page_title: Gorlice
section_title: Age of Partitions
hierarchical_section_title: Gorlice / History / Age of Partitions
caption_attribution_description: English: Austrian KK stamp issue III, linear cancelled at GORLICE (Galicia, Poland), Mueller type RL-I (2 letterings)
context_page_description: Gorlice is a city and an urban municipality in south eastern Poland with around 29,500 inhabitants. It is situated south east of Kraków and south of Tarnów between Jasło and Nowy Sącz in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, previously in Nowy Sącz Voivodeship. It is the capital of Gorlice County.
context_section_description: As a result of the first Partition of Poland (Treaty of St-Petersburg dated 5 July 1772), the town area was attributed to the Habsburg Empire (for more details, read the article Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria). In 1806, the Austrian government sold the town to a local nobleman, Jan Nepomucen Stadnicki of Roznow. 
  Until 1918, the town remained part of the Austria side (Cisleithania) after the compromise of 1867, head (since 1865) of the county with the same name, one of the 78 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Austrian Galicia province (Crown land). By mid-19th century, the population of Gorlice was some 4000. The town entered the period of its prosperity after its 1854–1858 resident Ignacy Lukasiewicz invented the kerosene lamp in 1853. In a few years, sprawling oil wells emerged in Gorlice, and the town was called the cradle of Polish oil industry; its rapid industrialization was spurred with the construction of a railroad (1883).
  By early 20th century, the population of Gorlice grew to 6000, but its development was halted by World War I. The city was the focal point of the German Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive during World War I, in May 1915. Extremely heavy and prolonged fighting took place here, Gorlice frequently changed hands, and as a result, the town was completely destroyed. Hence the "Gorlice fair" or "Gorlice days" held every year during the May Bank Holidays and adjoining days, which are enjoyed by many visitors both domestic and from abroad.
caption: Austrian KK stamp issue 1861, cancelled GORLICE
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