The History of Stary Sącz
Timeline
From Palaeolithic hunters to the present day – the key dates in the history of Stary Sącz, in the colours of the eras.
Prehistory and the Early Middle Ages
until 1257 · 11 events · Read the chapter →
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40,000–15,000 years ago
The first hunters in the Basin
The oldest scattered traces of people in the Sącz Basin date from the Upper Palaeolithic. Hunters passed this way long before anyone thought of building a stronghold.
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17th–13th c. BC
The stronghold at Maszkowice
In the Bronze Age a stronghold of the Otomani-Füzesabony culture rose above the Dunajec. Older studies took it for a Lusatian fort with stone walls – newer research dates it earlier.
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early 1st mill. BC
The stronghold at Marcinkowice
On the threshold of the Iron Age a stronghold stood at Marcinkowice, remaining in use until the 6th c. BC.
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2nd–1st c. BC
Settlers of the Púchov culture
People of the Púchov culture settled in northern Podegrodzie; settlers of the Przeworsk culture left their traces too.
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1st half of 6th c.
The first Slavic graves
A handful of graves by the Barczynka stream mark the beginning of Slavic settlement in the basin.
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c. mid-8th c.
The stronghold at Naszacowice
The largest stronghold of the basin arises – a multi-part hillfort of some 15 ha, rebuilt several times after fires and in use until the 11th c.
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9th c.
Strongholds at Chełmiec and Marcinkowice
Two smaller strongholds, probably places of refuge, are built. By the 10th c. they have fallen out of use.
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mid-11th c. (or late 10th c.)
Zamczysko stronghold at Podegrodzie
On a promontory cut off by a ditch rises the Zamczysko stronghold – the first Piast “Sącz”. It burnt down around the turn of the 11th and 12th c. Its founding date remains disputed.
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12th c.
Grobla – seat of the castellans
Some 600 m to the south grows the larger Grobla stronghold, raised from the ashes at least four times. Here the earliest castellans of Sącz held office.
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1224 (1225?)
First mention of Sącz
Sandech appears in the sources, together with its first known castellan – Chwalisław, who attended the assemblies of Leszek the White. Some give the year as 1225.
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1241
The Tatar invasion
The Tatars lay waste to Lesser Poland. Kinga’s dowry – 40,000 marks of silver – will go towards rebuilding the duchy. The tale of the Mongols destroying Grobla, however, is a legend without a source.
The Age of Saint Kinga
1257–1292 · 18 events · Read the chapter →
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5 Mar 1234
Kinga born at Esztergom
At the Hungarian court Kinga is born, daughter of King Béla IV and Maria Laskarina. Other sources give 2 March, or even the year 1224.
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1239
Betrothal at Wojnicz
The little princess, only a few years old, comes to Poland and is betrothed to Bolesław, later called the Chaste.
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2 Mar 1257
The Sącz land for Kinga
At Korczyn Bolesław the Chaste grants his wife the land of Sącz in return for her dowry. From then on Kinga styles herself domina et princeps de Sandech. Whether it was outright ownership, a life tenure or a pledge, scholars still debate.
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4 Jun 1268
A village headship for Pysz
Kinga grants the headship (sołectwo) of Sącz to Pysz. Sącz is still a village with a headman, but a town is already being born.
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1269
The first church at Biegonice
The parish of Biegonice receives its first church – a fruit of the settlement drive led by Kinga.
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18 Apr 1273
Sącz is now a town
A charter freeing the burghers from tolls names the advocate Michał – advocatus de civitate nostra Sandecz. This is the first certain mention of a town under German law. The same year brings the earliest record of grain being floated down the river.
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1276
The founding of Gołkowice
The foundation charter of Gołkowice is drawn up – rediscovered centuries later in the Ossolineum.
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1278
Another toll privilege
The burghers of Sącz receive a further toll privilege.
