Tuchola

Tuchola is a town located by as many as three rivers, namely Brda, Hozjanna, and Kicza, in the western part of the Tuchola Forest.

It is likely that the town was granted its borough rights as early as in the 13^th Century, although a documented foundation charter was issued in 1346, by a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, under Chełm law. A castle with defensive walls, surrounded by a system of moats, was built near Tuchola, and it soon became the seat of a Teutonic commander. After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466, Tuchola became a royal city and a starosty. In 1623, the city was granted to Constance, the second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa. After the Swedish Deluge, the town started to fall into decline. In 1772, following the first Partition of Poland, the town was incorporated in the territory under Prussian rule, and became part of the district of Chojnice. At the time, it had only 490 residents, which made it one of the smallest towns in the region of Pomerania. In 1920, Tuchola was incorporated into the territory of independent Poland.

Among some of the most significant historic monuments preserved in the town, you can see an outline of the original urban arrangement of the Old Town dating back to the 14^th Century – intersecting perpendicular streets with a large market square in the middle, remnants of the defensive walls from the 14^th and 15^th Centuries, fragments of a Teutonic castle from the 14^th Century, and a railway station from 1883.

In Tuchola, you will also find the following cultural institutions: Tucholski Ośrodek Kultury (Culture Centre), Muzeum Borów Tucholskich (Museum of the Tuchola Forest), and Muzeum Indian Północnoamerykańskich (Museum of Northern American Indians). Tuchola is the birthplace of Tomasz Glazik, a jazz musician, saxophone player and clarinettist, as well as a composer and producer.