Zakliczyn

Zakliczyn is a small town nearby Tarnow, located in Lesser Poland, in the Tarnow County, at Pogorze Roznowskie, upon the Dunajec River. There are roughly 2000 permanent citizens here. But still, it is one of the largest towns among the villages surrounding it. There is another nearby town called Czchow, which is of comparable size, and to get to the earlier mentioned Tarnow (which is a large city), you need to drive approximately 26 kilometers.

The origins of Zakliczyn reach way back to ancient times. This town was already mentioned in
10th century documents. But back then, it had a different name. Some sources declare that it was Dunaiz, others, that Goluczyn. In 1086, it was owned by the Tyniec abbey and earned the name Opatkowice.

Another important date in the history of Zakliczyn was the year 1557, when the town, along with a few other local villages, was purchased by Spytek Wawrzyniec Jordan, who later became the castellan of Krakow. He did his best to give city rights to Zakliczyn. And he succeeded. Unfortunately, Zakliczyn lost its city rights, and didn’t get them back until 2006.

In the late 16th and early 17th century Zakliczyn began to rapidly develop, with handicraft and trade blooming. Sadly, about 100 years later, there was not much left behind Zakliczyn’s early greatness. Ssome of the reasons included fires, pleagues, as well as the Swedish Deluge. In order to defend the catholic faith at this area, an order of reformator priests were brought to Zakliczyn. Their monastery and church can still be seen here today.

What should you see in Zakliczyn?
Although Zakliczyn is small, it has quite a few interesting things to visit and see. First of all, ithas a large Market Square (One of the largest in Lesser Poland. It is 170 meters long and 100 meters wide). At the Market Square, there is a monumental, 19th century town hall.

Fans of sacred architecture are sure to be delighted by gorgeous churches – the 17th century church of Our Lady of the Angels, i.e. the earlier mentioned church of the reformator priests and the 18th century church of St. Idzi.

Another thing that was preserved in Zakliczyn is the monumental wooden building with the characteristic „9-pole” construction and hoods reaching above the pavement. Many of such houses can be found by the Market Square, as well as by Mickiewicza and Malczewskiego streets.