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7 Dec 1279
Death of Bolesław the Chaste
Duke Bolesław dies. The widowed Kinga makes her way to Sącz.
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c. 1280 (before 1279?)
The Franciscan friary
In the western part of the terrace a friary of the Friars Minor is built, with the church of St Stanisław, intended for 12 brethren. Scholars differ over its date and founder.
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6 Jul 1280
Founding of the Poor Clares’ convent
Kinga founds the convent of the Poor Clares and endows it with the town of Sącz and its toll house, together with 28 villages with their rivers, mills, ponds and forest beehives. The convent will be lord of the town for half a millennium.
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2 Jul 1283
The Pope confirms the foundation
Martin IV confirms the foundation of the Poor Clares’ convent.
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1280 / 1283 / c. 1284
Settlement with Leszek the Black
Leszek the Black challenges Kinga’s rights. Through the mediation of Bishop Paweł of Przemanków the Sącz land remains hers, in exchange for giving up Biecz and Korczyn.
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c. 1285
Indulgences for building the church
Archbishop Jakub Świnka grants indulgences towards the building of the convent church.
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1287
A Franciscan chapter
A provincial chapter meets in the friary of the Friars Minor at Stary Sącz.
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Dec 1287 – Jan 1288
Tatars at the gates of Sącz
Ahead of the Tatar raid Kinga and her sisters take refuge in the Pieniny castle. In January the Hungarians defeat a Mongol detachment circa castrum Zandech.
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24 Apr 1289
Kinga takes her vows
After a year’s novitiate Kinga makes her profession before Bishop Paweł.
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24 Jul 1292
Death of Kinga
Kinga dies in Stary Sącz and is laid to rest in a chapel of the convent church. A cult soon springs up around her tomb.
The Late Middle Ages
1292–1500 · 22 events · Read the chapter →
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8 Nov 1292
The founding of Nowy Sącz
Wenceslas II issues a charter for a new town between the Dunajec and the Kamienica. The plan to move the townsfolk and the religious houses succeeded only in part – the old Sącz survived.
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1298
Compensation for the Poor Clares
The Poor Clares receive 100 marks of silver from the Kraków salt works. Jolenta, Kinga’s sister, dies in the convent.
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1299
The birth of “Old” Sącz
The parish priest Jakub appears as plebanus de Antiqua Civitate. From now on people speak of the “old town”.
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1306
Bishop Muskata’s men attack
After the murder of Wenceslas III, the armed men of Bishop Jan Muskata fall upon the town; “many people were killed, hanged and crucified”.
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1307
The town council and Kinga’s tomb
A town council appears in a document. Kinga’s relics rest in a stone tomb, and the nuns begin recording miracles.
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1310
Hungarian copper and wine
A document lists imports from Hungary of copper, wine, cattle and pigs – Sącz lies on the route across the Carpathians.
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1311
Hungarians crush the advocate’s revolt
Władysław the Elbow-high brings in Hungarian troops, who are quartered in Stary Sącz while the revolt of Advocate Albert is put down.
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1317–1329
Kinga’s life is written down
The anonymous Vita et miracula sanctae Kyngae is composed, attributed to the Franciscans of Stary Sącz.
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1332
Consecration of the Holy Trinity church
Bishop Jan Grot consecrates the Gothic church of the Poor Clares, built in a single campaign by the workshop of Kraków Cathedral.
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1334 (1337?)
Queen Jadwiga in the convent
The widow of Władysław the Elbow-high takes over the rule of Stary Sącz and joins the Poor Clares. Some sources give the year 1337.
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1336
Abbess Salomea founds Tylmanowa
The Poor Clares settle the Pieniny – after Kluszkowce and Sromowce comes the turn of Tylmanowa.
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10 Dec 1339
Death of Jadwiga of Kalisz
The queen dies and is buried in the convent at Stary Sącz.
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c. 1340
A parish of some 1,340 souls
That is the number of people in the Stary Sącz parish – an amusing coincidence of number and year.
