Opened and modern, marked by the history. Welcome to Gdansk.
Despite the fact, the city is over one thousand years old, it impresses with modernity. Proud from its incredibly rich history, opened to the world and the future. With the view to the Baltic Sea, Motlawa River, Tricity Landscape Park. With the Westerplatte Peninsula, where WWII began, September 1 1939, the former Gdansk Shipyard areas and the historical gate no 2, the Gradowa Hill and the Vistulamouth Fortress, with its history form Napoleon times. Gdansk – the city at Motlawa River. A fantastic place to live, work and progress. The biggest city in the Northern part of Poland and one of its kind in the world.
Situated at the Baltic Bay, with the access to sandy beaches, which in Springs and Summers are full of life. Surrounded by picturesque forests of the Tricity Landscape Park and the close vicinity of Kashuby region. Gdansk is one of the most interesting cities on the map of Poland. It fascinates not only with the landscape but with the history too.. This is here, where starting from the Golden Gate to the Green Gate, Polish kings walked and greeted the citizens. This is here, where on the Long Market stands the Arthur’s Court and the Neptune Fountain – symbols of Gdansk.
There are more of those symbols. One of them I also, situated at the Long Embankment, the Crane, the biggest and the oldest, preserved port cranes from medieval Europe, a construction which from XV c. gave a dynamic growth to the port of Gdansk.
Gdansk is the city where famous astronomer, John Hewelius was born, the great physician, Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit and the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. This is the place, where Polish soldiers from Westerplatte bravery defended the state, when Schleswig-Holstein, the III Reich battle ship in 1939 attacked Polish Military Transit Depot, and started WWII. This is the place, where at Gdansk Shipyard, in 1980 workers started famous straik which triggered slow stream of changes in Poland and Central – Eastern part of Poland.
The European Solidarity Centre, Fot. Pomorskie.Travel
The most interesting attractions in Gdansk
Today, Gdansk is described as the city of freedom and Solidarity. About the history of the trade unions, called “Solidarity”, we can learn more about visiting the unique in the international scale European Solidarity Centre. Extremely original when architecture is concerned (in a shape of a ship), shows the exhibition about the Solidarity movement and is a place of many cultural events.
Lech Walesa, the first leader of the trade unions, “Solidarity”, the former President of Poland and the laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, has his office here as well.
From the European Solidarity Centre, situated in the former shipyard areas it is not far to the WWII Museum. This is the newest and the most modern museum in the city, built in a big scale. It tells the story about the war in a wide international context.
Gdansk is also a fine place, not only for history lovers, but also for the ones, Who like astronomy and general science. There is Hewelianum Centre situated in a former napoleon’s fort. In one of Gdansk district, called Wrzeszcz, there is a monumental building of Gdansk Technical University, one on the best technical school in Poland.
Talking about Gdansk, we cannot forget about the parks – beautiful and cameral Orunia Park and the unique and vary popular park in Oliwa, which is situated few steps from the XIV c. Cathedral.
The Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, Fot. Dawid Linkowski
Those are just few, the most characteristic places on the map of this over half million city. Gdansk is the city that all the times develops, where new objects of culture appear, like the Shakespeare Theatre, sport objects (the football stadium in Letnica, which has an amber shape), as well as new and modern infrastructure objects – for example: the port and the container terminal, the airport, which in becoming one of the most important airport around the Baltic states.
Gdansk is a modern city which attracts young people and with its history and tradition elder generations. Gdansk is a city which joins.
Check attractions and points of interest in the vicinity of Gdansk in Sopot or Gdynia.
Oliwa Park
It is unknown what the park looked like before the 18th century but when the Abbot's Palace was rebuilt in the middle of the century gaining baroque forms, Jacek Rybiński, the then abbot, decided to "adjust" the surrounding part of the garden to his new seat. This led to his creating the baroque part of the park, referred to as French sector, as the planning and design of particular parts was based on styles popular in France at that time. In this part of the park, geometry and order can be noticed. Between the palace and the southern border a set of flowerbeds was laid, surrounded by low, regularly-shaped hedgerows, in general this recalls a flower carpet. According to the French rules there should be a great long view onto the park from the palace windows, but the land in Oliwa was limited in its size from the south side. The problem was solved by creating a landscape axis perpendicular to the short perspective directly in front of the palace. Deviation from the baroque rules was compensated by the limitless view achieved through the pond at the end and the sea in the background. It was quite understandable that this style, which used to be called "the prince's view", the Polish name "the road to eternity" was invented. The slightly isolated part of the park lying in the artificial valley full of colourful flowers was referred to as "paradise".
Karl Hohenzollern-Hechingen, the second last Oliwa abbot, developed the northern part of the park, this time in accordance with the English style, reflecting the then popular English image of Chinese gardens. Hence a quite different part of the garden was created with a more romantic style, imitating nature, and elements typical for parks such as gazebos, bridges and water cascades created from the waters of the local stream. The abbot's idea was to include the hills located west from Oliwa into the park, which were partly re-laid out, without establishing limits between the park and the natural forest. On the highest hill, today named 'Pachołek', a scenic pavilion was constructed, later to be replaced by towers offering views of the green surroundings and Gdańsk Bay.
Under the supervision of the last abbot, Joseph Hohenzollern-Hechingen, a range of exotic plants was imported to the park and the most neglected parts of the landscape were redecorated and rearranged. Since the beginning of the 20th century, especially during the inter-war period, additional elements have been added to the park complex, including a greenhouse and a botanic garden.
Today's park, belonging to the City, has maintained the major elements of the style and equipment created over the last 250 years and is an attraction for the residents of Gdańsk and for tourists. A walk in the Oliwa park is recommended as a nice supplement to visiting the cathedral complex, and to relax with nature after seeing pieces of art and the historical beauty located in the church and the monastery.