer can be deconstructed a ...

The town of Jordanów was located on the grounds of the village of Malejowa, with

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

charter. Spytek Jordan, who was regarded as an enlightened man, planned the town square with a town hall (1571), hoping that Jordanów would emerge as an important trade and craft center. After Spytko's death, Jordanów belonged to his wife Anna Sieniawska, and then to several noble families. In 1576, Stefan Batory confirmed Jordanów's charter, allowing for two fairs a year. Jordanów prospered, with inns, restaurants, artisans, and warehouses of salt and Hungarian wine, a very popular commodity in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. Following the

first partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

(1772) Jordanów was annexed by the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, and remained in Austrian Galicia until 1918. During Austrian rule the town declined, with the situation slowly improving after 1884, when a railroad line with a station was completed. In the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, Jordanów was a spa, nicknamed Green Town. The town, however, remained poor, with high unemployment and no industry. In early September 1939, during the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, Jordanów was burned by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

(see also Battle of Jordanów). Out of 400 houses, 270 were completely destroyed. The town was once again burned in January 1945, and for its sufferings, in 1984 was awarded the Order of the Cross of Grunwald.

References

External links

Municipality home page

Jewish Community in Jordanów
on Virtual Shtetl {{Authority control Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Sucha County Populated places established in 1564 1564 establishments in Europe Holocaust locations in Poland 16th-century establishments in Poland