Halicz

Halicz, a town of Austria, in Galicia, 70 m. by rail S.S.E. of Lemberg. Pop. (1900), 4809. It is situated at the confluence of the Luckow with the Dniester and its principal resources are the recovery of salt from the neighbouring brine wells, soap-making and the trade in timber. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of the old castle, the seat of the ruler of the former kingdom from which Galicia derived its Polish name. Halicz, which is mentioned in annals as early as 1113, was from 1141 to 1255 the residence of the princes of that name, one of the principalities into which western Russia was then divided. The town was then much larger, as is shown by excavations in the neighbourhood made during the 19th century, and probably met its doom during the Mongol invasion of 1240. In 1349 it was incorporated in the kingdom of Poland.