<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Kazimierz_Dolny" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kazimierz Dolny">Kazimierz Dolny</a> is a small town in central eastern Poland, on the right (eastern) bank of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Vistula" class="extiw" title="w:en:Vistula">Vistula River</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Pu%C5%82awy_County" class="extiw" title="w:en:Puławy County">Puławy County</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Lublin_Voivodeship" class="extiw" title="w:en:Lublin Voivodeship">Lublin Province</a>. Historically it belongs to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Lesser_Poland" class="extiw" title="w:en:Lesser Poland">Lesser Poland</a>, and in the past it used to be one of the most important cities of the Province.
<p>At the edge of historical <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Lublin_Upland" class="extiw" title="w:en:Lublin Upland">Lublin Upland</a>, Kazimierz Dolny is one of the most beautifully situated little towns in Poland and enjoyed its greatest prosperity in the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth century due to the trade in grain conducted along the Vistula. It became an economic backwater after that trade declined, and this freeze in economic development enabled the town to preserve its <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Renaissance" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a> urban plan and appearance. Kazimierz Dolny is an art center in Poland. Many painters retreat to this small town to paint and sell their work. Galleries can be found in almost every street, offering for sale sculptures, stained-glass, folk art, and fine art. The town is one of Poland's official national <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:List_of_Historical_Monuments_(Poland)" class="extiw" title="w:en:List of Historical Monuments (Poland)">Historic Monuments</a>  (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pl:Pomnik_historii" class="extiw" title="w:pl:Pomnik historii">Pomnik historii</a></i>), which listing is maintained by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Narodowy_Instytut_Dziedzictwa" class="extiw" title="w:en:Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa">National Heritage Board of Poland</a>.
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The history of Kazimierz Dolny dates back to the eleventh century, when on one of the local hills there was a Benedictine settlement called Wietrzna Gora. In 1181, Prince <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Casimir_II_the_Just" class="extiw" title="w:en:Casimir II the Just">Casimir II the Just</a> handed the settlement to Norbertine nuns from the district of Zwierzyniec in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Krak%C3%B3w" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kraków">Kraków</a>. The nuns changed its name to Kazimierz, in honor of the prince. For the first time, the name Kazimierz appears in chronicles in 1249. Later on, the adjective Dolny (Lower) was added, to distinguish the town from the Jewish town <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Kazimierz" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kazimierz">Kazimierz</a> - now a district of Kraków. In the early fourteenth century, the village became a royal possession, and King <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_I_the_Elbow-high" class="extiw" title="w:en:Władysław I the Elbow-high">Władysław I the Elbow-high</a> founded a parish church there in 1325. The foundation of the town is attributed to Władysław's son, King <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Casimir_III_the_Great" class="extiw" title="w:en:Casimir III the Great">Casimir III the Great</a>, who granted the town rights in the first half of the fourteenth century. Later, King <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_II_Jagie%C5%82%C5%82o" class="extiw" title="w:en:Władysław II Jagiełło">Władysław II Jagiełło</a> modernized Kazimierz Dolny, creating a modern town, with a market square and streets. At that time, the decision was taken not to build any houses on the northern side of the market square, so as not to obstruct the view of the church and the castle.<br><span style="color:blue;"><i>The <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist/Poland" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Scotch Mist/Poland">Scotch Mist Gallery</a> contains many photographs of historic buildings, monuments and memorials of Poland.</i></span>
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist" title="User:Scotch Mist">Scotch Mist</a>
CC BY-SA 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>