[Poland]-Two photos per post [Archive] - Page 3

DocentX

September 24th, 2009, 10:28 AM

Grunwald

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The Battle of Grunwald (or 1st Battle of Tannenberg) took place on July 15, 1410 with the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led by the king Władysław II Jagiełło, ranged against the knights of the Teutonic Order, led by the Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. The engagement in the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War (1409-1411) was one of the most important battles in Medieval Europe, and the largest battle to involve knights.

The battle saw the forces of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights decisively defeated, but they defended their castles and retained most of its territories. The order never recovered its former power, and the financial burden of ensuing reparations decades later caused a rebellion of cities and landed gentry.

The battle was fought in territory of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Order, in the plains between the three small villages Grunwald to the West, Stębark (Tannenberg) to the North East, and Łodwigowo (Ludwikowice, Ludwigsdorf) to the South. The Polish king referred to the site in a letter written in Latin as in loco conflictus nostri, quem cum Cruciferis de Prusia habuimus, dicto Grunenvelt which by later Polish chroniclers was interpreted as Grunwald, meaning green wood or forest in German. This was rendered in the Lithuanian as Žalgiris. The Germans had their troops deployed at Tannenberg (Stębark) (pine hill) and named the battle accordingly.

Thus, for half a millennium, the battle was referred to as

* Schlacht bei Tannenberg (Battle near Tannenberg) by Germans
* Bitwa pod Grunwaldem (Battle of Grunwald) by Poles
* Žalgirio mūšis (Battle of Žalgiris) by Lithuanians

In languages of other involved nations the battle is called: Belarusian: Гру́нвальдзкая бі́тва, Hrúnvaldzkaja bі́tva, Ukrainian: Ґрю́нвальдська би́тва, Gryúnvaldska býtva, Russian: Грю́нвальдская би́тва, Gryúnvaldskaya bі́tva, Tatar: Grünwald suğışı, Czech: Bitva u Grunvaldu, Romanian: Bătălia de la Grünwald.

Every year, to commemorate it, the Battle of Grunwald reenactment takes place on 15 July. Thousands of medieval reenactors from all over Europe, many of them in knight's armour, gather in July at the Grunwald fields to reconstruct the battle. Great care is taken with the historical details of the armour, weapons, and conduct of the battle.

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DocentX

September 24th, 2009, 06:07 PM

Wilczy szaniec (Wolfsschanze)

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Wolf's Lair is the standard English name for Wolfsschanze, Adolf Hitler's first World War II Eastern Front military headquarters, one of several Führerhauptquartier (Führer Headquarters) or FHQs located in various parts of Europe. The complex, which was built for Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, was located in the Masurian woods, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the small East Prussian town of Rastenburg, now Kętrzyn in Poland.

The original bunker system was constructed by Organisation Todt, but the later planned enlargement was never finished; the expansion work was stopped only a few days before the Russian advance to Angerburg (now Węgorzewo), only 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) away.

Hitler first arrived at the Wolf's Lair late on the night of 23 June 1941, and departed for the last time on 20 November 1944. Overall, he spent over 800 days there during that 3+1⁄2-year period.

The complex was destroyed and abandoned on 25 January 1945. The remains are located in Poland at the hamlet of Gierłoż (German: Forst Görlitz) near Kętrzyn.

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DocentX

September 25th, 2009, 09:51 AM

Srokowo

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Srokowo is a village in northern Poland, close to the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia.

The village has a population of 1,400.

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DocentX

September 25th, 2009, 02:17 PM

Ostróda

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Ostróda is a town in Ostróda County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, with 33,603 inhabitants.

It lies in the Masurian Lake District and is a growing tourist site owing to its relaxing natural surroundings.

At the site of an original Old Prussian settlement on an island at the river delta where the Drewenz Drwęca river flows into Drewenzsee Lake Drwęca the town of Osterode evolved. In 1270 the Teutonic Order began constructing wooden earthworks to control the original settlement as well as defend the initial settlers Mazur and German settlers. The knights named the new town Osterode after Osterode am Harz in Lower Saxony, Germany (now a sister city with Ostróda). Between 1349-1370 the Order replaced the wood-and-earth fort with a stone castle. The town, whose charter traditionally dates to 1335, quickly became a regional administrative center for the Order.

