Szprotawa

Poland, Poland

---

Szprotawa is a town in western Poland's Lubusz Voivodeship, situated at the confluence of the Bóbr and Szprotawa rivers, with around 11,800 residents and a history tied to medieval Piast Poland.

First mentioned in 1000 during Emperor Otto III's pilgrimage and granted town rights around 1260 by Duke Konrad I of Głogów—who built its initial walls—it grew as a trade hub amid German Ostsiedlung settlement, later becoming a Bohemian fief in 1331 under Polish Piast rule, passing to Habsburgs after 1526, Prussia in 1742, and Poland post-1945 following near-total WWII destruction and German expulsion.

Notable for remnants of 14th-century defensive walls with gates and a castle expanded in the 15th century—destroyed in 1642 Swedish siege—it features landmarks like the 18th-century Evangelical Church (former castle), the ancient Chrobry Oak (Poland's oldest at 750 years), and the Buczyna Szprotawska nature reserve amid its forested surroundings.