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The Commune of Mucharz
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The Commune of Mucharz is located in the province of
Malopolska, 12 km south of Wadowice and 60 km of
Cracow. It is comprised of seven villages: Jamnik,
Jaszczurowa, Koziniec, Mucharz, Skawce, Swinna
Poreba and Zagorze. The population is approximately
3800 people who live on the area as big as 38 sq. km.
You can get to Mucharz by different neans of
transport. There is a state road leading from
Wadowice through Sucha Beskidzka to Zakopane and a
railway line connecting Cracow and Zakopane. There
is also a petrol station right next to the new part
of the state road.
Our area belongs to the Beskid Maly - it is a
beautiful mountain range with the highest mountain
Leskowiec ( 922 m. above sea level ) There is also a
mountain touristic resort and a little chapel on the hill
named after the Polish pope John Paul. Walking from
Mucharz there is a touristic hiking route leading to
this place.
The oldest parts of our history are probably related
to the period of the country of Wislanie as well as
to St. Wojciech who wandered this area on his way to
Gniezno. In 1254 Mucharz received the right to be
called a village and prince Boleslaw Wstydliwy
handed Mucharz over to convent of Norbertanki from
Zwierzyniec near Cracow. Nearby villages received
the same right but a little bit later: Skawce in
1422 and Swinna Poreba in 1529. Jaszczurowa, a
village stretching in a narrow valley towards
Leskowiec, was founded in 1333 by Mikolaj Benkowic,
whereas Koziniec, located on the slopes of the Zar
mountain has existed since 1540. Zagorze, laying
between beautiful hills of Beskid, has been known
since 1389 when Mikolaj Zagorski was the lord of the
manor. The area of Mucharz commune had a lot of
owners among which one can encounter names such as
Jozef Pisarzewski, Dominik Knesek and the Tetschels
who owned Mucharz is the years 1882-1945.
Since 2004 some archeological researches have been conducted
in the area of the commune of Mucharz. So far
Archeologists have found some tools made of flint
and weapon from 10000 years before and a tomb with
an amphora (pottery) dated on 5000 years before. In
Zagorze, a the slopes of Kurczyna there is a cave
called Mysiorowa Dziura. It is 130 m long and it
constitutes or monument of inanimate nature. Next to
the parish St. Wojciech’s church (1835-1868), where
one can find his relics, there is an Obelisk which
commemorales regaining independence of Poland. In
Jaszczurowa, there is a beautiful manor house which
once belonged to former owners of nearby areas.
Mucharz is also famous for its local writer Janina
Barbara Gorkiewiczowa (1921-1986) who was born here
and worked as a teacher and headmistress in school.
She wrote plenty of books and novels for teenagers.
Mucharz has also been visited by well-known
personages such as archbishops from Cracow: Karol
Wojtyla (John Paul II), Franciszek Macharski and
Stanislaw Dziwisz.
For many years our commune has been involved is a
project of building a dam on the river Skawa. The
lake is planned to be 620 m long and 50 m deep.
There will also be a water power station here. Our
commune is becoming a highly attractive field of
investments. It has got modern infrastructure, a lot
of sports facilities and housing estates.
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