Opole is a city in southern Poland on the Oder River (Odra). It has a population of 125,992 (June 2009) and is the capital of the Opole Voivodeship, and also the seat of Opole County. It is the historical capital of Upper Silesia.
Opole's history begins in the 8th century. It this time, according to the archeological excavations [1], the first Slavic settlement was founded on the Ostrówek - the northern part of the Pasieka island in the middle of the Odra river. In the early 10th century it developed into one of the main gróds of the Slavic Opolanie. At the end of the century Silesia became part of Poland and was ruled by the Piast dynasty; the land of the pagan Opolanie was conquered by Duke Mieszko I in 992. From the 11th-12th centuries it was also a castellany. (more)