Pacanów [paˈt͡sanuf], sometimes referred to as the European Capital of Fable, is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in southern Poland.

The existence of the parish church was confirmed on August 1219 by the incumbent Bishop of Kraków Iwo Odrowąż, and in 1265, the village was granted Magdeburg rights by Prince Bolesław V the Chaste.

In the same period, a number of local villages were also granted town charters (Połaniec, Nowy Korczyn, Koprzywnica and Opatowiec).

The original charter of Pacanów has not been preserved, but in a document issued on February 26, 1603, King Sigismund III Vasa reconfirmed its town status.

By 1417, the town already had a parish school, and in 1433 in Nowy Korczyn, King Władysław II Jagiełło recognized its Magdeburg rights, allowing a number of fairs to be held there.

Following the German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied by Germany.

Once when Makuszyński and Walentynowicz were sitting in a coffee house in Kraków, they spotted a sad looking man sipping a drink at a nearby table.

It became a cult classic, popular since its creation till today, and becoming an important part of canon of Polish children's literature.

The comic has influenced many generations of Poles, and some of its phrases have penetrated into the Polish language itself, with expressions like 'w Pacanowie kozy kują' (In Pacanów, they shoe goats), 'pacan' and 'matoł' (slowpoke, dummy).