Łowicz

Infobox Settlement
name = Łowicz


imagesize = 250px
image_caption = Łowicz cathedral

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image_shield = POL Łowicz COA.svg
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = bottom
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = POL
subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship
subdivision_name1 = Łódź
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Łowicz County
subdivision_type3 = Gmina
subdivision_name3 = Łowicz (urban gmina)
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Krzysztof Kaliński
established_title = Established
established_date = before 1136
established_title3 = Town rights
established_date3 = before 1298
area_total_km2 = 23.41
population_as_of = 2006
population_total = 30204
population_density_km2 = auto
timezone = CET
utc_offset = +1
timezone_DST = CEST
utc_offset_DST = +2
latd = 52 | latm = 6 | lats = | latNS = N | longd = 19 | longm = 56 | longs = | longEW = E
postal_code_type = Postal code
postal_code = 99-400 to 99-402
area_code = +48 46
blank_name = Car plates
blank_info = ELC
website = http://www.lowicz.eu/ Łowicz [IPA-pl|'|ł|o|w|i|cz] is a town in central Poland with 30,383 inhabitants (2004). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975-1998).

Łowicz was a residence of Polish primates. When they were regents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town became a temporary "capital" of Poland during interregnum. As a result, it has a bishop and a basilica despite its small size. The ruins of a former bishop's castle can be found on the outskirts and the town has an important ethnographic museum and skansen with traditional houses. Napoleon Bonaparte is believed to have stayed in a house on the main square and the town was at the centre of the largest battle of the German invasion of Poland, the Battle of the Bzura River.

Near the town is the first welded road bridge in the world built across the river Słudwia Maurzyce in 1929. It was designed by Stefan Bryła of the Warsaw University of Technology in 1927. [cite web|url=http://www.weldinghistory.org/whistoryfolder/welding/wh_1900-1950.html|title=Welding Timeline 1900-1950|last=Sapp|first=Mark E.|date=Feb 22, 2008|publisher=WeldingHistory.org|accessdate=2008-04-29]

The town also has Muzeum w Łowiczu (Museum in Lowicz) exhibiting Polish art and historical artifacts from the region. An open air 17-hectare site outside of town displays a collection of historical structures depicting traditional Polish village life. [cite web|url=http://muzeum.low.pl/english.htm|title=Museum in Lowicz - The History and the Collections|publisher=Muzeum Łowicz|accessdate=2008-04-30]

It has a football team, Pelikan, who languish in the lower divisions of the Polish leagues.

Education

* Mazowiecka Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Pedagogiczna

Twin towns

*flagicon|USAflagicon|New York Cheektowaga, New York, USA
*flagicon|GER Colditz, Germany
*flagicon|POL Lubliniec, Poland
*flagicon|FRA Montoire-sur-le-Loir, France
*flagicon|POL Reda, Poland
*flagicon|LTU Šalčininkai, Lithuania

References

External links

* [http://www.lowicz.eu Official site]