After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, Klaus von Döhringen conquered Osterode's castle and delivered the town to the victorious Wladislaus II of Poland. The Polish king brought the body of Ulrich von Jungingen there before travelling to besiege Marienburg (Malbork); the regrouping Teutonic Knights recaptured Ostróda a few months later.

During the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466), Osterode was repeatedly captured by both the Poles and Prussian Confederation on one side and the Teutonic Knights on the other. From 1525 until 1701 Osterode was part of Ducal Prussia, and after 1701 part of Kingdom of Prussia.

In January 1945 the town came under Polish administration.

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DocentX

September 25th, 2009, 02:29 PM

Iława

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Iława is a town in northeastern Poland with 33,912 inhabitants.

The town was founded in Prussia in 1305 and is documented in a manuscript by Luther von Braunschweig in 1317. It was build on the Eylenz (Iławka) River between Lakes Geserich (Jeziorak) and Eylenz (Iławskie). This location makes it a popular vacation area. The town was under the jurisdiction of the komtur of Christburg (Dzierzgoń) and since 1340 under Osterode (Ostróda). In 1457 it was sold to King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland during the Thirteen Years' War between the cities of Prussia and the Teutonic Order. With the aid of Ulrich von Kinsberg the city was able to regain its independence from Poland.

The town became part of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 and the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701.

As a result of the Potsdam Conference following World War II, the city was placed under Polish administration in 1945.

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DocentX

September 25th, 2009, 04:10 PM

Galindia

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The term Galindians may be applied to two distinct, and now extinct, tribes of the Balts. Most commonly, the term is used to describe the Western Galindians who lived in the southeast part of Prussia.

The Western Galindians (Old Prussian: *Galindis, Latin: Galindae) were at first a West Baltic tribe, and later the Old Prussian clan, which lived in Galindia, roughly the area of present-day Masuria but including territory further south in would become the Duchy of Masovia. It was adjacent to the territory of the Yotvingians, which is today in Podlaskie Voivodeship.

The name Galind- is probably derived from the hydromym of Gielądzkie Jezioro ( 53° 52' N 21° 10' E ) in the province of Olsztyn, in what was the very center of ancient Galindia. J. Nalepa (1971) suggested the root *gal- was originally a different ablaut grade of the same root found in Lith. "gilus" - deep, and "gelme" - depth. The original meaning referred to the depth of the lake mentioned, which is one of the deepest in the area.

Ptolemy was the first to mention the Galindians (Koine Greek: Galindoi - Γαλίνδαι ) in the 2nd century AD. From the 6th/7th century until the 1600s the former central part of the Galindian tribe continued to exist as the Old Prussian clan of *Galindis. The language of the Old Prussians in Galindia became extinct by 1600s, mainly because of the 15th and 16th centuries influx of Protestants seeking refuge from Catholic Poland into Galindian area and German-language administration of Prussia.

Galindia is a little village of a historical tribe - the Galinds and is situated on the Mikołajki-Ruciane route on Bełdany Lake on a peninsula. 100m from the outlet of Krutyn river, 20m from the beach, which is perceived by the tourists and local inhabitants as Masurian Eden, cradle of prehistoric inhabitants of the Country of the Thousand Lakes

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DocentX

September 25th, 2009, 04:50 PM

Krutynia river

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 09:10 AM

Gdańsk

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Gdańsk (German: Danzig, Latin: Gedania, Dantiscum) is the city at the centre of the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Poland.

It is Poland's principal seaport as well as the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is also historically the largest city of the Kashubian region. The city is close to the former boundary between West Slavic and Germanic lands and it has a complex political history with long spells of Polish rule interspersed with periods of German control and two spells as a free city.

The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay (of the Baltic Sea), in a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdynia and suburban communities, which together form an urban area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of around 800 000 people. Gdańsk itself has a population of 458,053 (2006), making it the largest city in the Pomerania region of Northern Poland.

