Every design for Tomaszów Mazowiecki

Tomaszów Mazowiecki sits on the banks of three rivers – the Pilica, the Wolbórka and the Czarna Bielina – near the Sulejów Reservoir and the edge of the Puszcza Spalska forest. It was founded in the eighteenth century by Count Tomasz Adam Ostrowski after iron ore was found here, and it took his name. Miners and metalworkers came first, weavers soon after, and the place advertised itself proudly as a factory town.

There is something stubborn and inventive in that story. The town received its charter during the November Uprising, saw clashes during the January Uprising and organised secret resistance under German occupation in the First World War. Before the Second World War it was also home to a large Jewish community. The Muzeum w Tomaszowie Mazowieckim m. Antoniego Hrabiego Ostrowskiego, the Kościół Świętej Trójcy and the Kościół Zbawiciela each keep part of that mixed inheritance. Today the town is also known for its year-round speed-skating rink, free public transport and the Love Polish Jazz festival.

And down by the water, the Skansen Rzeki Pilicy brings the river that started it all back into view – a good reason to keep this map close.