Every design for Nowy Sącz

Nowy Sącz sits on the flat floor of the Kotlina Sądecka, where the Kamienica meets the Dunajec, ringed on every side by high ground: the Beskid Sądecki to the south, the Beskid Wyspowy to the west, a narrow strip of the Beskid Niski to the east and the Pogórze Rożnowskie to the north. Jezioro Rożnowskie lies a short way off, and the hills are never out of sight.

What sets the town apart is how many peoples have called it theirs. It has been Neu Sandez in German, Újszandec in Hungarian and Tsanz in Yiddish, and its landmarks still carry traces of each: the Cerkiew pw. Świętego Dymitra, the Grób cadyka Chaima ben Arie Lejb Halberstama and the walls of the Zamek Królewski w Nowym Sączu, built by Casimir the Great. Daily life has its own rhythm in the basin, too. The same hills that shelter the town keep the air still in winter, and locals know the hazy heating-season days all too well.

Today it is the largest town in the Beskid Sądecki and the capital of the Sądecczyzna. If you have ever come home over the hills and seen the rivers meet below, you already know what this map is for.