Nowy Targ

      Nowy Targ
      Center of Nowy Targ

      Coat of arms
      Nowy Targ is located in Poland
      Nowy Targ
      Coordinates: 49°28′N 20°1′E / 49.467°N 20.017°E / 49.467; 20.017
      Country  Poland
      Voivodeship Lesser Poland
      County Nowy Targ County
      Gmina Nowy Targ (urban gmina)
      Established 13th century
      Town rights 1346
      Government
       • Mayor Marek Stanisław Fryźlewicz
      Area
       • Total 51.07 km2 (19.72 sq mi)
      Highest elevation 1,138 m (3,734 ft)
      Lowest elevation 585 m (1,919 ft)
      Population (2006)
       • Total 33,493
       • Density Bad rounding here660/km2 (Bad rounding here1,700/sq mi)
      Time zone CET (UTC+1)
       • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
      Postal code 34-400 to 34-403
      Area code(s) +48 182
      Car plates KNT
      Website http://www.nowytarg.pl

      Nowy Targ [ˈnɔvɨ ˈtark] (Latin: Novum Forum, Slovak: Nový Targ, German: Neumarkt) is a town in southern Poland with 34,000 inhabitants (2006). It is the historical capital of the Podhale region. The town is situated in a valley beneath the Gorce Mountains featuring Gorce National Park established in 1981, at the confluence of rivers Biały and Czarny Dunajec. Administratively, it is in Nowy Targ County in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It was previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship (1975–1998).

      Timeline of town history

      • 1308 - Cistercians receive a land grant to form new settlements in the mountain region. A border settlement called Stare Cło (German: Altzoll, English: Old Customs Post) is founded soon thereafter.[1]
      • 1346 - Nowy Targ founded by King Casimir the Great, based on the Stare Cło settlement, and granted significant internal autonomy based on Magdeburg law.[2]
      • 1487 - King Casimir IV Jagiellon grants the rights to two annual festivals, and a weekly market fair on Thursdays. (The weekly open-air market continues to this day, now on Thursday and Saturday mornings.)
      • 1533 - Nowy Targ obtains a statute requiring merchants to pass through the city when crossing the border.
      • 1601 - Great fire destroys the parochial church and city records.
      • 1656 - Swedish troops sack the town during the Deluge.
      • 1710 - Another fire consumes 41 houses and the church.
      • 1770 - Nowy Targ annexed by Austria (see: Partitions of Poland).
      • 1886 - City Hall opens.
      • 1914 - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is arrested as a possible spy in southern Poland by Austrian authorities; he is jailed in Nowy Targ for approximately 12 days.
      • 1918 - The region rejoins the restored Poland after World War I.
      • 1933 - Polish president Ignacy Mościcki visits; the successful ice hockey team Podhale Nowy Targ is founded.
      • 1939 - German forces invade on 1 September, at approx. 16:30.
      • 1941 - Resistance movement called the Tatra Confederation formed in Nowy Targ.
      • 1942 - Jewish ghetto liquidated by Germans on 30 August.
      • 1945 - The Red Army forces out German occupants on 29 January.
      • 1966 - Born Wojciech Wiercioch, Polish writer.
      • 1979 - Pope John Paul II visits Nowy Targ on 8 June, during his first pilgrimage to Poland.
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      Geography

      Nowy Targ is located in the heart of Polish highlands at the altitude of 585–680 m above sea level (AMSL); latitude 49°28' N, longitude 20°01' E. Distance to the main urban agglomerations in Poland is: Warsaw – 376 km, Łódź – 348 km, Kraków – 84 km, Gdańsk – 690 km, Wrocław – 346 km, Katowice – 157 km, Kielce – 200 km, Rzeszów – 214 km, Szczecin – 727 km, Białystok - 574 km, Poznań – 475 km, Częstochowa – 226 km, Słupsk – 759 km.

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      Culture

      • City Cultural Center (Miejski Ośrodek Kultury)
      • Youth Cultural Center (Młodzieżowy Dom Kultury)
      • The Jatka Gallery (Galeria Jatki)

      Museums

      • Museum of Podhale (Muzeum Podhalańskie PTTK)

      Cinemas

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      Architecture

      St. Anna Church

      St. Anna Church

      Wooden church overseeing the city cemetery. Its origins date to the 15th century, although local legends describe it as founded in 1219.

      Initially built in a gothic style, it was later repaired and rebuilt featuring, among others, a baroque altar piece and paintings, a rococo pulpit, and 18th-century organ and bell tower.

      St. Catherine Church

      Dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, the church was built in 1346 by King Casimir the Great. It is the oldest existing church of the Podhale region.

      The church has been damaged by numerous fires and military attacks, and subsequently rebuilt and renovated. The interior retains its baroque character, especially in the altar and side chapels, although numerous pieces are replicas of wooden originals lost to fire. A painting of St. Catherine from 1892 dominates the main altar.

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      Sport

      Ice hockey

      Floorball

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      The Conservation of Nature

      Nature reserves

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      International relations

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      References

      Notes
      1. ^ Mieczysław Adamczyk, et al. Dzieje Miasta Nowego Targu (History of the City of Nowy Targ), p.35, Podhalańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk: 1991.
      2. ^ Mieczysław Adamczyk, et al., op. cit. Quoted after: J. Rafacz, Dzieje i ustrój Podhala Nowotarskiego za czasów dawnej Rzeczypospolitej,, p. 161, Warszawa: 1931.
      3. ^ "Oficiálne stránky mesta Kežmarok". kezmarok.sk. Retrieved 8 February 2010. 
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      Last modified on 2 April 2013, at 06:05