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1357 (1358)
Second founding – Magdeburg law
Abbess Konstancja, niece of Casimir the Great, grants the town Magdeburg law; the king confirms it in 1358. A regular plan with a rectangular market square takes shape.
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1363
The Grybów toll dispute begins
Casimir the Great exempts the merchants of Bardejov from tolls – and starts a dispute that will be settled only 145 years later.
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1396
The parish school
The first mention of a school attached to the parish.
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1410
Ścibor burns the town
Ścibor of Ściborzyce, in the service of Sigismund of Luxembourg, raids and burns the unwalled Stary Sącz. The parish church is later rebuilt.
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after 1410
“Two pots of gold” from Jagiełło
Tradition tells of the king’s gift to the convent after Grunwald. No document confirms it.
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1441
Miners make pilgrimage to Kinga
Miners from Bochnia come to Kinga’s tomb – the patroness of the salt mines already has her devotees.
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1454
A joint guild
A joint guild of craftsmen is already active in the town.
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c. 1470
A limewood figure and Długosz’s Vita
A limewood figure of Kinga is carved; Bishop Jan Rzeszowski raises a mausoleum, and in 1473 Jan Długosz writes the saint’s life.
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1480–1489
The town book
It records 4 furriers, 4 bakers, 2 smiths and 2 breweries. Długosz sighs that the town, “once famous and rich”, is “barely a little-known village”.
The Early Modern Period
1500–1772 · 32 events · Read the chapter →
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1505
A royal commission
A royal commission meets in Stary Sącz with Abbess Anna Rokitnicka.
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1508
The toll dispute ends
Sigismund the Old settles the Grybów toll dispute in favour of the Poor Clares.
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1528
Two fairs a year
Sigismund I grants the Poor Clares the right to hold two fairs. Stephen Báthory will confirm it in 1582, on condition that the income goes to the fortifications.
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1551
The Hospital of the Holy Cross
Mikołaj Hipolit founds the hospital provostry of the Holy Cross.
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1558
The weavers’ statute
The abbess approves the statute of the weavers’ guild – the first of a long series. The shoemakers will receive theirs in 1590.
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1566 (1598?)
Poor Clares freed from the provincials
A bull of Pius V ends the convent’s subordination to the Franciscan provincials. Another source speaks of Franciscan oversight lasting until 1598.
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1582
First mention of the town hall
A town hall on the market square appears in the sources.
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1598–1632
The convent becomes a stronghold
Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł has the convent walls raised and pierced with loopholes. A sgraffito dated 1632 crowns the work.
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1601–1605
A convent in stone
Jan di Simoni rebuilds the four wings of the convent in masonry, and in 1605 puts up the priests’ house.
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1608
A school of 40 pupils
The town council is patron of the parish school, attended by some 40 boys.
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1617–1619
Wall paintings, organ, altar
In the Poor Clares’ church Wawrzyniec Cieszyński paints, Andrzej of Lwów builds the organ, and Baltazar Kurcz the altar.
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1625–1634
First efforts towards beatification
Decrees of Urban VIII and commissions with hundreds of witnesses do not yet bring a verdict.
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16 Dec 1638
Statute of the joint guild
Abbess Anna Lipska approves the statute of the joint guild.
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1643–1644
St Roch’s church in stone
Funded by Abbess Anna Lipska and Samuel Łapka, the early Baroque church of Saints Roch and Sebastian is built.
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1644
The great fire
Fire consumes the parish church, St Roch’s church and the wooden Franciscan friary. Rebuilding the parish church takes about five years.
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1647–1649
Vaults for the Poor Clares’ church
Abbess Anna Lipska funds new vaults for the church.
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1655–1657
The Swedish Deluge
War ravages the convent estates. The Swedes take Nowy Sącz in October 1655 and are driven out on 13 December.
