Wisła

Wisła
Presidential Castle in Wisła
Coat of arms
Wisła
Coordinates: 49°39′17.69″N 18°51′34.23″E / 49.6549139°N 18.8595083°E / 49.6549139; 18.8595083
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Silesian
County	Cieszyn
Gmina	Wisła (urban gmina)
First mentioned	1615
City rights	1962
Government
• Mayor	Tomasz Bujok
Area
• Total	110.26 km2 (42.57 sq mi)
Elevation	513 m (1,683 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	11,453
• Density	100/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	43-460
Car plates	SCI
Website	http://www.wisla.pl

Wisła [ˈviswa] (German: Weichsel, Czech: Visla) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,810 (2006), near the border with Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. Wisła is the Polish name for the Vistula River, which has its source in the mountains near the town.

Wisła is a popular year-round tourist destination, with the nearby mountains favored by ski jumpers Malinka. It is known for being the home town of ski jumper Adam Małysz, and for the fact that it is the only town in Poland with a majority Protestant population.

Wisła is also the home of the Beskid Museum, on B. Hoff square. It has on display agricultural tools, folk costumes and goatskin bagpipes from the surrounding region.

First people settled here in the late 16th or early 17th century, coming from two directions: from Ustroń up the river Vistula and Gorals searching for new pastures in the mountains (see also: Vlachs). It was first mentioned in 1615. Politically the village belonged then to the Duchy of Teschen, a fee of the Kingdom of Bohemia, which after 1526 became part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Since 1653 it belonged to Teschener Kammer.