Szlaki województw śląskiego i opolskiego

Brzeg is a town located on the edge of the Grodków Plain, which is part of the Silesian Lowland. It is the seat of the Brzeg district. The town, through which the Oder river flows, is inhabited by about 35 thousand residents. The first mention of Brzeg as a market and fishing settlement dates from 1235. Brzeg obtained the location privilege of the Duke of Wrocław, Henry III the White, in 1248, along with the marking out of the town with defensive fortifications. Brzeg was settled by colonists, largely a German-speaking population from Saxony and Thuringia. From 1311, the town was the capital of the independent Duchy of Brzeg, separated from the Duchy of Legnica, which remained in the possession of the Piast dynasty line for the longest time. In the 18th century, Brzeg passed into the hands of the Kingdom of Prussia. In this period, along with the opening of tanneries, sugar factories, and other factories, the dynamic development of the town took place. In 1945, the town was taken over by the Red Army, which destroyed 70% of the urban fabric. After the end of World War II, Brzeg found itself within the borders of the Polish state, and its residents became repatriates from the Eastern Borderlands. The town contains a number of monuments, including the Renaissance Castle of the Silesian Piasts, known as the Silesian Wawel, the Gothic St. Nicholas Church, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church with illusionistic frescoes, and a market square with rebuilt tenement houses.