Mikołów

Mikołów
Market Square and Town Hall
Coat of arms
Mikołów
Coordinates: 50°10′N 18°54′E / 50.167°N 18.900°E / 50.167; 18.900
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	Mikołów County
Gmina	Mikołów (urban gmina)
Established	13th century
Town rights	1547
Government
• Mayor	Stanisław Piechula
Area
• City	79.2 km2 (30.6 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• City	38,821
• Density	490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Urban	2,746,000
• Metro	5,294,000
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	43-190 to 43-197
Area code(s)	+48 32
Car plates	SMI
Climate	Dfb
Website	http://www.mikolow.eu

Mikołów [miˈkɔwuf] (German: Nikolai, Silesian: Mikołůw) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Jamna stream (tributary of the Kłodnica and indirectly Odra river).

It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, previously in Katowice Voivodeship, and before then, of the Silesian Voivodeship. Mikołów is one of the towns of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the town is 38,821 (2008).

It was first mentioned in writing in the year 1222.

With a written mention from 1222, Mikołów is one of the oldest towns in Upper Silesia. This was a document sent by duke of the Racibórz Casmir (the son of Mieszko the Raciborian) to the bishop of Wrocław, Wawrzyniec. In the document was written the name of Andrew (Lat. comes Andreas, castellanus de Miculow), the castellan of Miculow, showing that Mikołów was already an administrative center.

Mikołów became the center of local trading, located on crossroads of trading roads. The Black Death killed 33% of the town's inhabitants in 1349-50. In the period 1433–1443, there were several earthquakes in the area. In 1545 Mikołów gained city status. In 1645 and 1687 few fires burnt tenements near the market place and in connection with that Mikołów achieved the right to expose four fairs a year. In the second half of the 18th century peasants few times opposed the ruler and paying high serfdomes. Additionally in between 1713-15 the city survived a famine bringing epidemics. In 1760 the name "Mikołów" was used first time in the originally form. On 20 May 1794 a huge fire disaster burnt whole houses around the market square, including the town hall and all historical documents stored inside.