Łowicz Cathedral

The Diocese of Łowicz (Latin: Dioecesis Lovicensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Łowicz in the ecclesiastical province of Łódż in Poland. Its cathedral, the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nicholas, stands as one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated November 13, 2012. This listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland. In 2014, it became the first and for now the only one Polish diocese since a very long time where no deacon was ordinated a priest. About 31.3% of all Catholics in the diocese attend Sunday mass, which is lower than the average for the Polish nation as of 2013.

Łowicz [ˈwɔvʲit͡ʂ] is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into two directions—towards Poznań, and Łódź. Also, the station Łowicz Main is connected through a secondary-importance line with Skierniewice. Łowicz was a residence of Polish primates in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. They served as regents when the town became a temporary "capital" of Poland during the interregnum. As a result, Łowicz has its own bishop and a Cathedral Basilica in spite of its considerably small size. The Cathedral Basilica is designated a Historic Monument of Poland, and the ruins of a former bishop's castle can be found on the outskirts of town. Also, the town was at the centre of the largest battle of the German invasion of Poland, the Battle of the Bzura River, in the opening campaign of World War II. Łowicz has an important ethnographic museum (Muzeum w Łowiczu) exhibiting Polish art and historical artifacts from the region. Also, Łowicz features a popular skansen with traditional wooden houses. It is a vast open-air display of historical structures depicting traditional Polish village-life; a collection of artifacts spread over a 17-hectare (42 acre) site, just outside the town. Łowicz is a prominent site of food production, i.e. fruit and vegetable preserves and dairy products, popular in Poland and abroad. Near the town is the Maurzyce Bridge, the first welded road-bridge in the world, built in 1928 across the river Słudwia. It was designed in 1927 by Stefan Bryła from the Lwów University of Technology.

The Battle of Łowicz on August 25, 1656 between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Khanate commanded by Stefan Czarniecki on one side, and on the other Swedish forces commanded by Hans Böddeker. Polish-Tatar forces won the battle.

Łowicz County (Polish: powiat łowicki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and only town is Łowicz, which lies 48 kilometres (30 mi) north-east of the regional capital Łódź. The county covers an area of 987.13 square kilometres (381.1 sq mi). As of 2006, its total population was 82,338, out of which the population of Łowicz was 30,204, and the rural population was 52,134.

Gmina Łowicz is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. Its seat is the town of Łowicz, although the town is not part of the territory of the gmina. The gmina covers an area of 133.38 square kilometres (51.5 sq mi), and as of 2006 its total population is 7,444.

Małszyce [mau̯ˈʂɨt͡sɛ] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łowicz, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland.

Urbańszczyzna [urbaɲʂˈt͡ʂɨzna] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łowicz, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland.

Jastrzębia [jasˈtʂɛmbja] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łowicz, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland.

Klewków [ˈklɛfkuf] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łowicz, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland.

Wygoda [vɨˈɡɔda] is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łowicz, within Łowicz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland.

Słudwia is a river in Central Poland. Its source is located near the village of Długołęka. The river flows for 46.1 kilometres (28.6 mi) through the Kutno Plains, before joining the Bzura near the town of Łowicz. Its drainage basin area is 649 square kilometres (251 mi2). The river is best known for the 1928 Maurzyce Bridge built across it, the first welded road bridge in the world, designed by Stefan Bryła.