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English: Cieszyn is a border-town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Region. It is located within the western Silesian Foothills north of the Silesian Beskids and Mount Czantoria Wielka, a popular ski resort. The town lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Republic's Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region. Both towns belonged to the historical region of Austrian Silesia and are the historical capital of the region of Cieszyn/Těšín Silesia. Cieszyn combines both Polish and Old–Austrian peculiarities in the style of its buildings. Because of several major fires and subsequent reconstructions (the last one in the late eighteenth century), the picturesque old town is sometimes called Little Vienna. The only relics of the ancient castle are the square Piast Castle Tower (Wieża Piastowska) dating from the fourteenth century and the eleventh century romanesque St Nicholas' Chapel (Kaplica św Mikołaja, a rotunda. The Museum of Cieszyn Silesia in the former Larisch family palace (Pałac Laryszów) was the first museum in Poland.

The area has been populated by Slavic peoples since at least the seventh century. According to legend, in 810 three sons of a prince - Bolko, Leszko and Cieszko, met here after a long pilgrimage, found a spring, and decided to found a new settlement. They called it Cieszyn, from the words cieszym się ("I'm happy"). This well can be found at ulica Trzech Braci ("Three Brothers Street"), just west of the town square. From 1290 the town was the capital of the Duchy of Teschen and was ruled by the Piast dynasty until 1653 and by the Habsburg Dynasty of Austria until 1918. It was in Teschen that Maria Theresa and Frederick II in May 1779 signed the Teschen Peace Treaty, which put an end to the War of the Bavarian Succession. In the nineteenth century Teschen was known for its ethnic, religious and cultural diversity, containing mostly German, Polish, Jewish and Czech communities, plus a small Hungarian community consisting mostly of officers and clerks. Until the end of World War I in 1918 Teschen was a seat of the Dukes of Teschen. The town was divided in July 1920, by the Spa Conference, a body formed by the Versailles Treaty, leaving a Polish minority on the Czechoslovak side. After 1920 many ethnic Germans left the town, while many Poles from the Czechoslovakian part of the region moved in. Its smaller western suburbs became what is now the town of Český Těšín in the Czech Republic. During the interwar period two villages were merged into Cieszyn: Błogocice in 1923 and Bobrek in 1932. Cieszyn and Český Těšín were merged again in October 1938 when Poland annexed the Zaolzie area together with Český Těšín. In 1939 Cieszyn Silesia was occupied by German forces and during World War II it was part of Nazi Germany. Almost the entire Jewish community was murdered by the Nazis. After World War II, the border between Poland and Czechoslovakia was restored to that of 1920. The town's German inhabitants fled or were expelled, and signs of German presence in the town were obliterated.

The Scotch Mist Gallery contains many photographs of historic buildings, monuments and memorials of Poland.