Sandomierz

Sandomierz (pronounced: AUDpl-Sandomierz.oggsanˈdɔmjɛʂ; Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Province) since 1999, having previously been located in the Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship. It is the capital of Sandomierz County. Sandomierz is known for its preserved Old Town, a major cultural and tourist attraction which was declared a National Monument of Poland in 2017. In the past, Sandomierz used to be one of the most important urban centers not only of Lesser Poland, but also of the whole country. It was a royal city of the Polish Crown and a regional administrative centre from the High Middle Ages to the 19th century. The name of the city might have originated from the Old Polish Sędomir, composed of Sędzi- (from the verb sądzić "to judge") and mir ("peace"), or more likely from the antiquated given name Sędzimir, once popular in several Slavic languages. Sandomierz is known in Latin as Sandomiria and in Yiddish as צויזמיר (). Sandomierz is one of the oldest and historically most significant cities in Poland. Archeological finds around the city indicate that humans have inhabited the area since neolithic times. The city came into existence in the early Middle Ages, taking advantage of an excellent location at the junction of Vistula and San rivers, and on the path of important trade routes. The first known historical mention of the city comes from the early 12th-century, when the chronicler Gallus Anonymus ranked it together with Kraków and Wrocław as one of the main cities of Poland. The testament (ca 1115–1118) of Bolesław III Wrymouth, in which he divided Poland among his sons, designated Sandomierz as the capital of one of the resulting principalities, the Duchy of Sandomierz. In the early 13th century, the second oldest Dominican monastery in Poland (after Kraków) and one of the oldest in Europe was founded in Sandomierz.