INOWROCLAW

town, Bydgoszcz wojewdztwo (province), north central Poland, in the Kujawy region. First mentioned in 1185 as a trading settlement, the town lay on an ancient trade route between southern Europe and the Baltic Sea. It became capital of the autonomous principality of Kujawy, having allegiance to the Polish crown in the 15th century. An industrial town with good road and rail connections, Inowroclaw has salt deposits that provide one-sixth of Poland's needs and that have established the town as a health spa. They also are the basis of a chemical industry there. The 12th-century Church of the Blessed Virgin contains some of Poland's oldest sculpture. Pop. (1982 est.) 66,500.