Kłodawa is a town in central Poland with 6,699 inhabitants (2014). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Konin Voivodeship (1975–1998). Kłodawa lies on the Rgilewka (a tributary of the Warta River). The town contains the Kłodawa Salt Mine, the largest operating salt mine in Poland, extracting halite and salts of potassium and magnesium. Kłodawa was settled in the 11th century by craftsmen building the Church of St. Giles. It gained municipal rights in 1430. Much of the town was destroyed in the wars of the 17th century and World War II. It was once home to a vibrant Jewish community wiped out during the German occupation. On the outskirts there is a cemetery from the ancient Lusatian culture. History Four-thousand-year-old traces of settlements in the area of Kłodawa can be found in the nearby village of Słupeczka. Remains of the Lusatian culture, about 2500 years old, can be found in Old Kłodawa. In the 11th century Polish monarch Władysław I Herman erected a church at the site. The settlement's name comes from the Old Polish word kłoda. It gained municipal rights on August 9, 1430 by the decree of King Władysław II Jagiełło. It was a royal city of Poland, administratively located in the Łęczyca Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In 1455 King Casimir IV Jagiellon exempted the town from customs duties, contributing to its growth. It was the second largest city of the Łęczyca Voivodeship at the time, just behind Łęczyca. The town was badly damaged in the 1650s by the invading Swedes during "The Deluge". Many of the inhabitants were slaughtered. Despite outside assistance, reconstruction took a very long time. In the 18th century, General Ernest Chryzostom Dorpowski funded a Baroque monastery with the Church of the Assumption of Mary, which remains the greatest historic landmark of the town. Kłodawa was annexed by Prussia after the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. In 1794, it was briefly liberated by Polish insurgents. From 1806 until 1815, the town was part of the Duchy of Warsaw, and Congress Poland in the Russian Partition of Poland afterwards. During the January Uprising, on July 12, 1863, the Battle of Kłodawa took place, in which 600 Polish insurgents clashed with 1,200 Russian soldiers. In 1867, Kłodawa lost its municipal charter, as part of Russian repressions after the unsuccessful January Uprising.