Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the

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 ...

of southern

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 district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the

Beskid Sądecki Beskid Sądecki is a mountain range in the eastern section of the Western Beskids, within the Outer Western Carpathians. It is located in the border region between Poland and Slovakia. On the Poland, Polish side, it stretches along an area ...

Region as well as the third most populous city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

Names

Nowy Sącz has been known in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

as ''Neu Sandez'' (older spelling ''Neu Sandec'') and in Hungarian as ''Újszandec''. The Rusyn name was Novyj Sanc. Its

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

names include צאַנז (''Tsanz'') and נײַ-סאַנץ (''Nay-Sants'').

History

Nowy Sącz was founded on 8 November 1292 by the Polish and

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

ruler

Wenceslaus II Wenceslaus II Přemyslid (; ; 27 SeptemberK. Charvátová, ''Václav II. Král český a polský'', Prague 2007, p. 18. 1271 – 21 June 1305) was King of Bohemia (1278–1305), Duke of Cracow (1291–1305), and King of Poland (1296–1305 ...

, on the site of an earlier village named Kamienica. The foundation of Nowy Sącz took place due to the efforts of

Bishop of Kraków A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

, , who owned Kamienica. Upon request of the bishop, Wenceslaus II granted it

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 ...

, making it the only Polish town founded by the Bohemian king. Its name was taken from the nearby town of

Stary Sącz Stary Sącz is a small historic town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Stary Sącz (commune), and one of the oldest towns in the country, receiving Magdeburg rights in the 13th century. Geography Star ...

. As early as 1329, the name was spelled Nowy Sandacz. Nowy Sacz Ruiny Zamku ffolas 02

In the 14th and 15th century Nowy Sącz emerged as one of the most important economic and cultural centres of this part of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

. The town benefited from its proximity on the trade route to

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

due to privileges granted by King

Władysław I the Elbow-high 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: People Mononym * Włodzis ...

, and later his son,

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

, for supporting him during the Rebellion of wojt Albert in 1311–1312. During these times, the majority of the town's inhabitants were German colonists. In the 15th century it produced steel and woollen products, and nearly rivalled

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 ...

in visual arts. In 1329, Nowy Sącz signed a treaty with Kraków, upon which Kraków merchants, on their way to Hungary, had to stop at Nowy Sącz; Nowy Sącz merchants, on their way to

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, were obliged to stay at Kraków. In the mid-14th century, King Casimir the Great built a royal castle here and surrounded the town with a

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 such as curtain walls with t ...

. Nowy Sącz was the seat of a

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

and 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 ...

, becoming an important point in the system of defence of the southern border of Poland. The town was further elevated in 1448 when Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki promoted a local church to the status of a Collegiate. Nowy Sącz was a

royal city Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal ...

of Poland, administratively located in the Kraków Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province. Nowy Sącz prospered in the

Polish Golden Age The Polish Golden Age (Polish language, Polish: ''Złoty Wiek Polski'' ) was the Renaissance in Poland, Renaissance period in the Kingdom of Poland and subsequently in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which started in the late 15th century. H ...

(16th century). It was an important centre of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Local leader of the Polish Brethren, Stanisław Farnowski, was very popular among local

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

. Good times ended in the 17th century. In 1611 a great fire destroyed much of the town, and during the

Swedish invasion of Poland The Deluge 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 of Andrusovo in 1667, comprising the Pol ...

, the town was captured by the Swedes (late 1655), who burned and looted it. Nowy Sącz was a centre of the rebellion against the invaders.

Partitions of Poland

The decline of the town continued in the 18th century, when Nowy Sącz suffered more destruction during the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

and the

Bar Confederation The Bar Confederation (; 1768–1772) was an association of Polish nobles (''szlachta'') formed at the fortress of Bar, Ukraine, Bar in Podolia (now Ukraine), in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian C ...

, when the castle was burned. In 1772, during 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 ...

, the town 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 made part of newly formed Galicia, where it remained until November 1918. Nowy Sącz rose to new prominence in the 19th century when the Austrian authorities built a railway connecting it with

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

(1880s). Nowy Sącz was the seat of a county, new buildings were opened, the town was a rail hub with a large rail repair shop opened in 1876. On 17 April 1894, the central part of Nowy Sącz burned in a fire, with a town hall and ancient town records. At that time, the town was important in

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

history for the founding of the Sanz Hasidic dynasty during the 19th century, the precursor to the Bobov dynasty founded in nearby

Bobowa Bobowa (, ''Bobov'') is a small town in Gorlice County, southern Poland. Administratively part of the Lesser Polish Voivodeship, it is situated west of Gorlice and south-east of the regional capital Kraków. It was formerly a village, but was ...

