Stary Sącz has a longer history than many a kingdom, yet it is usually told in official language: dry, full of dates and footnotes. We wanted to do it differently – the way an old chronicler might tell it by the fireside. Hence the gently old-fashioned storytelling in the chapters and the warm tone of the descriptions.
How the texts were written
They are based on facts compiled from the academic and regional publications listed in the bibliography: above all the Atlas historyczny miast polskich, the two-volume Historia Starego Sącza, and articles from “Almanach Sądecki” and “Rocznik Sądecki”. Each chapter ends with a list of the sources it draws on.
Storytelling is no excuse for a lack of rigour. That is why our texts distinguish between:
- facts – told in the ordinary narrative;
- traditions and legends – in blue boxes headed “As legend has it”;
- disputed matters – in red boxes headed “Scholars disagree”, where the sources give different dates or versions.
The colours of the eras
Each of the seven eras has its own colour – the same in the chapters, the timeline, the monuments map and the gallery. Brown ochre stands for prehistory, the blue of the coat of arms for the age of Kinga, crimson for the late Middle Ages, bottle green for the early modern period, Galician gold for the Austrian partition, graphite for the years of war, and the blue of the Poprad for recent times.
What we still don’t know
The chronicle has blank spots, and we have no wish to paint over them with invention. Among other things, we are looking for:
- the names of the mayors from 1867–1918 and of the chairmen of the national councils in the communist era;
- a full list of the Poor Clare abbesses with the dates of their rule;
- a full list of the 28 villages in the foundation charter of 1280;
- data from the 1931 census;
- information about the Home Army (AK) outpost in the town and about the fate of the convent in 1939–1945;
- confirmation of the visit of John III Sobieski with Marysieńka in December 1683.
If you have knowledge, documents or old photographs that might help – write to us. Every addition will be published with its source credited.
What’s next
The site will keep growing. The story can already be read in Polish, English, German, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Ukrainian, and a guide to the attractions of Stary Sącz is in preparation.