Nysa, Historic municipality in Opole Voivodeship, Poland
Nysa is a town in Opole Voivodeship with about 44,000 residents that sits along the eastern bank of the Eastern Neisse river. The built landscape ranges from medieval defensive structures to baroque church towers rising above the flat riverbanks.
Founded in the 10th century, the settlement became the capital of an independent duchy during the 14th century under episcopal rule from Wrocław. During the Counter-Reformation, Jesuits established a college here that turned it into an intellectual center.
The name derives from the Slavic word for wetland and points to its riverside location. Today visitors stroll through the restored old town with its arcaded walkways and watch locals having coffee outside the townhouses on the Ring.
The town sits about 50 kilometers south of Opole near the Czech border and works well as a stopover on journeys through Lower Silesia. Pedestrians can comfortably reach the main sights from the central market square within a few minutes on foot.
During the 16th century, some of the earliest printing presses in Poland operated here, producing mainly religious texts for the diocese. Printer marks from that era can still be found in collections at the museum library on the old town hall square.
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