Skoczów

Sister cities

• Békéscsaba

History

The very first settlement in the nearest neighbourhood had been established by a Slavic tribe called Golensizi around the 7th century on a naturally defensive hill over the valley of the river Bładnica and ravine called Piekiełko about south-east of the town centre within borders of modern Międzyświeć. The "gord" was later surrounded by an earth bank and moat. The settlement was destroyed in the end of the 9th century most probably by Great Moravian Prince Svatopluk II and was not rebuilt again. Sometimes the oldest mentioning of Skoczów is believed to be from the document allegedly issued in 1232 by Mieszko, dux Oppoliensis et dominus Tessinensis et Ratiboriensis (implicitly Mieszko II the Fat) for a knight Przecho from Zabłocie, were among witnesses is a ducal writer, Mikołaj from Coczow (Skoczów). Some researchers consider the document to be a fake. Idzi Panic takes into consideration that it could be a mistake during rewriting, and that the document could be originally issued in 1282 by Mieszko, who later ruled the Duchy of Cieszyn (formed in 1290, where Skoczów also belonged), but back then together with younger brother Przemko ruled Duchy of Racibórz with castellanies of Cieszyn and Oświęcim, and would more likely use the title dux Oppoliensis et dominus Tessinensis et Ratiboriensis than Mieszko II the Fat (who never used as complicated title). The rewriter could have omitted the number L in the year MCCLXXXII (1282), making it MCCXXXII (1232). If the document was indeed a fake, then the first mentioning of Skoczów as oppidum Scocoviense is from 1327 when Duke Casimir I became a vassal of the King of Bohemia. The term oppidum (used also for Jamnica preceding Frýdek) was used in contrary to civitates ruling themselves under German rights of Cieszyn, Bielsko and…

Geography

Skoczów lies in the southern part of Poland, approximately north-east of the county seat, Cieszyn, west of Bielsko-Biała, south-west of the regional capital Katowice, and east of the border with the Czech Republic. It lies on the confluence of the river Bładnica into the Vistula, reaching up to roughly above sea level (in the west, on the eastern slopes of the Górka Wilamowicka hill), down to above sea level (the lowest point of the Vistula valley), in the Silesian Foothills, north-west of the Silesian Beskids;

Most-observed species

• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,568
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,430
• Caspian Gull

  Larus cachinnans Pallas, 1811 · Aves
  1,320
• Great Cormorant/European Shag

  Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,239
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,198
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,162
• Black-headed Gull

  Chroicocephalus ridibundus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,158
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,145

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2026-04-09
  1 km WNW of Radlin, Poland
• M 2.9 — 2025-04-29
  4 km WSW of Bytom, Poland
• M 3.2 — 2025-01-27
  1 km NE of Radlin, Poland
• M 2.9 — 2024-07-11
  4 km N of Jejkowice, Poland
• M 3 — 2023-10-04
  2 km W of Murcki, Poland
• M 2.8 — 2023-01-12
  2 km ENE of Karviná, Czechia