Świdnica

Świdnica (Polish: [ɕfidˈɲit͡sa] ^ⓘ; German: Schweidnitz [ˈʃvaɪtnɪts]; Czech: Svídnice [ˈsviːdɲitsɛ]) is a city on the Bystrzyca River in south-western Poland in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. As of 2021, it has a population of 55,413 inhabitants. It is the seat of Świdnica County, and also of the smaller district of Gmina Świdnica (although it is not part of the territory of the latter, as the town forms a separate urban gmina). It is the seventh largest city of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Świdnica became part of the Wałbrzych agglomeration on 23 January 2014.

A city with almost a thousand years of history, recorded in 1070, Świdnica was one of the main cities of Silesia and southwestern Poland in the Middle Ages, the second most important center of culture and art in the region (after Wrocław), a famed brewing center, and in 1291–1392 the capital of an eponymous principality ruled by a local line of the Piast dynasty. The city has a preserved Old Town with several Gothic and Baroque churches, including the St. Stanislaus and St. Wenceslaus Cathedral and the Church of Peace, two landmark churches listed as Historic Monuments of Poland with the latter also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.