Gdańsk is situated at the mouth of the Motława River, connected to the Leniwka, a branch in the delta of the nearby Vistula River, whose waterway system supplies 60% of the area of Poland and connects Gdańsk to the national capital in Warsaw. This gives the city a unique advantage as the center of Poland's sea trade. Together with the nearby port of Gdynia, Gdańsk is also an important industrial center. Historically an important seaport and shipbuilding center, Gdańsk was a member of the Hanseatic League.

The city was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of Gdańsk political activist Lech Wałęsa, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist rule across Central Europe. It is also the home and birthplace of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is of Kashubian origin.

History

According to archaeologists, a stronghold was built at Gdańsk in the 980s by Mieszko I of Poland, after a series of wars of conquest against the local tribes. Modern day Poles have come to regard this as the founding of Gdańsk; in 1997 the city celebrated the millennial anniversary of the year 997 when Saint Adalbert of Prague baptized the inhabitants of the settlement on behalf of Boleslaw the Brave of Poland. In 1186, a Cistercian monastery was set up in Oliwa nearby (now within the city limits).

Gdańsk in 1215 became the main burgh of a Pomerelian splinter duchy. In 1224/25, Germans in the course of the Ostsiedlung established a settlement in the area of the earlier fortress. In 1226, the town of Danceke/Danzig was granted city rights under Lübeck law by Swantopolk II, an autonomy charter similar to that of Lübeck. The city gained great importance in the Baltic area as a centre of merchants and trade and as a port city. While at this time the surrounding lands were inhabited by Pomeranians to the southwest, and Prussians to the east, Danzig (Gdańsk) soon became a starting point for the German settlement of the largely fallow Vistula land.

By 1308, after a decade of struggles for Pomerelia inheritance between the Margraviate of Brandenburg and Poland, Danzig was taken over by the Order of the Teutonic Knights. The knights were called in by the Poles to aid a Polish garrison holding out in the fortress while the city was controlled by Brandenburg. Yet, after disputes arose with the Poles, the knights kept the city for themselves and integrated Gdańsk in their Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia. After a series of Polish-Teutonic Wars, in the Treaty of Kalisz (1343) the Order had to acknowledge that it would hold Pomerelia as an alm from the Polish Crown. Although it left the legal basis of the Order's possession of the province in some doubt, the city thrived as a result of increased exports of grain (especially wheat), timber, potas, tar, and other goods of forestry from Prussia and Poland via the Vistula River trading routes. While under the control of the Teutonic Order, the city and its trade prospered, German migration increased, and the city became a full member of the Hanseatic League in 1361.

A new war broke out in 1409, ending with the Battle of Grunwald (1410), and the city came under the control of the Kingdom of Poland. A year later, with the first First Peace of Thorn, it returned to the Teutonic Order. In 1440, the city participated in the foundation of the Prussian Confederation which led to the Thirteen Years' War of independence from the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia (1454-1466).

This intermittent warfare ended on May 25, 1457, when the city - jointly with Royal Prussia - came under the protective sovereignty of the Crown of Poland while maintaining its rights and independence as an autonomous city. Gaining free and privileged access for the first time to Polish markets, the seaport prospered while simultaneously trading with the other Hanseatic cities. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) with the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia the warfare between the latter and the Polish crown ended permanently. After the incorporation of Royal Prussia by the Kingdom of Poland in 1569, the city continued to enjoy a large degree of internal autonomy (cf. Danzig Law).

King Stephen Báthory's attempt to subject the city, which had supported Maximilian II in the prior election of the king, failed. The city, encouraged by its immense wealth and almost impregnable fortifications, as well as by the secret support of Denmark and Emperor Maximilian, shut its gates against Stephen. After the Siege of Danzig (1577), lasting six months, the city's army of 5,000 mercenaries was utterly defeated in a field battle on December 16, 1577. However, since Stephen's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached: Stephen Báthory confirmed the city's special status and her Gdańsk Law privileges granted by earlier Polish kings. The city recognised him as ruler of Poland and paid the enormous sum of 200,000 guldens in gold as payoff ("apology").

Beside the German-speaking majority, whose elites sometimes distinguished their German dialect as Pomerelian, the city was home to a large number of Polish-speaking Poles, Jewish Poles, and Dutch. In addition, a number of Scotsmen took refuge or immigrated to and received citizenship in the city. During the Protestant Reformation, most German-speaking inhabitants adopted Lutheranism.
The Town Hall spire, with a gilded statue of King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland on its pinnacle (installed in 1561), dominates Long Market skyline.

