Ryczów is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of Gmina Spytkowice, within

Wadowice County __NOTOC__ Wadowice County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 19 ...

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 ...

, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north of

Wadowice Wadowice () is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the bir ...

and west of the regional capital

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 ...

. The village was founded in the early 14th century by Cistercian monks from

. A castle was also built in the 14th century, possibly as part of king Casimir III's border defense system. A Catholic parish was founded in 1436. Between 1945 and 1954 years the village was a seat of a separate

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 ...

. In 1975–1999, it belonged to

Bielsko-Biala Voivodeship The Bielsko Voivodeship (Polish language, Polish: ''Województwo bielskie'') was a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of the Polish People's Republic from 1975 to 1989, and the Poland, Third Republic of Poland from 1989 to 1998. Its ca ...

Ryczów is geographically subdivided into two parts. The southern part lies within the , whereas the northern part is in the valley of the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

River (''Kraków Gate''). The highest point of the village is about 345 m above sea level and the lowest is about 100 m below. Through the village runs the National Road No. 44 (

Gliwice Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

Skawina Skawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants (2008). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998), Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). The town is located on the Skawinka ri ...

-Kraków) and the railway line

. At the northern end on the bank of the Vistula river lies the hamlet called Chałupki. Ryczów has a kindergarten, a primary school and a gymnasium.

References

Villages in Wadowice County {{Wadowice-geo-stub