Nowy Korczyn is a small town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Nowy Korczyn. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately south of Busko-Zdrój and south of the regional capital Kielce. It is located close to the confluence of the Nida and the Vistula rivers. The village has a population of 1,032, and in the past it was an important administrative center of Lesser Poland. Nowy Korczyn was a town from 1258 to 1869. History Until it lost its city rights, the village was known as Nowe Miasto Korczyn (New Town Korczyn). During its existence, Nowy Korczyn was also known as Khadash, Nayshtut, Neustadt, Novi Kochin, and Novi Kortchin. It was established before 1258 by Boleslaus the Chaste, and used to be an important trade and political center. From the 15th century onwards the General Assembly of Lesser Poland was held there. In the 17th century the town began a decline, and lost its city status in 1869. Up until the Second World War, Nowy Korczyn, by now a village, had a large Jewish community, many of whose members were murdered in the Holocaust. In the Middle Ages, Nowy Korczyn was a trade village, located on a junction of busy merchant roads from Kraków to Kievan Rus', and from Kosice to Sandomierz. To distinguish it from the nearby village of Korczyn (now known as Stary Korczyn, Old Korczyn), Prince Boleslaus V the Chaste named the town Nowe Miasto Korczyn (New Town Korczyn), when he granted it Magdeburg rights (1258). In 1257, when the Prince stayed here with his wife Kinga of Poland, the pious couple decided to found a Franciscan abbey in Nowy Korczyn. The town quickly developed, due to its location, and proximity both to the Vistula waterway and the city of Kraków, where local princes resided during the fragmentation of Poland (see History of Poland during the Piast dynasty). It had a wooden castle, which, together with the town, was burned by the Rus warriors in 1300. New, stone castle was built here in the 1350s by King Kazimierz Wielki, and it quickly emerged as one of the major royal residences in Poland. A defensive wall was built around Nowy Korczyn, furthermore the town was protected by a man-made lake Czartoria. Since Nowy Korczyn is located in the center of Lesser Poland, the town was frequently