(with a synagogue with occasional services by

congregation) and the Klausenberg dynasty.

World wars

At the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Nowy Sącz was occupied by the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

. The Russians were driven back by the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

in December 1914. In the final stages of the war, on 31 October – 1 November 1918,

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

stationed in the Austrian 10th Infantry Regiment in the city and local members of the secret

Polish Military Organisation The Polish Military Organisation, PMO (, POW) was a secret military organization that was formed during World War I (1914–1918). Józef Piłsudski founded the group in August 1914. It adopted the name ''POW'' in November 1914 and aimed to gathe ...

liberated it from Austrian rule, almost two weeks before Poland regained independence. Nowy Sącz and its surroundings, including

Nowy Targ Nowy Targ (Officially: ''Royal Free city of Nowy Targ'', Yiddish: ''Naymark'', Gorals, Goral dialect: ''Nowy Torg'' ) is a town in southern Poland, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is located in the Orava-Nowy Targ Basin at the foot of the Go ...

and

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — , , ''Sanok'', , ''Sianok'' or ''Sianik'', , , ''Sūnik'' or ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of southeastern Poland with 38,397 inhabitants, as of June 2016. Located on the San ...

, were claimed by the Lemko Republic (1918–1920) with capital in Florynka. Within interwar Poland the city saw industrial expansion and the railway factory expanded. In 1936, the Museum of Sącz Land was opened in the restored royal castle. Nowy Sącz had a population of around 34,000 in 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 ...

starting

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

carried out air raids on 1–2 September 1939, and then German troops entered the city on 6 September. Afterwards, the German ''

Einsatzgruppe I (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...

'' entered the city to commit various atrocities against the population, and then its members co-formed the local German police and security forces. Under German occupation the city was made part of the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

. Poles expelled in December 1939 from several villages in the German-annexed

Sieradz County __NOTOC__ Sieradz County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its ...

were deported in

freight trains A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

to Nowy Sącz, while many locals were among Poles imprisoned in the infamous

Montelupich Prison The Montelupich Prison, named for the street on which it is located, the ''ulica Montelupich'' ("street of the Montelupi family"),Ulica Montelupich or "street of the Montelupis" itself is named after the Montelupi manor house (Kamienica (archite ...

in Kraków and then murdered in the Krzesławice Fort of the Kraków Fortress, as part of the ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...

''. Because of its proximity to

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, it lay on a major route for resistance fighters of the Polish Home Army. The

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

was active in capturing those trying to cross the border, including the murder of several Polish pilots. In June 1940, the resistance rescued

Jan Karski Jan Karski (born Jan Kozielewski, 24 June 1914 – 13 July 2000) was a Polish soldier, Polish resistance movement in World War II, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II. He is known for having acted as a courier in 1940–1943 to ...

from a hospital there, and a year later 32 people were shot in reprisal for the escape; several others were sent to

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

. The regional Jewish community numbered about 25,000 before World War II, and nearly a third of the town's population was Jewish; ninety per cent of them died or did not return. The Nowy Sącz Ghetto for around 20,000 Jewish people was established by the German authorities near the castle. Its inhabitants were deported aboard

Holocaust trains Holocaust trains were railway transports run by the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' and other European railways under the control of Nazi Germany and its allies, for the purpose of forcible deportation of the Jews, as well as other victims of the Holo ...

Belzec extermination camp Belzec (English: or , Polish: , approximately ) was a Nazi German extermination camp in occupied Poland. It was built by the SS for the purpose of implementing the secretive Operation Reinhard, the plan to murder all Polish Jews, a major p ...

over three days in August 1942 and murdered. Across the river in the Jewish Cemetery, 300–500 Polish people were executed for their participation in the sheltering of Jews. Several Poles were also held by the occupiers in the local prison for helping Jews, before being deported to concentration camps. The

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

fought its way into the city on 20 January 1945. The city was restored to Poland, although with a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-installed communist regime, which remained in power until the

Fall of Communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

in the 1980s. At war's end, about 60% of the city had been destroyed. Nowy Sącz was honoured for its heroism with the Cross of Grunwald, third class in 1946. In 1947 much of the

Lemko Lemkos (; ; ; ) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region (; ) of Carpathian Ruthenia, Carpathian Rus', an ethnographic region in the Carpathian Mountains and Carpathian Foothills, foothills spanning Ukraine, Slovakia, and Poland. Lemkos ...

population, living in villages southeast of the town, was deported in Action Vistula (mostly to land recently regained from Germany) in reaction to the nationalist Ukrainian activity in the region.