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1661–1671
Kinga’s altar and the “Tree of Jesse”
A masonry altar of Kinga (1661), the Loreto chapel (c. 1664) and the famous “Tree of Jesse” pulpit (1671) are made – its maker remains uncertain.
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1679
Jan Głowiński’s organ
An instrument is installed in the parish church that still gives its name to the “1679.org” festival.
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16 Dec 1683 (?)
Sobieski and Marysieńka in Sącz
Tradition has it that the king, returning from Vienna, met Marysieńka here. The convent accounts for 1683 say nothing of the visit.
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1686 (c. 1622?)
The parish church tower
Paweł Beber builds the tower of the parish church. The Atlas of Towns dates the masonry tower to c. 1622.
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11 Jun 1690 (10 Jun?)
Kinga beatified
Alexander VIII numbers Kinga among the Blessed – after decades of effort and at the request of John III.
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24 Jul 1691
A week of celebrations
Week-long beatification festivities begin in Stary Sącz and Kraków. In March of that year Abbess Konstancja Jordanówna founds the convent’s musical ensemble.
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1696
A town of 2,000 souls
An inventory records 271 properties and some 2,000 inhabitants – the high point of Old Polish Sącz.
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1696–1699
Fontana’s marble altars
Baltazar Fontana’s workshop makes three marble altars for the Poor Clares’ church.
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1699
A register of market houses
The oldest register of houses on the market square covers 26 plots.
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1715 (1695?)
Kinga, patroness of Poland and Lithuania
A decree recognises Kinga as patroness of the Crown and Lithuania. An English encyclopaedia gives the year 1695.
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13 Jul 1741
The canonisation process
The canonisation process is opened; the files went to Rome in 1749 – and stalled there for over two centuries.
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1746
A disastrous fire
Another fire has “catastrophic consequences” for the town.
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1750
A town hall in stone
A two-storey town hall with a tower, arcades and market stalls rises on the square.
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7 Oct 1764
Fire at the Poor Clares’ convent
Fire destroys the church roof, Kinga’s chapel, the Loreto chapel and the belfry. A new copper roof with Placidi’s crown is ready in 1766.
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1768–1769
The Bar Confederation
Confederates gather at Piwniczna and requisition horses from the convent stables. The marching armies cost the convent estates some 700,000 złoty.
The Austrian Partition and Galicia
1772–1918 · 31 events · Read the chapter →
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summer 1770 (2 Aug)
The Austrians occupy Sącz
Under the pretext of a sanitary cordon, Austria occupies southern Lesser Poland, moving its boundary posts as far as Mogilna.
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Sep 1772
First Partition – Galicia
The partition treaty sanctions the annexation: Stary Sącz becomes part of Galicia.
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1779
The shrine by the spring
A masonry shrine of St Kinga replaces the wooden one by the miraculous spring.
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1782 (1781?)
The Josephine dissolution
The Poor Clares’ estates and the town itself pass to the Emperor as the “K.K. Ex-Nonnen Herrschaft Alt-Sandez”. The convent loses its treasures, archives and library.
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1783
The cemetery by St Roch’s
Austrian regulations require the dead to be buried outside the centre – a new cemetery is opened by St Roch’s church.
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1785
The Neudörfel colony
German colonists settle on the confiscated Podmajerz manor farm. In 1786 the Franciscan church becomes their parish church.
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24 Apr 1795
The great town fire
In half an hour fire consumes 130 houses, 90 barns, the town hall, the hospital with the Holy Cross church and part of the parish church. The town hall was never rebuilt.
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1811
Novices return to the Poor Clares
The Emperor restores the novitiate on condition that the sisters run a school for girls. The school will save the convent.
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1813
A granary for salt
The Franciscan granary is taken over as a salt store.
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19 Oct 1814 (1815?)
Dissolution of the Franciscans
A decree of Francis I closes the friary of the Friars Minor; the last two friars leave for Krosno.
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1821
The convent school building
The Poor Clares’ school receives its own building within the walls.
