Stary Sącz | |
|---|---|
 Poor Clare Nuns monastery in Stary Sącz | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Stary Sącz | |
| Coordinates:49°33′45″N20°38′11″E / 49.56250°N 20.63639°E /49.56250; 20.63639 | |
| Country |  Poland |
| Voivodeship | Lesser Poland |
| County | Nowy Sącz |
| Gmina | Stary Sącz |
| Town rights | 1257 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jacek Lelek[1][2] |
| Area | |
• Total | 16.56 km2 (6.39 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 320 m (1,050 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 9,211 |
| • Density | 560/km2 (1,400/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 33-340 |
| Vehicle registration | KNS |
| Website | http://www.stary.sacz.pl |
| Designated | 2018-12-10 |
| Reference no. | Dz. U. z 2018 r. poz. 2415[3] |
Stary Sącz[ˈstarɨ ˈsɔnt͡ʂ] is a small historic town inLesser Poland Voivodeship of southernPoland.[4] It is the seat of theGmina Stary Sącz (commune), and one of the oldest towns in the country, receiving Magdeburg rights in the 13th century.
Stary Sącz is located in bottom of the valley calledKotlina Sądecka, between two rivers -Dunajec andPoprad, at an altitude of 320 metres (1,050 feet)above sea level.
.jpg)
The history of the town dates back to theEarly Middle Ages when DuchessKinga of Poland, the daughter of the KingBéla IV of Hungary and the wife of DukeBolesław V the Chaste, received the land called Sącz, together with surrounding villages, from her husband in the year 1257.[5] It is assumed to be the date of the town foundation. Indeed, the Duchess must have loved the mountains very much, since she founded a Convent of the Poor Clares there in 1280[6] and she became its duchess herself. Almost at the same time, on the opposite slope of the Sącz hill, the seat of aFranciscan order was established also by Duchess Kinga. In the year 1358 the town received a privilege of theMagdeburg law, confirmed by KingCasimir III the Great. An extremely advantageous location, on a very busy trade route toHungary, fostered the town's rapid development. However the town was often damaged by disasters, of which fires were the most harmful. The town also did not manage to escape floods, plagues, and wars. During the biggest fire in its history in 1795, the entire town almost burned down.[7]
Stary Sącz has unique[citation needed] medieval architecture and many monuments of ecclesiastical buildings.
At the fork of the riversDunajec andPoprad is a recreation area with a few ponds. (Their overall surface-area is 14 ha (35 acres)). These ponds contain numerous fish, including carp, trout and sanders, and rainbow trout in a special fishery.
Stary Sącz, situated in the lag of thePoprad Landscape Park is also the seat of the Park Service. One of Poland's biggest landscape parks stretches all over the range of the mountains Radziejowa and Jaworzyna in the Beskid Sądecki region.
There are several hiking trails in the area, some of which start in Stary Sącz. These include:
A bike route goes from Stary Sącz to the Przehyba summit via Gołkowice and Skrudzina.
Many sporting event take place in Stary Sącz. Some of the most well attended are:
Stary Sącz has the followingsister cities:[8]
-Ness Ziona, Israel, 1996
-Liptovský Hrádok, Slovakia, 2001
-Keszthely, Hungary, 2001 -Levoča, Slovakia, 2003
-Menconico, Italy, 2003
-Chuhuiv, Ukraine, 2004
-Lambres-lez-Douai, France, 2007 -Dunakeszi, Hungary, 2007 -Kosd, Hungary, 2011
| Town and seat | | |
|---|---|---|
| Villages | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