Geography

Nowy Sącz is located at the confluence of the Kamienica River and

Dunajec The Dunajec (; Goral dialects: ''Dónajec''; ) is a river running through northeastern Slovakia and southern Poland. It is also regarded as the main river of the Goral Lands. It is a right tributary of the Vistula River. It begins in Nowy Targ at ...

, about north of the Slovak border, in the Sądecka Valley (''Kotlina Sądecka'') at an altitude of . It is surrounded by ranges of the eastern Outer Western Carpathian Mountains: Beskid Sądecki to the south, Beskid Wyspowy to the west, Beskid Niski to the southeast, and the foothills of Pogórze Rożnowskie to the north. The geological basis is

Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at ...

flysch Flysch () is a sequence of sedimentary rock layers that progress from deep-water and turbidity flow deposits to shallow-water shales and sandstones. It is deposited when a deep basin forms rapidly on the continental side of a mountain building ep ...

– an undifferentiated grey-banded

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

– with alluvial sediment from the

Poprad Poprad (; ; ) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. The largest town of the Spiš region and the largest of all towns in the vic ...

, and Kamienica rivers in the valley basin. Nowy Sącz is the governmental seat of Nowy Sącz County part of the

''Województwo Małopolskie''
since 1999. Between 1975 and 1998 it was the provincial seat of

Nowy Sącz Voivodeship Nowy Sacz Voivodeship () was a unit of administrative division and local government, located in southern Poland in the years 1975–1998, superseded by Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Its capital city was Nowy Sącz. Major cities and towns (popu ...

. Before that and during 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 ...

, Nowy Sącz was a county seat in the Kraków Voivodeship. In 1951 it became a town with the rights of a county. It is the historic and tourist centre of ''Sądecczyzna'', the Sądecki district.

Climate

Nowy Sącz has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Cfb'') using the isotherm or a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(Köppen climate classification: ''Dfb'') using the isotherm. The climate is temperate, with an average annual rainfall of about .

Economy

During the Polish communist regime, Nowy Sącz was the capital of

(1975–98). In the 1950s the Polish authorities applied a special economic programme for the town, called the ''Nowy Sacz Experiment''. The plan was to provide improvement and acceleration of the region's economic development, but it was only partially completed. The town was an important centre of the railway industry, and now contains one of the biggest railway engineering works in Poland. Since the social and political changes in Poland that started in 1989, the industry has faced economic problems. Nowy Sącz is also important in the food industry, specialising in processing fruits, especially apples. Most of the factories were in the Biegonice district. Now the local government is trying to change the structure of the industry, restructuring old factories and encouraging new companies to start up. This initiative also includes a move to the hi-tech industry. Nowy Sącz had one of the first computer companies in Poland, with the largest assembly plant in Europe, but this has closed due to ownership friction with the government. The building trade is also represented in the town, which has a major European window-manufacturer. Like all the bigger towns in Lesser Poland, it has seen a significant influx of the largest European grocery chains. A main economic problem now is the high level of unemployment which, officially about 20%, is one of the highest in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Recently the local government has tried to address the persistent economic and social problems of the local Romani community, including access to utilities and education.

Architecture

The city has many historic features, including one of the largest marketplaces in Europe after

, along with one of the largest old squares in Poland * '' Ratusz'' (city hall) centred in the Market Square, built in the late 19th century * The partially restored ruins of a mediæval Royal Castle from the 14th century during the reign of Kazimierz the Great. It was destroyed in 1945 at the end of

when it was used as a German ammunition store and was the site of mass executions. There are also the remains of the city walls nearby. * Saint Margaret's Basilica (''Bazylika kolegiacka Św. Małgorzaty''), a Gothic church from the 14th century. The coat of arms shows St. Margaret and a dragon; her name day is 20 July. * A 15th-century ''Gothic House'' (''Dom Gotycki'') containing a regional museum. * Holy Spirit Church - Jesuit, former Premonstratensian Gothic (choir) and Baroque (nave) * Former Franciscan church - initially built in the 13th century and demolished after the suppression of the order by Joseph II. Until now only the Chapel of the Transfiguration (1654-1672) survived and serves as a Lutheran church * The Great Synagogue, dating from 1746. There is a memorial tablet on the front in Polish,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, and

. Across the Kamienica River is the Jewish cemetery. * St. Lawrence Church - Gothic Revial, built 1906-1909 according to the project by

Jan Sas Zubrzycki Jan Sas Zubrzycki (25 June 1860 in Tłuste – 4 August 1935 in Lwów) was a Polish architect known for his work in the neo-Gothic styleBolesław Klimaszewski. ''An Outline history of Polish culture''. Interpress. 1984. p. 209. and originator ...

