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Opole

City: Opole

Country: REPUBLIC OF POLAND

    Address: Urząd Miasta Opola Rynek-Ratucz Opole, 45-015 POLSKA

Official page: opole.pl 

Cooperation agreement: 18.04.2005

    Opole is a medium-sized city located on the Odra River in southern Poland on the border with the Czech Republic and Germany. The city is the capital of Opole Voivodeship. The linear distance from Ivano-Frankivsk to Opole is 526 km.

    Opole received the Magdeburg right to self-government before 1217 during the reign of Casimir I. The population of the city according to the 2004 census is 127 thousand people.

    The name of the city of Opole comes from the historical Polish word "Opole", which means the main organizational unit of the Slavic tribe. According to another version, the name of the city comes from the word "field". The leader of one tribe got lost in a dense forest while hunting, and when after a few days he came across a settlement of people, he joyfully exclaimed: "Oh! Field!" (O, pole!). And later ordered to build a city on this site. Opole is famous primarily as a city where the Polish Song Festival is held annually in June since 1963.

    Travelers to Opole should see the historic churches and monasteries (with fragments dating back to 1280), the burial of princes of the Piast dynasty, as well as the majestic tower, the ruins of the castle, dismantled by the Germans in 1930.

    The stone houses, surrounding the market, date back to the 16th century. The town hall, originally built in the Gothic style, in the 20th century was rebuilt on the model of the town hall in Florence. The cathedral and the monastery complex of the Franciscans enrich the architectural style of the city with strict Gothic. Today, the oldest stone house in the city, built in a mixed Gothic and Renaissance style, houses the Museum of Opole Silesia.

    Opole is the capital of the region and a European city. In April 2000, the City Government received the Council of Europe's Plaque of Honor for organizing and conducting various events promoting the integration of European cities.