Every design for Chrzanów

Have you ever noticed how quickly the streets give way to forest in Chrzanów? Pine woods and Carpathian beech surround the town, the Chechło cuts a valley through the low Jurassic ridge it stands on, and the wet ground to the north, east and south is home to deer, elk, beavers and otters. Daily life moves between two kinds of street: the blocks of Osiedle Młodości, which everyone simply calls Południe, and the villa quarters of Kąty, Stara Huta, Borowiec and Kościelec.

What makes Chrzanów unusual is how much of its fortune came out of the ground. Burghers mined and smelted ore here themselves, a customs house handled cattle bound for Silesia, and one king after another granted the town extra fairs. The Ligęza family held it for more than two centuries; later came the Ossolińskis and the Loewenfelds, whose chapel, Kaplica rodziny Loewenfeldów, still stands. The Muzeum imienia Ireny i Mieczysława Mazarakich w Chrzanowie and Dom Urbańczyka keep the town's memory, while Szyb „Józef” kopalni Matylda recalls its mining years.

Coming home means passing the old steam engine, parowóz Ty42-118, and knowing the rest of the way without having to think about it.