Old towns & squares

Market Square in Przyrów

Plac Kazimierza Wielkiego in a small town chartered on 15 March 1369 under Środa (Magdeburg-derived) law. In studies of towns degraded by the tsarist reform of 1869–1870, the Przyrów square scored the highest degree of urbanity after Kozyce, and from 1 January 2024 the settlement is a town again.

A royal charter and a decline

Przyrów was founded as a royal town on the land of the village of Komorów, through the efforts of Jakub Rechicki of Nagłowice. Development was interrupted by the Swedish invasion: in the years 1655–1660 about 70% of the buildings were destroyed, and the town's condition was also affected by the Lubomirski rebellion and the rerouting of the main road from Kraków to Greater Poland. Przyrów lost its town charter on 31 May 1870 and for the next century and a half remained a village with an urban pedigree.

What to see on the square

An ornamental well stands on the square, and relief carvings by the local artist Witold Biedroń depict the monuments and important events of Przyrów's history. The dominant feature of the square is the Neo-Gothic church of St Dorothy from the early 20th century — its high altar holds a historic 17th-century painting of Our Lady of the Scapular. After revitalisation the square is a tree-lined space with benches, an easy place to rest while travelling across the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland.

Practical information

The square (Plac Kazimierza Wielkiego) is accessible around the clock, and a carved wooden plaque commemorates the charter granted by King Casimir the Great.