* St. Casimir Church - Gothic Revial, built 1908-1912 according to the project by Teodor Talowski * Kolonia Kolejowa -

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

from the late 19th century, built for the railway workers. Notable structires are the workers' club (''Dom robotniczy'') and the Sacred Heart Church (1897-1899, designed by Teodor Talowski) * Nowy Sącz railway station - opened in 1876, rebuilt in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style in 1909
Saint Roch
a church of wooden construction from the 15th century, in the Dąbrówka district. The old cemetery chape
St. Helen's Church
is another example. * An open-air museum or skansen (''Sądecki Park Etnograficzny''), containing a village of relocated authentic structures recreating indigenous architecture, customs, and folk culture from the region. Of particular note are the wooden churches, including an Orthodox church and the Roma (Gypsy) village. File:View of Nowy Sącz 02.jpg, Nowy Sącz Market Square with the city hall File:Nowy Sacz Ruiny Zamku ffolas 01.jpg, Royal Castle File:Nowy Sącz, bazylika św. Małgorzaty (HB1).jpg, Saint Margaret's Basilica File:Dom Gotycki - Muzeum w Nowym Sączu.jpg, ''Gothic House'', a regional museum File:N. Sącz św Ducha.jpg, Holy Spirit Church File:Новий Сонч (Nowy Sącz) Synagoga w Nowym Sączu, zwana również Grodzką.jpg, Great Synagogue File:Kościół p.w. św. Kazimierza w Nowym Sączu.jpg, St. Casimir Church File:Dom Robotniczy.JPG, ''Dom robotniczy'' in Kolonia Kolejowa estate File:WK15 Nowy Sącz (40) Lichen99.jpg, Nowy Sącz railway station File:MDDK 2012 - Nowy Sącz - 26-27 maja 2012 (7300792138).jpg, Open-air museum ''Sądecki Park Etnograficzny''

Tourism

The mountainous country around Nowy Sącz is also popular with tourists, hikers and skiers, especially the Beskid Sądecki mountains (part of the

Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains ...

), of which the highest peak is Radziejowa (

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

). Nearby popular mountain resorts include

Krynica-Zdrój Krynica-Zdrój (until 31 December 2001 Krynica, Rusyn language, Rusyn: Криниця ) is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in Pola ...

and Piwniczna-Zdrój ("''Zdrój''" means "health spa"). north of Nowy Sącz is Lake Rożnów (Jezioro Rożnowskie), a reservoir ( long, covering an area of , and having a capacity of 193,000,000 m³), with many

dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...

s and camping sites. To the north of the lake is the Ciężkowice-Rożnów Landscape Park (Park Ciężkowicko-Rożnowski). An annual festival of dance featuring children from highland regions from around the world takes place in July.

Sports

* Sandecja Nowy Sacz – a football team, currently in the Polish First Division * KS Dunajec/Start Nowy Sacz – a football team, playing in the local league * MKS Beskid Nowy Sącz – a handball team, playing in the Polish First Division * Olimpia Nowy Sacz – a handball team, playing in the Polish First Division * UKS Dwójka Nowy Sacz – a handball team, playing in the Polish Second Division * RC Czarno Biali – a rugby team, playing in the Polish Second Division * SKS Start Nowy Sącz – a whitewater kayaking club * NS Backyard Wrestling – a local wrestling federation

Education

* Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu - National-Louis University — a business college with a strong emphasis on English. It has American accreditation. * Akademia Nauk Stosowanych (Academy of Applied Sciences) * Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości * ZSEM "Elektryk" Technikum nr 7,"School site"
/ref> Technical Secondary School of Electronics and Mechatronics. Best school of that type in the whole of Poland in 2014 by Educational Foundation "Perspektywy""Article on awards giving [PL]"
/ref> ratings.

Notable people

* Arthur Berson (1859–1942), German meteorologist * Bolesław Barbacki (1891–1941), Polish painter, actor, director * Pinchas Burstein (1927–1977), later known as Maryan S. Maryan, Jewish-American artist and Holocaust survivor *

Chaim Halberstam Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1793–1876) (), known as the ''Divrei Chaim'' after the title of his writings, was the rabbi of Sanz (), and the founding rebbe of the Sanz dynasty of Hasidic Judaism. Life Halberstam was a pupil of Rabbi Sho ...

