Nowy Sącz is a historic town in the fork of the Kamienica and Dunajec. Founded at the end of the 13th century, it has many valuable monuments. It can also be a base for people who want to get to know Beskid Sądecki, Wyspowy and Pogórze.
The city was founded in 1292 by King Wacław II in the vicinity of Stary Sącz. Situated on a hill, surrounded by rivers, the city quickly began to develop as a trade and craft center. They were quickly surrounded by defensive walls. A castle was also erected here, of which only the Smith Tower has survived to this day.
Since the Middle Ages, the central square has been a large, almost square market. Today, in its center, there is an eclectic town hall built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the place of an earlier one, destroyed by fire. Around you can see houses from the same period. Above them there are two towers of the Gothic St. Margaret. One of the oldest buildings in the vicinity of the market square is the Gothic House, now housing part of the collection of the District Museum.
A big attraction of Nowy Sącz are the local museums. The District Museum collects collections on the history of the city and the region, as well as Judaica and souvenirs of Jews from Nowy Sącz. The synagogue and the partially destroyed Jewish cemetery have also been preserved. In the market square you can visit the Maria Ritter Gallery and Stare Wnętrza Mieszczańskie, where the film "My Nikifor" was shot. The largest museum in Nowy Sącz is the Sądecki Ethnographic Park located on the outskirts of the city, presenting the culture of highlanders, Lemkos and Pogórzans, and the Galician Town connected to it.
