[1] Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace (380 metres (1,250 ft) in length),[2] it is a popular weekend destination for the residents of Warsaw.

Pułtusk was also the site of notable events, such as the Napoleon's 1806 battle, and the world's largest meteorite shower to date in 1868, among others.

In the Middle Ages, the Castle in Pułtusk was one of the most important defensive forts in northern Masovia against the attacks of Old Prussians and Lithuanians.

Due to a ford on the river located nearby, Pułtusk became an important centre of trade and commerce.

The town was granted a privileges of organizing nine grand fairs a year and two small markets a week.

In the 16th century the town was visited by many notable individuals, such as King Sigismund III Vasa, and poets Jan Kochanowski and Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski.

Although the town and the castle were initially conquered by Polish forces, they were later recaptured by the Swedish army, which looted and destroyed it.

The Polish forces of General Antoni Madaliński stationed in Pułtusk in 1794 declined to obey Prussian orders and started their march towards Kraków.

Only after the Danish crew of the ship remarked about the spelling of the name, this was corrected to Pultusk, with an icy comment from the emperor that "the French people didn't know their victories."

In 1831 Russian forces were carrying a cholera epidemic when they entered the town, resulting in high fatalities.

Afterwards the town was utterly destroyed and Russian officials sent many prominent citizens to Siberia and internal exile.

During the First World War Pultusk was the scene of another battle on 13 July 1915 when German forces attempted to cross the river Narew at Pułtusk.

[5] As a result of the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, Pułtusk was occupied by the Wehrmacht on September 7, 1939, and incorporated into Nazi Germany.

[9] During the German occupation, approximately 50% of the city's inhabitants, mostly Jews, were expelled or deported, some to Nazi concentration camps.

On December 17, 1942, the Gestapo carried out a public execution of four members of the Home Army, the leading Polish resistance organization.

[11] In the battle for Pułtusk during later World War II, over 16,000 soldiers of the Soviet Red Army were killed.

In the 21st century, descendants of Pułtusk Jewry are found mainly in Israel, the United States, Canada, and Argentina.