(1793–1876),

rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

Carl Menger Carl Menger von Wolfensgrün (; ; 28 February 1840 – 26 February 1921) was an Austrian economist who contributed to the marginal theory of value. Menger is considered the founder of the Austrian school of economics. In building his margi ...

(1840–1921), Founder of Austrian School of Economics * Władysław Hasior (1928–1999), Polish artist and sculptor * Dawid Janczyk (born 1987), Polish international football player * Majka Jeżowska (born 1960), Polish singer *

Joanna Kanska Joanna Kanska (born 1 April 1957) is a Polish-British actress who has worked in film, television, theatre and radio. She migrated to the United Kingdom in 1984. Career Born in Nowy Sącz, she attended the National Film School in Łódź from 19 ...

(born 1959), Polish-British actress * Władysław Kiełbasa (1893–1939), lieutenant colonel in the Polish Army * Janusz Kowalik (born 1944), Polish footballer for

KS Cracovia Cracovia () is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Kraków. The club is five-time Polish champion, besides being the inaugural Polish champion, winner of the Polish Cup and the Polish Super Cup in 2020. Founded in ...

and first ever

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the NASL in 1968 *

Adam Kossowski Adam Kossowski (5 December 1905 – 31 March 1986) was a Polish artist, born in Nowy Sącz, notable for his works for the Catholic Church in England, where he arrived in 1943 as a refugee from Soviet labour camps and was invited in 1944 to join ...

(1905–1986), Polish artist * Władysław Lizoń (born 1954), Canadian Member of Parliament, Former National president of the Canadian Polish Congress * Aleksander Michał Lubomirski (?–1675),

Starost 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 Nowy Sącz * Jerzy Aleksander Lubomirski (?–1735), Starost of Nowy Sącz * Stanisław Lubomirski (?–1585), Starost * Raphael Mahler (1899–1977), historian * Mariusz Mężyk (born 1983), footballer *

Józef Oleksy Józef Oleksy (; 22 June 1946 – 9 January 2015) was a Polish left-wing politician who served as Prime Minister of Poland from 7 March 1995 to 7 February 1996, when he resigned due to espionage allegations. He was chairman of the Democratic Le ...

(1946–2015), Polish Prime Minister * Efraim Racker (1913–1991), biochemist * Zygmunt Tarło ( or –1628), Kasztelan of Nowy Sącz * Piotr Świerczewski (1972), Polish international football player * Robert Ruchała (1998), Polish mixed martial artist

Twin towns – sister cities

Nowy Sącz is twinned with: * Columbia County, Georgia, United States *

Elbląg Elbląg (; ; ) is a city in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, located in the eastern edge of the Żuławy region with 127,390 inhabitants, as of December 2021. It is the capital of Elbląg County. Elbląg is one of the ol ...

, Poland *

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

, Bulgaria *

Kiskunhalas Kiskunhalas (; ) is a city in the county of Bács-Kiskun, Hungary. Railroad The city is an important railway junction. It crosses the Budapest-Subotica-Belgrade railway line. The Kiskunfélegyháza railway ends in Kiskunhalas. Geography Kisk ...

, Hungary *

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

, Norway *

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

, Israel *

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

, Slovakia *

Stará Ľubovňa Stará Ľubovňa (, , , , , ) is a town with approximately 16,000 inhabitants in northeastern Slovakia. The town consists of the districts Podsadek and Stará Ľubovňa. Names The name is of Slovak or Slavic origin and is potentially derived fro ...

, Slovakia *

Stryi Stryi (, ; ) is a city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It is located in the left bank of the Stryi (river), Stryi River, approximately south of Lviv in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. It serves as the administrative center of Stryi R ...

, Ukraine *

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, China *

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

, Poland *

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

, Lithuania *

La Baule-Escoublac La Baule-Escoublac (; Gallo: ''Écoubiâ'', , ), commonly referred to as La Baule, is a commune in Loire-Atlantique, a department in Pays de la Loire, western France. History Seaside resort In 1879, when the Saint-Nazaire- Croisic railroa ...

, France * The Wirral, United Kingdom *

References

External links

English version of official webpage

Jewish Community in Nowy Sącz
on

Virtual Shtetl The Virtual Shtetl () is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland. History The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June 16, 2009 by founder A ...

* {{Authority control City counties of Poland Cities and towns in Lesser Poland Voivodeship 1292 establishments in Europe Holocaust locations in Poland 13th-century establishments in Poland