Wadowice

Wadowice
Aerial view of Main Square
Coat of arms
Wadowice
Coordinates: 49°53′N 19°30′E / 49.883°N 19.500°E / 49.883; 19.500
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lesser Poland
County	Wadowice County
Gmina	Gmina Wadowice
Established	14th century
Town rights	1430
Government
• Mayor	Mateusz Klinowski
Area
• Total	12.98 km2 (5.01 sq mi)
Highest elevation	318 m (1,043 ft)
Lowest elevation	250 m (820 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	19,149
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,800/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	34–100
Area code(s)	+48 33
Car plates	KWA
Website	http://www.wadowice.pl

Wadowice [vadɔˈvit͡sɛ] (German: Frauenstadt – Wadowitz) is a city in southern Poland, 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Kraków with 19,200 inhabitants (2006), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is best known for being the birthplace of Pope John Paul II.

The first permanent settlement in the area of today's Wadowice was founded in the late 10th century or early 11th century. According to a local legend, the town was founded by certain Wad or Wład, a short form for the Slavic name of Ladislaus (Polish: Władysław). The town was first mentioned as Wadowicze in St. Peter penny register in the years 1325–1327. In 1327 it is also mentioned (under the same name) in a fief registry sent from prince John I Scholastyk of Oświęcim to Bohemian king John I, Count of Luxemburg. At this time it was a trading settlement belonging to the Dukes of Silesia of the Piast Dynasty, and according to some historians it was already a municipality. In 1430 a great fire destroyed the town. It was soon rebuilt and granted city rights, along with a city charter and a self-government, based on the then-popular Kulm law. The privileges, granted by Prince Kazimierz I of Oświęcim led to a period of fast reconstruction and growth.