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1831
A town hall in the granary, and cholera
The town buys the Franciscan granary for a town hall. A cholera cemetery is laid out on the slope of Miejska Góra.
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1844
3,816 inhabitants
The first accurate census of the 19th century.
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1848
A well on the market square
A well is built on the square – not a fountain, as some would have it.
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1855
Plague, hunger and failed harvests
The population falls to 3,006.
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1860 (1890?)
The Jewish community
A Jewish community is established. Another source speaks of an independent community only from 1890.
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1861–1872
Cobbles on the market square
The square is paved with river cobbles.
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1864
Oil lamps
Oil lamps light up the streets; in 1913 gas lamps will replace them.
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1867
A Galician town council
Under the Galician statutes an elected town council is in office.
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1874
The Volunteer Fire Brigade
The town that burnt so many times at last founds its own fire brigade.
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1876
The railway arrives
The railway opens from Tarnów through both Sącz towns towards Budapest. The year also brings a Loan Society and a wooden synagogue.
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1877
Limes on the market square
Lime trees are planted on the square.
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23–31 Jul 1892
600 years since Kinga’s death
Cardinal Dunajewski transfers the relics to a new casket, and a procession passes across the market square.
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15 Jun 1893
The founding of “Sokół”
The lawyer Edward Szayer and the apothecary Julian Fijałkowski call 30 people to the founding meeting of the gymnastic society’s branch.
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25/26 Jun 1898
Anti-Jewish riots
A mob loots several dozen Jewish shops and homes. Troops are stationed in the town for a month, and the council condemns the looting.
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5 Oct 1903
The teachers’ seminary
After years of effort a men’s teacher-training seminary opens under the direction of Józef Dobrowolski.
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1905/1906
A synagogue in brick
A synagogue designed by Józef Kostański is built on Staszica Street.
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15 May 1907
Cornerstone of the “Sokół” hall
Work begins on the building designed free of charge by Zenon Remi. The sources disagree on when it was finished.
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1910
Podmajerz joins the town
The commune of Podmajerz is incorporated into the town. It has 5,156 inhabitants, including 666 Jews.
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Nov–Dec 1914
The Great War
Seminarians join the army and the Legions, and the Russians occupy the school building. On 13 December Piłsudski enters Nowy Sącz.
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1915
War Cemetery No. 348
Gustav Ludwig designs the war plot on Węgierska Street.
The Second Republic and World War II
1918–1945 · 13 events · Read the chapter →
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1921
A town in reborn Poland
Stary Sącz has some 4,800 inhabitants, including 553 Jews.
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1925
The seminary in a new building
On 27 January the seminary moves to Dworska Street, and on 12 October it takes the name of Jan Długosz. A fur factory opens on Batorego Street.
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1928–1930
A power station on the Moszczenicki
The town builds its own power station.
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12 Mar 1931
Józef Tischner is born
In a house on the market square the future philosopher and highland storyteller is born.
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1933
A collective commune
Stary Sącz becomes the seat of a collective commune with the surrounding villages.
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Jul 1934
The great flood
Water floods the lower parts of Mostki; the years 1934–1935 are very hard for the area.
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1936
The seminary’s last school-leaving exams
School reform closes the history of the teachers’ seminary.
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5 Sep 1939
War at the gates
The Poles blow up the bridges on the Poprad, and German cyclist troops reach the town under fire from its defenders. A day later Nowy Sącz falls.
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6 Dec 1939
A commissarial mayor
The occupiers entrust the town to Pastor Fryderyk Spiess of Stadła, who holds office until August 1944.
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21 Aug 1941
Execution at Biegonice
The Germans shoot 44 prisoners.
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spring 1942
The ghetto on Krakowska Street
Some 1,000 people are crowded into the open ghetto beside the livestock market. An older account gives spring 1940.
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17 Aug 1942
The murder of Stary Sącz’s Jews
At Piaski by the Poprad 95 people, the old and the sick, are shot. The rest are driven to Nowy Sącz and deported to Bełżec.
