Myślenice 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 populou ...

, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). Population: 20,261 (2007). The town is divided into six districts. One of them, Zarabie, is a popular local tourist destination. It is located behind the

Raba river 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 al ...

(Zarabie meaning "Beyond the (River) Raba"), and it has Chełm mountain, with a view tower, a landscape park and

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

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

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

road, connecting

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

with

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

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

History

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

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

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

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

and Queen

Jadwiga Jadwiga (; diminutives: ''Jadzia'' , ''Iga'') is a Polish feminine given name. It originated from the old German feminine given name ''Hedwig'' (variants of which include ''Hedwiga''), which is compounded from ''hadu'', "battle", and ''wig'', "fig ...

; German emperor

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

; and other personalities. In 1557, Myślenice came under the jurisdiction of Kraków castellans, who were much more concerned with their city. The town began to decline, and it was destroyed in the

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

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

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the town became part of the Second Polish Republic. On 22 January 1945, Myślenice was liberated by the troops of 38th Army of the

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

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

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Myślenice is twinned with:

Sports

* Dalin Myślenice - women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team that has won Polish Seria B Women's Volleyball League in 2003/2004 season and was promoted to play in Polish Seria A Women's Volleyball League in 2004/2005 season. * CFL slotback Dave Stala was born here.

References

External links

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