Jelenia Gora
Jelenia Gora Pearl of Karkonosze Mountains.
Jelenia Góra is located in the centre of a
mountain valley in the South-Western part of the lower Silesian Voivodship, in
the Bobr and Kamienna river valley. Number of citizen more than 90 thousands. The
city is surrounded by mountain ranges: Izerskie Mountains – to the West,
Kaczawskie Mountains – to the North, Rudawy Janowickie – to the East and the
Karkonosze Mountains, the highest range of the Sudety Mountains – to the South.
Jelenia Góra, the largest city of the western Sudety
Mountains, with a beautiful view to the Karkonosze Mountains, is not without reason known as the Pearl of the Karkonosze Mountains. The most beautiful mountain areas are within reach. It is easy to see the Sniezka, Szrenica and other summits from the beauty spots. It also takes little time to reach the Czech Republic and Germany. The border with Germany is 60km away and with the Czech Republic – only 25km away.
Jelenia Góra,where we want to invite you warmly, is a place with many centuries of tradition
and numerous historical monuments. Natural hills add charm to the city’s
panorama, which looks like an enclave of green overshadowing historical
buildings, old settlements with traditional housing, walkways.
Its uniqueness
is also due to its districts: the old town, more beautiful every year, Cieplice
– the oldest Polish spa resort (unique thermal sources discovered in 1175 by
prince Boleslaw the Tall), Sobieszów with ruins of the Chojnik 14th century
castle or the well-known holiday resort Jagniatków, rendered famous by the
Nobel prize winner Gerhart Hauptmann.
The town founded in the 11th-12th century
(1108-1111 according to tradition)
The craft and market town created at the foot of the hill received Magdeburg
city rights before 1288, and its favorable location at the junction of
important trade routes to the Czech Republic and Germany enabled a steady
development. The young city received many privileges from the Silesian rulers
and in the following centuries it became famous for the production and export
of linen; it was also a mining and metallurgy centre from the raw material from
the nearby Kowary.
Since 1392, Jelenia Gora
was ruled by the Czechs, and in 1527, after the death of king Ludovic, the last
Jagiellonian on the Czech throne, the city was enclosed in the boundaries of
the Habsburg monarchy.
The sudden development of tourism in the 18th
century and the interest in the mountains surrounding the Jelenia Góra valley
helped the inhabitants overcome another crisis, caused by the Silesian wars. As
their political effect, Jelenia Góra belonged to Prussia, and later to Germany.