Stary Sącz is a small, historic town in the Beskid Sądecki, famous for its medieval monastery of Poor Clares founded by St. Kinga.
The city was founded in the mid-thirteenth century by prince Bolesław the Chaste. At that time, his wife Kinga founded the Monastery of the Poor Clares and endowed it with several villages and the possibility of collecting customs duties from the chamber in Piwniczna. She went to live in a convent after her husband's death, but never became his superior.
During the first several decades of its existence, Stary Sącz was developing as a trade center on the Hungarian route. However, the foundation of Nowy Sącz in 1292 caused a decline in trade and from that time the town remained only a local center of minor importance.
Currently, Stary Sącz is known mainly thanks to the figure of St. Kinga. Her canonization was carried out in 1999 by John Paul II in Błonia in Starosądeckie. Today, the Papal Altar stands here, with the Museum of John Paul II and a retreat center. At the monastery where the relics of St. Kinga, you can see the carved Seklerska Gate brought by the Hungarians as a gift for the canonization, which symbolizes the friendship between the two nations.
Near the monastery, there is the cobbled market square in Stary Sącz. It is surrounded by low houses, of which Dom na Dołkach housing the Regional Museum stands out. At the back of the square there is the Gothic church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
