Szydłów

Poland, Poland

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Szydłów is a small historic town in southern Poland's Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in Staszów County, located along a medieval trade route near the Vistula River, known as the "Polish Carcassonne" for its exceptionally well-preserved 14th-century fortifications.

First mentioned in 1191 and granted Średzkie town rights on July 1, 1329, by King Władysław Łokietek, it flourished under Casimir the Great, who around 1355 built a stone Church of St. Ladislaus, a royal castle with a knight's hall and defensive bastion, and encircled the town with 1080-meter-long limestone walls featuring three gates—of which only the Renaissance-rebuilt Kraków Gate survives—plus a moat for protection.

A royal seat hosting King Władysław Jagiełło 17 times for justice sessions, it thrived with Jewish settlers and artisans until losing city status in 1869 amid partitions and wars, regaining it in 2019 while preserving Gothic churches, a 16th-century synagogue, castle ruins now housing a museum, and 700 meters of walls as key attractions.