|  Gdańsk
– 458.000 inhabitants, 6th biggest city in Poland, Pomorskie Province (54.36°N,
18.64°E)
Famous citizens: Filip Clüver (geographer), Jan Hevelius
(astronomer), Gabriel D. Fahrenheit (physicist), Arthur Shoppenhauer (philosopher),
Günther Grass (writer – Nobel Price), Klaus Kinski (actor, born in Sopot) Lech
Wałęsa (politician)
You will find Gdansk different from Krakow and
Warsaw. Why? Poland is not a historically homogenous country – you will feel it
if you stay in Poland longer than a few days.
Krakow is the old royal
city - it blends influence of Italian Renaissance and humanism, pious exaltation
of catholic churches, memories on merchants coming from Asia, humanists and the
cozy settled-down charm of Austro-Hungarian Empire. Warsaw is the business centre:
not a place to ponder, but to act – booming, inspiring, corporate, classicist
and Eastern (apart from its lovely ancient core).
 While
Krakow became after the Partition of Poland in the end of the 18th century Austrian
and Warsaw Russian, Gdansk had a long-lasting tradition of being a free
city – i.e. Freistadt Danzig. It used to be a harbour through which the larger
part of Europe had been supplied with grain. Each year over 200 ships came to
Gdansk for merchandise which had arrived along the Vistula from all over the whole
Poland. The population was in its majority of German origin – the neuralgic importance
of this city was reflected in the fact that it was in Gdansk where World War II
started on September 1, 1939.
Gdansk owes much to its seaside location:
Christianization of the pagan Baltic region started from here (the city was founded
in 997 by St. Adalbert – Wojciech, the Bishop of Prague), in the 14th century
it became one of the most important centres of the Hanseatic League, the biggest
mediaeval mercantile organization in Europe that ruled the whole region of the
Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Until the modern times Gdansk was a business giant
comparable to Hamburg, Riga or Italian maritime city republics.
 After
the end of World War II the population became purely Polish and similarly to Warsaw
the centre had to be massively rebuilt. In 1980s the Solidarity movement was founded
here by Lech Wałęsa (born in Gdansk in 1943) and proved to be one of the forces
which brought about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Now it is a part
of the Tri-City with total population close to 800.000 inhabitants, a university
town, dockyards and industrial centre.
RECOMMENDED MINIMUM TIME
OF STAY
1 day – a cursory sightseeing of the Old Town with a short
excursion to either Sopot or Gdynia
2-3 days – visit of the town centre
with possibility of half or one-day trips to Gdynia and Sopot
5-7
days – extensive exploration of the Tri-City, Westerplatte, participation to cultural
events with possibility of trips to Kaszuby (the lake region), Słowiański National
Park, seaside and Teutonic Castles
MAIN SIGHTS
 St
Mary's Church
One of the biggest brick Gothic churches in the world: 105m long,
the main tower is 77.6m high. The stone Pieta from about 1410, a
copy of the Last Judgment by Hans Memling, astronomical clock built
by Hans Düringer in 1464-1470.
The Royal Chapel
Erected in 1678-1681
to the design of the royal architect, Tylman of Gameren. The Baroque sculptures
on the facade were carved by Andreas Schlüter.
The Artus Court
Built
in 1477. A splendid Renaissance building in Long Market was the meeting place
of the Gdansk patriciate. Open to public. In front of the palace the Neptune’s
fountain – a symbol of Gdansk.
Long Street and Long Market
The
Royal Route: a line of the most beautiful buildings in Gdansk (tall, Flemish-like
houses with narrow facades) – they start at the Golden Gate and end at the Green
Gate. The route used to mark the residential area of the richest Gdańsk patriciate.
Fortification
System
A large fortification system encircling the town: The Green
Gate, The Golden Gate, The Highland Gate.
St Mary's Street
Picturesque
street reminding about the old Gdansk. Collection of houses which belonged to
affluent merchants and goldsmiths. Now the trade centre of amber shops.
The
Crane
 A
port crane and city gate. The structure was given its present shape in 1442-1444.
Inside, a huge wooden wheel was man-powered, that is set in motion by men walking
inside it. The crane served not only the cargo reloading purposes, it was also
a device to put up ship masts.
Museums in the centre of Gdansk:
Sea museum, National museum, Gdansk history museum, Ethnographic museum, Interior
furnishings museum, Church clocks museum
Westerplatte – a large
monument on the place where World War started
TRICITY
Sopot
(45.000), the most fashionable seaside resort in pre-war Germany and now the most
famous Polish entertainment centre at the Baltic Sea, art-nouveau villas, beach,
promenade, funfair pier.
Gdynia (270.000), first polish harbourin
1920s commissioned by Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, dockyards, “oceanarium” – sea aquarium,
monument of Joseph Conrad, check in the summer for sea food.
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