The city suffered a slow economic decline due to the wars of the 18th century, when it was taken by the Russians after the Siege of Danzig in 1734. Gdańsk was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1793, only to be broken off by Napoleon as a pseudo-independent free city from 1807-1814. Returned to Prussia after France's defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, the city became the capital of Regierungsbezirk Danzig within the province of West Prussia from 1815. The city's longest serving Regierungspräsident was Robert von Blumenthal, who held office from 1841, through the revolutions of 1848, until 1863. The city became part of the German Empire in 1871.

Throughout its long history Gdańsk faced various periods of rule from different states before 1945:

* 997-1308: as part of Poland
* 1308-1454: as part of territory of Teutonic Order
* 1454-1466: Thirteen Years' War
* 1466-1793: as part of Poland
* 1793-1805: as part of Prussia
* 1807-1814: as a free city
* 1815-1871: as part of Prussia
* 1871-1918: as part of Imperial Germany
* 1918-1939: as a free city
* 1939-1945: as part of Nazi Germany

Altogether combining the number of years, the city was under rule of Poland for 641 years, under the rule of Teutonic Order for 158 years, 125 years as part of Prussia and later Germany, 29 years of its history are marked by the status of a free city, and 6 years under the occupation of Nazi Germany until it returned to Poland again in 1945.

The historic old city of Gdańsk, which had suffered large-scale destruction at the hands of the Soviet Army, was rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s.

Today Gdańsk is a major shipping port and tourist destination.

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 09:30 AM

Gdańsk

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 09:32 AM

Gdańsk

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 09:37 AM

Gdańsk

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 09:46 AM

Gdańsk

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Town Hall

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 09:59 AM

Gdańsk

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Artus Court

is a complex of buildings forming a branch of the Gdańsk History Museum, located within the Main City boundaries and forming a part of the representative city route called the Royal Route. Długi Targ located near the historical harbour on the Motława river forms part of the route. The Artus Court complex consists of the following parts: the ground floor of two connected town houses called The Old Bench House, Artus Court and the New Bench House. The Old and New Bench House are the town houses with narrow facades typical of Gdańsk architecture.

The origins of Artus Court go back to the Middle Ages and its name stems from the European culture of knighthood. The common name of the courts originates from the name of the legendary leader of the Celts, Arthur, who lived in Britannia in the 5th and 6th century. For the people of those times he was a model of knightly virtues, and the Round Table, at which he sat with his courageous knights, was a symbol of equality and partnership. This very idea inspired the Baltic town communities to build Artus Courts. The Round Tables were organised according to a determined structure, and the tournament, feasts at the round table and dancing. Their genesis should be sought in the meetings of bards, troubadours and feasts, which took place first in Britannia and then in Wales. Already at the end of the 12th century similar ceremonies were held in northern Italy and in the 13th century in the Middle East, England and other countries of Europe. The populations of rich cities competed with the knights in showing sophisticated Arthurian manners to improve both their own the entire community’s prestige.

The name of the building: “Curia Regis Artus” (The Royal Court of Artus), which was constructed in Gdańsk between 1348 and1350, appeared for the first time in city documents in 1357 in relation to land rent. Another document dated 1358 defines it as “curia sancti Georgi” (Saint George Court) mentioning at this occasion similar courts in the Baltic region in Toruń, Chełmno, Elbląg, Braniewo, Królewiec, Rewal (Tallin), Riga and Stralsund.

The first court was erected on a plot of land belonging to the city since 1344, by the Saint George Brotherhood at its own expense and effort. The Brotherhood associated the knights from rich German families. We do not know a lot about the functioning of this elite brotherhood in the first century of its existence. We only know that it was of a knight-religious nature and probably organised military exercises for Gdańsk citizens and tournaments, similar to comparable brotherhoods in Braniewo and Riga. The members of corporations were required to participate in the jousting tournament according to the Round Table customs. The Saint George Brotherhood attempted from the very beginning to maintain its elite nature, requiring noble origin from its members, and set the same requirements for guests of Artus Court.

