Польшаның алтын қаласы: Злоторыя тарихы

Złotoryja (; Goldberg, ; Latin: Aureus Mons, Aurum) is a historic town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland, the administrative seat of Złotoryja County, and of the smaller Gmina Złotoryja. Having been granted town privileges in 1211, Złotoryja is the oldest town in Poland. Since the Middle Ages, it was a centre of gold and copper mining. Złotoryja was also featured among the most beautiful towns in Poland due to its location and architectural heritage.

The town is located in the historic Lower Silesia region on the right bank of the Kaczawa river, about southwest of Legnica. In the south, the Kaczawskie Mountains stretch up to the Krkonoše range of the Western Sudetes. Currently Złotoryja has approximately 16,000 inhabitants and is one of the important centres of basalt mining.

During its long existence Złotoryja was referred to by various names. Since the Middle Ages it was referred to as either Aurum (Latin for "gold"), Aureus Mons ("Golden Mountain"), Goldberg (German for "Golden Mountain") or by its Polish name. Złotoryja in Polish literally means "gold digging", referring to historic gold panning sites on the Kaczawa river.

The coat of arms features a black eagle of the Silesian Piast dynasty standing over three green hills, with the golden background. Its heraldic blazon is "Or, an eagle displayed sable on a base three invected vert". It has been used since the 15th century. The flag features both of the heraldic colours of the coat of arms. It consists of two stripes: golden (yellow) above green.

In the early Middle Ages the region was inhabited by the tribe of Trzebowianie, one of the Polish tribes, and in the 10th century the area was included in the emerging Polish state. In the late 12th century and early 13th century a small settlement of gold miners was founded on the slopes of Mount St. Nicholas (Góra św. Mikołaja), located at the shores of the Kaczawa river. The village grew rapidly and in 1211 it was documented as Aurum and vested with town rights according to Magdeburg law by the Piast duke Henry I the Bearded, the first city throughout then fragmented Poland and plausibly the first Silesian town with German institutions and German settlers. Henry I financed the construction of the St. Mary's Church, which was later expanded and is now one of the town's landmarks. In the 13th century a Hospitaller and Franciscan monastery were founded in the town, which thus became one of the important cultural and religious centres of the region. During the first Mongol invasion of Poland, in 1241 many of the miners took part in the Battle of Legnica, where most of them died, but the mining quickly recovered. During the ongoing fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies, in 1248 the town was attached to the newly established Duchy of Legnica and in 1290 was granted with a privilege to trade salt, one of the most expensive and valuable minerals in the Middle Ages. In 1329, under the rule of Duke Bolesław III the Generous, the whole Duchy of Legnica became a fief of the Kingdom of Bohemia under King John the Blind, yet it retained its local self government. During the 15th century Hussite Wars the town was captured by the Hussite forces in 1427, 1428 and 1431. It was severely pillaged, but it quickly recovered and the local city council decided to build city walls in order to spare the city such troubles in the future. Much of the mediaeval fortifications is preserved until today.

During World War II, the Germans created two branches of the Stalag VIII A prisoner of war camp and two forced labour camps in the town. The town survived the war almost untouched. In February 1945 it was captured by the forces of the Red Army 2nd Ukrainian Front under Ivan Konev. Following the decisions of the Potsdam conference, in May it was transferred back to Poland and renamed by Poles to the historic Polish Złotoryja. By 1949 most of local German inhabitants either fled or were expelled per the Potsdam Agreement. A large number of them were admeasured to refugee camps and settled later, mostly in the federal state Northrhine Westphalia in West Germany. In the nearby villages of Wilków and Nowy Kościół two important copper mines were founded and a large number of local engineers also participated in the development of the industrial region of Legnica. However, in the early 1970s the mines were closed down because ore deposits of much higher quality were found around Lubin. Many factories were founded, including a shoe factory, Christmas tree ornaments factory and a basalt mine. Since 1989 the town of Złotoryja started to look for its past. The historical old town was restored and the traditions of gold mining were started. In 1992 a local Polish Guild of Gold Prospectors was started, which ever since organises the Polish Gold Panning Championships. In 2000 World Championships were held there. Currently the town is one of the main tourist centres of the area. The heavy industry is also playing an important part in the development of the area. The local quarries are ones of the most profitable in Poland and the Christmas tree ornaments factory is exporting millions of ornaments every year, mostly to Western Europe and the United States.