Lodz description, location, history. Poland map.

Lodz description, location, history. Poland map.

Łódź is the capital of Łódzkie Voivodeship (Province) located in the Łódź Upland. The city is situated at the altitude from 162 m (river Ner valley) to 278 meters above sea level (around the old village Stare Moskule). The ground on which the city is located slopes downward from the North-East to the South-West, in accordance with the inclination of the west slope of Garb Łódzki. 18 bigger and smaller rivers and streams flow across the city.

Łódź is the second largest city in Poland in terms of population and the fourth in terms of the size.

Until the end of the 17th century, Łódź was the property of Włocławek bishop and developed as a small agriculture town. It became a local trade and craft centre as eight mills were built and the workshops of wheelwrights, coppers, shoemakers, carpenters and butchers were established.

After the Swedish invasion in the middle of the 18th century, the town was destroyed and deserted. After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Łódź belonged to Prussia.

A tariff wall and a state of stagnation were the result of the defeat of the November Uprising. The improvement of the economic situation in the second half of the 19th century was possible thanks to the development of the local market, the establishment of the railway connection to Koluszki on Warsaw-Vienna rail line. Łódź became a city of great opportunities, especially for the Poles, Germans, Jews and Russians.