Kalisz
| Kalisz | |||
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Town Hall
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| Motto: Poloniae urbs vetustissima | |||
 Kalisz
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| Coordinates: 51°45′27″N 18°4′48″E / 51.75750°N 18.08000°E | |||
| Country |
 Poland |
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| Voivodeship |
 Greater Poland
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| County | city county | ||
| Established | 9th century | ||
| Town rights | after 1253 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Grzegorz Sapiński | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 71.40 km2 (27.57 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2014) | |||
| • Total | 103,738 | ||
| • Density | 1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 62-800 to 62-821 | ||
| Area code(s) | +48 062 | ||
| Car plates | PK | ||
| Climate | Cfb | ||
| Website | Kalisz.pl (archived) | ||
Kalisz ([ˈkalʲiʂ]; German: Kalisch) is a city in central Poland with 103,738 inhabitants (June 2014), the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce. See Kalisz County for the regional administrative area (powiat).
Kalisz is an important regional industrial and commercial centre, with many notable factories. The city is also a centre for traditional folk art. The town was also the site of the former 'Calisia' piano factory, until it went out of business in 2007.
The name Kalisz might stem from either the Celtic term "cal" which means stream, or the Slavic term "kal", meaning swamp or marsh. Kalisz is one the oldest cities in Poland. There are many artifacts from Roman times in the area of Kalisz, indicating that the city has once been a stop of the Roman caravans heading for the Baltic Sea along the trade route of the Amber Trail.Calisia (Kalisz in Polish) had been mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, although the connection is doubted by some historians who claim that the location mentioned by Ptolemy was situated in the territory of the Diduni in Magna Germania.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered early mediaeval settlement from the Piast dynasty period, c. 9th-12th centuries. Modern Kalisz was most likely founded in the 9th century as a provincial capital castellany and a minor fort. In 1106 Bolesław III Wrymouth captured the town and made it a part of his feudal domain. Between 1253 and 1260 the town was incorporated according to the German town law called the Środa Śląska Law (after Środa Śląska in Silesia), a local variation of the Magdeburg Law, and soon started to grow. One of the richest towns of Greater Poland, during the feudal fragmentation of Poland it formed a separate duchy ruled by a local branch of the Piast dynasty. After Poland was reunited, the town became a notable centre of weaving and wood products, as well as one of the cultural centres of Greater Poland. Jewish settlement of Kalisz dates back to 1139 (see: Khalyzians).
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Wikipedia