Kłodzko Land

Kłodzko Land (Ziemia kłodzka; Kladsko; Glatzer Land) is a historical region in southwestern Poland. The subject of Czech–Polish rivalry in the High Middle Ages, it became a Bohemian domain since the 12th century, although with periods of rule of the Polish Piast dynasty in the Late Middle Ages. It was raised to the County of Kladsko in 1459 and was conquered by Prussia in the First Silesian War of 1740–42 and incorporated into the Province of Silesia by 1818. After World War II it passed to the Republic of Poland according to the 1945 Potsdam Agreement. The region was not destroyed during World War II, thanks to which its rich historical architecture from various periods, from the Middle Ages to modern times, has been preserved. It is also known for its several spa towns. Kłodzko Land, with an approximate area of , consists of the Kłodzko Valley, a basin surrounded by several Mittelgebirge ranges of the Central and Eastern Sudetes: the Owl Mountains and Golden Mountains in the east, the Śnieżnik Mountains in the south, the Bystrzyckie Mountains and Orlické Mountains in the west, and the Stołowe Mountains in the northwest. With its natural boundaries, the valley forms a significant jut into the neighbouring Czech area in the southeast. It is crossed by the Eastern Neisse (Nysa Kłodzka) river, a left tributary of the Oder. Despite its enclosed geographical situation, Kłodzko Land since ancient times has been traversed by the Amber Road and other important trade routes connecting Bohemia with Silesia and Moravia, running over easily accessible mountain passes in the south and west, and along the Nysa water gap at Bardo. The land is named after its historic administrative capital Kłodzko (Kladsko, Glatz), formerly the administrative seat of the Bohemian governor (Zemský hejtman) and gathering place of the local estates (Landstände). The area roughly corresponds to the current Kłodzko County (Powiat kłodzki) of Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Historically, the area may have been part of the Great Moravia under King Svatopluk I by the late 9th century, though the extent of his realm is disputed.