or simply Gorzów (formerly German: Landsberg an der Warthe), is a city in western Poland, located on the Warta River.

[1] The city has a history dating back to the 13th century and serves as a cultural, economic, and industrial hub in the region.

Gorzów Wielkopolski is home to several historical landmarks, green spaces, and educational institutions, and is known for its strong tradition in speedway racing.

[2] The name appeared in a compendium called Ancient Poland according to its history, geography and statistics published in 1848 by Samuel Orgelbrand in Warsaw.

Ten years earlier, in 1838, the same name Gorzew was used in a book published in Paris with a corresponding yet broader title encompassing all of Poland.

The word Wielkopolski means "Greater Polish", after the voivodeship of that name of which Gorzów was a part from 1946 to 1950, was added later.

[5] In 1249 the Silesian Duke Bolesław II Rogatka had sold Lubusz Land in the west to the Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg, and the city of Landisberch Nova (named after Altlandsberg) was founded on the site in 1257.

The city was at that time an eastern outpost of the newly established Neumark region of Brandenburg, close to the Greater Polish fortress of Santok.

Poland was to buy and re-incorporate Gorzów and the surrounding region,[7] but eventually the Luxembourgs sold the city to the Teutonic Order.

On 4 February 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars the Russian Ataman Aleksandr Chernichev and his Cossack troops defeated a French battalion of 1,500 men of Louis-Nicolas Davout's corps.

One of the main escape routes for surviving insurgents of the Polish November Uprising from partitioned Poland to the Great Emigration led through the city.

[4] In early 1945 during World War II the town was heavily damaged following the retreat of the Wehrmacht ahead of the Soviet Red Army.

Over the next few days, most of the city centre was destroyed, reportedly through the accidental spread of a fire started in order to light the westward march of the Red Army.

The largest of these is the Gothic, red brick Gorzów Cathedral of the Virgin Mary, dating from the end of the 13th century, situated on the old market square.

Many of the façades of the buildings in the centre were renovated in anticipation of the visit of Pope John Paul II to Gorzów in 1997.

The museum, housed inside, frequently plays host to art exhibitions and has a permanent collection of artifacts and photographs relating to the history of the city.

In recent years Gorzów Wielkopolski has been known for former Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, who was born and worked here.

After stepping down as the PM he was appointed as acting mayor of Warsaw and then as a counsel to a chairman of PKO BP bank.

In the postwar time, Gorzów saw a fast economic development, and new industries were founded like Stilon (chemical fibres), Silwana (fabrics), and Ursus (tractors) who remained major employers up to the mid-1990s.

After Leszek Balcerowicz's free-market reforms former state-owned companies either went bankrupt or had severe financial problems that resulted in radical employment and production reduction.

The then-German company established in Gorzów in 1993 (taken over by Japanese Sumitomo Electric in 2006), it operates in the Stilon industrial estate.

The festival is organised by Edward Dębicki, the founder of the Romani music group Terno, which also performs as part of the series of concerts.

Romane Dyvesa continues Gorzów's strong tradition of Romani culture, of which the most widely known member was the poet Bronisława Wajs, often known as Papusza.

Sports and Rehabilitation Centre "Słowianka" offers a 50 m Olympic pool, aqua park facilities, saunas, gym, massage and spa.

GTPS holds to a great tradition and has had many outstanding players with the best ever, Sebastian Świderski, born in Gorzów Wielkopolski.