Dobczyce Travel Guide

Dobczyce

Dobczyce Travel Guide Dobczyce is a town in southern Poland situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Małopolska, since 1st January 1999, and was previously located in the Kraków Voivodeship from 1975 to 1998.

About 30 km from the city of Kraków, Dobczyce lies in the Raba River valley, a small but charming town offering a view of the Pogórze Wielickie and Beskid Wyspowy mountain ranges and the Dobczyce Lake. Geographical coordinates of the town are: 49o53’ north geographical latitude and 20o6’ eastern geographical longitude.

There is also the ruins of a 13th century castle which in the past hosted great royal personages such as Władysław the Elbow-high, Kazimierz the Great and Władysław Jagiełło.

From the castle walls it is possible to see the top of a dam, which flooded the valley in the 1980s and banked up the Raba River creating the Dobczyce Lake to provide drinking water for Kraków. The Raba River was banked up in 1986 and was held back in the valley with a dam wall over 700 metres long creating the a lake with an area of 10 km2 and capacity of 125 million m3.

Accommodation in Dobczyce

You will find the full range of accommodation in this town from the most luxurious five star hotels with up to date and modern amenities to pensions (a type of guest house or boarding house) and rooms or apartments at very reasonable prices. Some of the larger towns and cities will also have hostels.

If you prefer to stay in a more rural location there are a number of “Agro” style of accommodation places on farms and in the countryside plus there may be camp sites nearby.

If you see something you like or wish to know more about please contact the accommodation directly as I do not take commission and I take the attitude that their own website will have more up to date details on what they offer than if I were to include it here.

If you wish to advertise your accommodation on Dobczyce Travel Guide please get in touch with us.

Activities in Dobczyce

Poland is a country with a large variety of landscapes, a place where you can experience all four seasons. This provides the visitor with many opportunities for adventure and different activities, whether you enjoy the mountains, lakes, rivers or the beaches you will find something that suits you.

If you see something you like or wish to know more about please contact the activity provider directly as I do not take commission and I take the attitude that their own website will have more up to date details on what they offer than if I were to include it here.

What ever activity you run, if you wish to advertise your activity on Dobczyce Travel Guide let us know.

Attractions in Dobczyce

Poland is a country with a large variety of attractions for the tourist to visit, a place where you can experience all sorts of places to see. This provides the visitor with many opportunities for learning about Polska, whether you enjoy the many monuments, historic churches or buildings, history of places, or more modern attractions, you will find something that suits you.

If you see something you like or wish to know more about please contact the attraction provider directly as I do not take commission and I take the attitude that their own website will have more up to date details on what they offer than if I were to include it here.

What ever attraction you run, you can advertise it on Dobczyce Travel Guide.

Geography of Dobczyce

Awaiting details.

History of Dobczyce

Legend

At around the time of Prince Mieszko I, (940 – 25 May 992 the ruler of the Polans from about 960 until his death and a member of the Piast dynasty) there was a knight by the name of Dobieslaw, or possibly Dobek. Looking down from a high rock and seeing the wide Raba River valley, he said to his son, “ I shall never leave this place”.

He commanded his sons to stay and establish a settlement and so it was named after his descendants and became known as Dobczyki or Dobczyce.

Known Facts

The truth of how the town came into being is yet unknown but archaeological findings would suggest that Dobczyce is possible one of the oldest settlements in the region and that there were people living in the area long before the legendary knight.

Documents record the towns mayor’s wife had contacts with Cracow burgesses as early as 1310 providing evidence that Dobczyce must have had town status at that time.

In 1362, King Casimir confirmed and extended the citizens’ existing privileges in respects of fishing, free grazing of cattle and the towns right to have markets on Mondays.

Dobczyce was an important defensive town for Cracow, (about 30 km) having a castle and other elements to shield the city from invaders. There were thick walls surrounding th e settlement, some fragments still exist today.

Between the mid 14th and mid 17th centuries Dobczyce was part of a royal estate bringing with it trade and industry such as crafts and educated citizens who studied at the Jagiellonian University in Cracow. During this period it was raided by robbers such as the Hussite soldiers , known as ‘Beggar Brothers’. The towns prosperity came to an end when the Swedish army invaded in 1655.

Originally, the town was built on a hill but it was moved in the 17th century due to difficulties in rebuilding it on a hill.

Museums in Dobczyce

Polska is full of history and the Polish are great lovers of knowledge of the past so you will find many museums in the country.

Poland has a long history and has been an important trading route that has been invaded by many different groups over the past 1,000 years. Museums are a great way to explore the nations history about the inhabitants of the land in the past, their lives and customs.

Some of the museums shown below may have an article about them here on David's Travel Guides. Follow the link for the article. For the rest, if you see something you like or wish to know more about please contact the museum directly as I take the attitude that their own website will have more up to date details on what they offer than if I were to include it here.

What ever museum you run, you can advertise it on Dobczyce Travel Guide for free.

Places to Eat in Dobczyce

There are many restaurants covering the usual pizza to those offering local Polish traditional and regional cuisine.

What Wikipeda says about Polish Cuisine

Polish cuisine (Polish: kuchnia polska) is a style of cooking and food preparation originating from Poland. It has evolved over the centuries due to historical circumstances. Polish national cuisine shares some similarities with other Central European and Eastern European traditions as well as French and Italian similarities. It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region) and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and spices.

It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha (from the Polish word kasza). Generally speaking, Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. The traditional dishes are often demanding in preparation. Many Poles allow themselves a generous amount of time to serve and enjoy their festive meals, especially Christmas eve dinner (Wigilia) or Easter breakfast which could take a number of days to prepare in their entirety.

The Polish national dishes are bigos; pierogi; kielbasa; kotlet schabowy (type of breaded cutlet); gołąbki (type of cabbage roll); zrazy (type of roulade); roast (Polish: pieczeń); sour cucumber soup (Polish: zupa ogórkowa); mushroom soup, (Polish: zupa grzybowa) (quite different from the North American cream of mushroom); tomato soup (Polish: zupa pomidorowa); rosół (variety of meat broth); żurek (sour rye soup); flaki (variety of tripe soup); and barszcz among others.

If you see something you like or wish to know more about please contact the place to eat directly as I do not take commission and I take the attitude that their own website will have more up to date details on what they offer than if I were to include it here.

If you wish to advertise your place to eat on Dobczyce Travel Guide we will ask you for a donation.

Tourist Information in Dobczyce

David's Travel Guides This web site will eventually have tourist information on most of the places in Polska. Being a web site you will be able to access the information on most digital platforms, including your laptop, personal computer or a mobile phone.

Tourist organisations are welcome to contact me for details on how to display their information on Dobczyce Travel Guide.

PTTK Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society is a non-profit organisation that you will find in many places in Poland.

It is one of the oldest tourist societies in Europe and was was created by the merger of two societies: Polish Tatry Society (1873) and Polish Country Lovers Society (1906).

Official Tourist Information Centres in Poland are divided into 1*, 2*, 3* and 4* Certified and Non-Certified. All Certified Tourist Centres provide information in one or more foreign languages and have an expanded range of services as compared to the Non-Certified.

Transport in Dobczyce

Awaiting details.

Here are some useful websites to help you find your way to this place.

Websites of Dobczyce

If you have a website that is an official one linked to this town, or you administer a local community or an important trade site please contact me here at Dobczyce Travel Guide as I may be interested in including it.