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c. 20 Jan 1945
The end of the occupation
The Germans withdraw, blowing up the station and the bridges. The town’s buildings survive, but its population has fallen to some 4,500.
Communist Poland and Today
1945 – today · 28 events · Read the chapter →
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1948
Friends of Stary Sącz and a grammar school
The statute of the Society of Friends of Stary Sącz is approved, and on 28 August a general secondary school is established.
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1949
Repairs to the market square
The cobbles of the square are relaid.
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1950
A gravel pit where the rivers meet
A gravel pit opens – its aggregate goes to build Nowa Huta. Years later the site will become Bobrowisko.
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1954/1955
An urban heritage reserve
The town centre becomes an urban heritage reserve (or, in 1955, enters the register of monuments). The “Spójnia” school chalk works opens.
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1956
Regional Room in the Dom na Dołkach
The collection of the shoemaker Józef Paszkiewicz becomes the seed of a museum.
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17–18 Aug 1957
The town’s 700th anniversary
The jubilee is celebrated with a bugle call by Marcin Szeligiewicz.
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1961–1965
The Millennium Estate
Eleven blocks of flats go up, and the livestock market moves to Wielki Wygon.
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1962 / 1964
A new bridge over the Poprad
The town gains a new road bridge; on 1 September 1964 the grammar school building is opened.
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1975
The Early Music Festival
Stanisław Gałoński founds the festival now called “Omnia Beneficia” – after a conductus from a convent manuscript.
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1976
The Seweryn Udziela Museum
The Regional Room becomes the Regional Museum.
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1987
Poprad Landscape Park
The park is created, with its headquarters in Stary Sącz.
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27 May 1990
Free local elections
The first free elections in decades. Maciej Szuflicki becomes mayor.
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16 Jun 1999
Kinga canonised
John Paul II proclaims Kinga a saint before more than 600,000 faithful. For the first time in over 700 years the Poor Clares leave their enclosure.
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29 Apr 2006
The market square remade
For some 10 million złoty the square gains a new face ahead of the 750th anniversary.
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2006–2008
The bypass and St Kinga’s Bridge
A bypass is built with a cable-stayed bridge 328.8 m long.
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4 Jun 2010
The Poprad takes a bridge
A flood brings down two spans of the iron railway bridge of 1876.
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29 Jun 2010
The “Opoka” Pilgrim House
A house for pilgrims is blessed beside the Papal Altar.
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22 Jan 2012
Jacek Lelek becomes mayor
After the resignation of Marian Cycoń, Jacek Lelek wins the early election.
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20 Jun 2016
Kinga, patroness of the town
St Kinga replaces St Elizabeth as patroness of Stary Sącz.
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2018
Bobrowisko
On the former gravel pit a boardwalk with wildlife hides is opened, winning the Witkiewicz award.
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10 Dec 2018
Monument of History
The old town ensemble with the Poor Clares’ convent is declared a Monument of History.
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20 Nov 2020
Death of Marian Cycoń
The longest-serving mayor in the town’s history dies – 4,388 days in office.
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2021
VeloDunajec and the Forest Pier
The cycle route reaches Stary Sącz, and the Leśne Molo (Forest Pier) opens on Miejska Góra.
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7 Mar 2022
A new Cultural Centre
The new home of the Ada Sari Centre of Culture and Art is opened.
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16 Jun 2024
25 years since the canonisation
A jubilee attended by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz.
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24/25 Oct 2024
The small bypass and a new abbess
The “small bypass” is opened; the Poor Clares elect Sr Antonina Kowalska as abbess.
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14 Jun 2026
750 years of Gołkowice
The village founded in Kinga’s time celebrates its jubilee.
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25 Sep – 18 Oct 2026
The 30th Autumn Theatre Festival
Stary Sącz plays on – theatre, early music and the memory of Kinga.