Pilica River Valley in Sulejowski Landscape Park

Sulejów is one of the oldest settlements on the Pilica River. Its origins date back to the 10th century. However, the first mentions of Sulejów date back to the mid-12th century. Sulejów was known at that time under the names: Dulugov, Siliev, Sulev and Syrie[1.1]. Initially, Sulejów was a princely settlement (marketplace) with a customs collection point. Legend attributes the name of the town to Sulej, a knight who in the 11th century was supposed to have his ancestral home here. The development of the early settlement was probably related to its location in the Pilica River valley and the collection of tolls. There was a customs house on the river. Such a location must have had strategic significance. It was here that important trade routes crossed. The first of them led from Kraków to Toruń, constituting a part of the route leading from Hungary through Kraków to the Baltic Sea (the so-called Hungarian-Baltic route). The second one led from Kazimierz Dolny through Radom, Opoczno Sulejów to Piotrków, Widawa, Kępno with a branch towards Kalisz. These roads were for many years the main trade routes. Hungarian merchants used this route to Scandinavia, carrying copper and salt. The original trading settlement with a marketplace was located on the right bank of the Pilica, right next to the later abbey. Sulejów received location rights from Duke Władysław Łokietek in 1279, and city rights in 1308.

An important role in the history of Sulejów was played by the Cistercian abbey, which received Sulejów and its surroundings with the foundation act of Casimir the Just "In ecclesia santi blassi", issued on 10 August 1176. The abbey quickly gained enormous wealth, but the residents of Sulejów did not benefit from it. There were frequent rebellions of the townspeople, which only resulted in an increase in the previous benefits. The Cistercians were responsible for the development of the town. The influx of people to the surrounding towns depended on their will. The abbot and the Cistercian brothers had the right to bring people of all professions and origins, except Jews, in order to practice their crafts. Jews were also not allowed to buy houses here. The abbots did not allow any factories to be built, which is why Sulejów, which had natural resources, did not develop. The town was poor and incompetent

The Swedish Deluge and the great fire of Sulejów in 1731 contributed to the significant destruction of the city and the impoverishment of its inhabitants. In 1793, Sulejów came under Prussian rule, and the army occupied the abbey and the city. Two years later, with the fall of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the monastery with the entire right bank of the Pilica came under Austrian rule, while the town of Sulejów came under Prussian rule. In 1819, the Cistercian monastery was dissolved, and Sulejów became a government city. In the 1730s, the city began to decline, lasting over 150 years. This led to a temporary loss of city rights in the years 1870-1927. Sulejów was incorporated into the collective rural commune of Łęczno, and from 1912 it was a separate commune, but still without city rights.