Lądek-Zdrój (; ), known in English as Landek, is a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

situated in

Kłodzko County __NOTOC__ Kłodzko County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed ...

Lower Silesian Voivodeship Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986. It is one of the wealthiest ...

, southwestern

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

. It is the seat of the administrative district (

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

) called Gmina Lądek-Zdrój, close to the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

border. As of 2019, the town has a population of 5,572.

Geography

It lies in the

Sudetes The Sudetes ( ), also known as the Sudeten Mountains or Sudetic Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince of the Bohemian Massif province in Central Europe, shared by the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. They consist mainly of mountain rang ...

in two mountain ranges - the Golden Mountains and the Śnieżnik Massif, approximately south-east of

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; ; ; ) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse (Nysa Kłodzka) river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko County (and of the ru ...

, and south of the regional capital

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

History

According to historical records, the therapeutic properties of the local mineral waters were already enjoyed in 1241, thus Lądek is considered the oldest spa town in Poland. Located within the historic

Kłodzko Land Kłodzko Land (; ; ) is a historical region in southwestern Poland. The subject of Czech–Polish rivalry in the High Middle Ages, it became a Bohemian domain since the 12th century, although with periods of rule of the Polish Piast dynasty in th ...

, it was granted

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1282 by Duke of Wrocław and future

High Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

Henryk IV Probus of the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

. In 1949–1950 Greeks and Macedonians, refugees of the Greek Civil War, were temporarily admitted in Lądek-Zdrój, before new homes were found for them in other towns (see also: '' Greece–Poland relations''). The town was badly affected by the 2024 Central European floods.

Culture

Lądek-Zdrój is a picturesque spa town with rich historical architecture ranging from Gothic to

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

, numerous sanatoriums, parks and gardens, including an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

, considered one of the oldest spa towns in Poland. Lądek-Zdrój became famous in Poland because of

Stanisław Bareja Stanisław Sylwester Bareja (5 December 1929 – 14 June 1987) was a Polish filmmaker. Some of his films (mostly comedies) have reached cult status in Poland. His most famous film is ''Teddy Bear'' (''Miś''), filmed in 1980. His last work wa ...

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

Teddy Bear A teddy bear, or simply a teddy, is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. The teddy bear was named by Morris Michtom after the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt; it was developed apparently simultaneously in the first deca ...

'' (''Miś''). Each year, the town is host to the Andrzej Zawada mountain film festival.

Gallery

File:Ladek-Zdroj wiosna.jpg, Lądek-Zdrój in spring File:Rynek w Lądku-Zdroju - 4.jpg, Northwestern corner of the Market Square (''Rynek'') with the

Holy Trinity statue File:2014 Lądek-Zdrój, park zdrojowy 02.JPG, Spa house "Wojciech" File:2014 Lądek-Zdrój, ul. Ostrowicza 1-2, Nowy Jerzy 01.JPG, Sanatorium "Nowy Jerzy" File:2014 Lądek-Zdrój, kościół Narodzenia NMP 02.JPG,

Church of the Nativity of Virgin Mary File:Lądek Zdrój, kaplica NMP Na Pustkowiu, 01.JPG, Spa gardens with the Saint Mary chapel File:Lądek Zdrój, pl. Staromłyński 5, 01.JPG, Centre of Culture and Recreation File:2014 Lądek-Zdrój, ul. Ostrowicza 1-2, Stary Jerzy 02.JPG, Sanatorium "Stary Jerzy" File:Lądek Zdrój, foto58b, stawy Biskupie.jpg, Town hall in the Market Square

Twin towns – sister cities

See twin towns of Gmina Lądek-Zdrój.

References

External links

Cities and towns in Lower Silesian Voivodeship Kłodzko County Cities in Silesia Spa towns in Poland {{Kłodzko-geo-stub