Across Poland and Europe: grudnia 2014

Last summer I had the pleasure of guiding several groups across Poland; two of them for the French-speaking visitors. The range of the visits was pretty big yet it seemed to be focused more on the south-eastern parts of Poland. The usual reason is the popularity of such destinations in Poland like Cracow or Auschwitz.

However, my foreign tourists were acquainted with different regions and their particular historic sites which included the Hanseatic city of Gdańsk in the North

1. Gdańsk

The Royal Chapel against St. Mary's Church (the biggest brick church in the world)

The river Motława (Mottlau) and the Grand Crane from 14 c.

The souvenir from the Soviets who destroyed the city of Gdańsk in March 1945

Danzig female citizens against the Green Gate

Giant drums - opening of the St. Dominic Fair

The Filharmonic Hall directly on the Motlawa River

The Filharmonic Hall in the former power plant

2. The Teutonic relic in Malbork - the castle of Marienburg:

Central heating

Cannon balls

elements of the castle complex

3. The medieval city of Toruń (Thorn)

The view from the river Vistula

Relics of the ramparts with modern art additions

One of the streets paved with the coats of arms of other Hanseatic cities

Königsberg

The ceiling of the St. Johns' Church

Astronomic Observatory of the Copernicus University in Toruń

4. The capital city of Great Poland (Großpolen) - Poznań

The Townhall with two goats appearing at noon


Town Hall

The Poznań Art Nouveau - one of many residential houses

5. The capital city of Lower Silesia (Niederschlesien) - Wrocław (Breslau)

The Love Bridge on the Odra River

One of the city pavements

The Wrocław Town Hall

6. The royal city of Kraków (Cracow)

Wawel - the Royal Castle

The Cracow Art Nouveau

The relic of an entrance

One of many such sights

Some views off the beaten track

A very common sign in Kraków - the Saints' Trail

The famous historic Cloth Market

in the city

The old university - Collegium Maius

7. The nazi camp of Auschwitz (Oświęcim)

The Death Wall

The Israelis usually walk about with their own guides, which is not allowed for any other groups

Birkenau

Birkenau - the latrine

8. A day trip off Kraków into the mountains:

The border river of Dunajec - on the frontier with the Slovak Republic

A trip by special boats

One of many mountain spas

The place where the healing source water is served

9. Once in Kraków, a visit to the salt mine is a must:

The church located deepest in Europe - 80 m under the earth level

made all of salt crystals

The wooden supports

10. The tiny Old Town in Sandomierz

a secret passage in the ramparts for the medieval monks

The only place in Poland where you can buy the striped flint

A very interesting painting in the local cathedral

The painting described above

St. John Nepomuk at the foot of the cathedral

11. The capital of Eastern Poland - Lublin

Old Town - The Lublin version of Renaissance


In Lublin, the Old Town is tiny but ORIGINAL - not destroyed in WW II


Medieval chapel with Bysantine frescoes in the Lublin Castle

A gothic ceiling in one of the churches

Lublin Castle

Lublin is home to once the only Catholic University in Poland.


a view into the yard


JP II used to be the lecturere here

the entrance

12. A short trip outside Lublin brings you to a magnificent Zamoyski family Palace in the village of Kozłówka


A peacock in the garden against the museum of Socialist Art

The interior

The park

13. The Reneissance former private town of Zamość (Zamo)

The Reneissance ceiling in the Zamośc Catahedral

14. A small border town of Włodawa, located directly on the wild Bug river. The town featured the existence of three religions that used to coexist before the war. Now only two remained.

The frontier on the Bug River with Belaruss, in the background the towers of the catholic baroque church run by the convent of the Paulins

The st. Lodovico church

The church inside

the Russian orthodox church

The synagogue - now a museum

15. On the way to Warsaw it is possible to stay in a little town located on the Vistula River; a popular destination for the artists who run there their small art galleries.
Kazimierz nad Wisłą

The town was founded in the 14 c. by the king of Poland, Kazimierz Wielki - Casimir le Grand (the Great), the one who first invited the Jews to Poland from all over Europe where they had been persecuted

The catholic church in Kazimierz

A fairly new Hotel Kazimierz Wielki

The Jews come there often

16. The capital of Poland - Warszawa (Warsaw).

The modern look

The sunrise view of the centre of the city with its infamous Palace of Culture presented by the "Soviet Brothers" after the WW II, now surrounded by the latest style office buildings trying to hide the controversial gift