CIESZYN SILESIA

'Cieszyn Silesia' (Polish: ''Śląsk Cieszyński'', Czech: ''Těšínské Slezsko'' or ''Těšínsko'', German: ''Teschener Schlesien'') is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, between the Vistula and Oder rivers. It covers the area between the north-western part of the Carpathians, Oświęcim Valley, part of the Silesian Valley and eastern Sudetes. The historical boundaries of the region are identical to those of the independent Duchy of Cieszyn. Currently most of Cieszyn Silesia forms one of the euroregions, the ''Euroregion Cieszyn Silesia''.

Contents

Geography

See also

References

Geography

The region is separated from the rest of Silesia (and Upper Silesia in particular) by Vistula river (the part beginning in Strumień), while from the region of Lesser Poland by Biała river and Barania Góra mountain, the highest peak of the Polish part of the region (1,220 metres a.s.l.). The highest peak of the region is Lysá hora (1,324 m) in the Czech part. It also borders Slovakia through the Polom mountain range (Jablunkov Pass around Mosty u Jablunkova) and with Czech Moravia across the rivers Ostravice and Oder. Geographically the area of Cieszyn Silesia is further subdivided onto:

★ Silesian Hills (''Pogórze Śląskie'')

★ Silesian Beskids (''Beskid Śląski'', ''Slezské Beskydy''), without Szczyrk neighbourhood

★ Moravian-Silesian Beskids (eastern part; ''Moravskoslezské Beskydy'', ''Beskid Morawsko-Śląski'')

★ Moravian Gate (northern part; ''Moravská brána'', ''Brama morawska'')

★ Oświęcim Valley (western part; ''Kotlina oświęcimska'', ''Osvětimská kotlina'')
Major towns of the region include Cieszyn and Bielsko (western part of Bielsko-Biała), as well as Czechowice-Dziedzice, Skoczów, Ustroń, Wisła and Strumień. The Czech part of the region includes Ostrava (eastern part of the town called ''Slezská Ostrava''), Karviná (and in past Fryštát - nowadays a district of Karviná), Frýdek-Místek (eastern part of the city, that is ''Frýdek''), Havířov, Český Těšín, Jablunkov, Třinec and Bohumín.

See also

★ Cieszyn Silesian dialect

References

★ Korzenie Zaolzia, , Stanisław, Zahradnik, PAI-press, ,