History of Cieszyn and Těšín

Teschen, one of the oldest towns in Silesia, has had a Slav population (Golensizi tribe) since at least the 7th century. According to a modern legend, in 810 three sons of a Slav king – Bolko, Leszko and Cieszko, met here after a long pilgrimage, found a spring, and in their happiness decided to found a new settlement. They supposedly called it Cieszyn (cf. the verb for "to be happy"; Polish: cieszyć się, Czech: těšit se). This well stands in the ulica Trzech Braci (Three Brothers Street), just west of the town square. More scientific explanation for the name is that it's patronymic in origin, derived from the Slavic name *Ciecha or *Ciesza. The town centres on Castle Hill (Góra Zamkowa), where the oldest traces of settlement date back to the 6th or 7th centuries. The gród built on the hill gradually gained importance and became and important administrative and religious center, as a castle and a Romanesque chapel were erected within its stakes in the 11th century, the latter surviving to this day (and is depicted on reverse of the 20 złotych note).

The first written reference to Cieszyn came in a document from Pope Adrian IV for the Wrocław bishop Valter from 23 April 1155. It concerned the castle of Tessin, which was listed among other centres of castellanies, however it was no earlier than 1223 that it was explicitly described as castellany (castellatura de Tessin). Around the castle a town grew up on a fortified headland above the Olza River with the center around what is nowadays Plac Teatralny (Theater Square), where the very first parish church was built before the end of the 12th century. The document from 1223 issued by Bishop of Wrocław also mentioned the suburbium, which suggest that Cieszyn already had city rights. The city rights are documented in 1290, and later confirmed in 1374. Around 1240 a new parish church was also built in the vicinity of the first market square (nowadays Stary Targ - Old Market).

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Wikipedia