Lipnica Murowana is located along the
Uszwica river valley, among the hills of the
Island Beskids. First Slavic settlements here date back to the early
Middle Ages, and according to parish documents from 1781, first Roman Catholic church was established here in 1141, but this has not been confirmed by any other sources. It is not known when Lipnica or Lipnik, as it was called, was granted
Magdeburg rights. Most likely this happened in 1319 or 1326, during the reign of
Ladislaus the Short. By 1326, Lipnik had a
schultheiss named Konrad, and a typical medieval
grid plan, with a market square and town hall. At that time, the area of Lipnik was app. 2500
hectares. The town was protected by a rampart and a moat, and by the 15th century, it had a council, headed by a
vogt. Lipnica was allowed to have two fairs a year, but in 1684 King
John III Sobieski gave permission for two more fairs. The town prospered due to its location along a busy merchant route from
Kraków to
Hungary. In the 16th century, it was the 19th largest town of the province of
Lesser Poland, despite having burned in a 1520 fire. The period of prosperity for Lipnica ended in the 1650s, when, during the catastrophic
Swedish invasion of Poland (known as the "Deluge"), the town was captured and burned to the ground by Swedes and Transilvanians. Lipnica has never recovered from the destruction, and gradually lost its importance. Following the
first partition of Poland (1772), Lipnica was annexed by the
Habsburg Empire, and remained in Austrian
Galicia until 1918. During Austrian rule, Lipnica further declined, and its residents lived in widespread poverty. In early months of
World War I, the area of Lipnica witnessed heavy fighting between Russian and Austro-Hungarian troops (see
Battle of Galicia). The town was destroyed, and after the frontline had moved eastwards, local residents starved. In 1918, Lipnica became part of Krakow Voivodeship,
Second Polish Republic. On July 1, 1934, it lost its town charter, and the mayor was replaced by the voigt. ==References==