Myślenice

Myślenice
Market Square
Flag Coat of arms
Myślenice
Coordinates: 49°50′05″N 19°56′20″E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lesser Poland Voivodeship
County	Myślenice
Gmina	Myślenice
Government
• Mayor	Jarosław Szlachetka (PiS)
Area
• Total	30.1 km2 (11.6 sq mi)
Population  (31.12.2024)
• Total	17,107
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	32-400
Car plates	KMY
Website	http://www.myslenice.pl

Myślenice [mɨɕlɛˈɲit͡sɛ] is a town in southern Poland situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, 30km south of Krakow. The town is divided into six districts. The most popular of them, Zarabie, is a famous tourist destination. It is located behind the Raba river (Zarabie meaning "Beyond the (River) Raba"), next to Chełm district on the slope of the hill of the same name, where is a view tower and a landscape park and ski lifts.

Myślenice-Zarabie, the River Raba

Myślenice is a city located in the tectonic window area, between the Dalin, Chełm and Uklejna hills. The city is also located on the border of two Beskids (in the south) and the foothills (in the north). From the western bank of the Raba River these are Maków Beskids and Wieliczka Foothills while on the eastern bank of the river - Island Beskids and Wiśnicz Foothills.

Myślenice has a direct and very convenient bus connection with Krakow however there is no train station in the city.

History

Market square and the Church of the Birth of Virgin Mary in Myślenice

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 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 and Queen Jadwiga; German emperor Sigismund; 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. 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, 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. Between 1975-1998 the city was part of the Kraków Voivodeship.

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Poland

Twin towns — Sister cities

Myślenice is twinned with:

Bełchatów, Poland Csopak, Hungary Dahlonega, United States Lüdenscheid, Germany Tinqueux, France

Sports

• Dalin Myślenice - football team playing in Jako IV liga Lesser Poland cluster and also a women's volleyball team playing in Polish Seria A Women's Volleyball League
• Orzeł Myślenice - football team playing at the seventh hierarchy level Liga Okręgowa (group: Kraków III)
• LKS Górki Myślenice - football team playing at the eighth tier of the Polish football hierarchy in Myślenice group
• TKKF Uklejna Myślenice - sports association that brings together activities such as badminton, running, gymnastics, cycling, volleyball and tennis.

Notable people

• Daniel Obajtek, president of the management board of Orlen company was born in Myślenice
• CFL slotback Dave Stala was born here.
• Waldemar Fornalik who was born in Myślenice and moved to Chorzów where he played for the entire career before becoming a manager
• Myślenice is a family town for famous Polish actress Urszula Grabowska who was raised there
• Polish mountain biker Anna Szafraniec comes from Myślenice as well

External links

• Jewish Community in Myślenice on Virtual Shtetl