Over time, Artus Court began to accept not just merchant customs, but also started to take on the role of an official merchant house. Information always played a key role in the merchant profession. And the Court was an excellent place to exchange such information. This was a place where regulations fo the authorities were announced. The Court served trading purposes in two ways: legally - supporting personal contacts and social relationships between local merchants, and illegally - when trade transactions were concluded which were not allowed in this place.

The influence of the Brotherhood of Saint George was almost completely eliminated. It lost its right of ownership to the Court and held only an honorary place at ceremonies. From that time onwards the Brotherhood sat together with the judges and other users in the Great Hall. The most important changes concerned the establishment of succeeding associations from among individual members, as co-hosts of this institution. These friendly participants of meetings sat on the same bench, which became a place of community for those people, who in time created a new brotherhood. The new brotherhoods created in this manner adopted the joint name – Artus Court bench. Initially the members were grouped according to their geographical-cultural origin, profession, interests etc. The family traditions of the home Rhine region linked the members of the Saint Reinhold Brotherhood established in 1481. The Lubeck Bench created in 1482 brought together Gdańsk citizens trading with Lubeck. Personal friendship lay behind the establishment in 1483 of the Three Kings Brotherhood. The origins of the Malbork Bench created in 1487 can be found in the tradition of the veterans of The Thirteen Year War, who participated in the siege of Malbork in 1457 and 1460. The Dutch Bench, whose origin goes back to 1492, was formed by the Gdańsk and Dutch merchants trading with the Netherlands. Professional ties were behind the establishment of the Shipmasters and Judges Brotherhoods.

War and disease reduced the population of the city at the beginning of 17th century, changing the way of life of its inhabitants. The times of prosperity of Artus Court were gone along with the turmoil of war. It was closed and reopened many times. However the good old customs, sometimes frivolous, though standing up to the standards, were a sign of the past. In the end, on 31st of October 1742 the Council made the decision to transform the Court into a stock exchange, and from that time the Great Hall ceased to play host to the feasts of the brotherhoods. The decision of the Council transformed the Court into the seat of the Gdańsk stock exchange. The merchants obtained an outstanding building, while the Court gained a new function becoming once again the centre of merchant life. However, apart from regular exchange sessions, the Great Hall was also occasionally used to host official royal visits, significant cultural events and international meetings. At the end of the 17th century the Great Hall was used on a regular basis to hold concerts.

Gdańsk Vestibule, the representative patrician drawing-room in the New Bench House. From the east it adjoins the Great Hall of Artus Court. Gdańsk patrician families lived there from the middle ages to the 18th century. From 1709 it was the seat of the bench courts. Following general refurbishment in 1900 – 1901 (for the needs of the exchange premises), the New Bench House attained the look of the old Gdańsk style vestibule. The interior was decorated with 17th and 18th century works of Gdansk and Dutch art from the collection of the merchant-collector, Lesser Giełdziński.

The Gdańsk Vestibule was restored after war damage – its Baroque staircase from the beginning of the 18th century was transferred from Kłanin palace along with the decorative ceiling painting and two 18th century cupboards. Its furnishings also include the reconstructed fireplace, 18th century sculptures, 18th century Dutch ceramics from Delft, brass candle holders, original Dutch flag-stones on the walls with pastoral themes and a model of a 1775 Gdańsk ship. In addition two paintings were hung above the wooden panel line: “Three Kings Greetings” by Andreas Stech and “Portrait of an Amsterdam counsellor” by Jacob van Loo. The paintings are separated by a pair of large ornamental candle holders. The western wall of the great Gdańsk Vestibule has the entrance passage connecting it to the Great Hall of Artus Court. The museum continues to supplement the furnishings of Gdańsk Vestibule in order to restore the baroque character of a Gdańsk merchant house drawing-room.

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 10:25 AM

Gdańsk

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Mariacka street

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 10:40 AM

Gdańsk

Amber Museum

Gdańsk is concidered to be the world's capital of amber.

The world's richest deposits of amber lay on Samland not far from Gdańsk. Also in the vicinity of our city one can find much of this precious fossile resin, even on the beaches. The name "Amber Coast" is fully justified. The Amber Trail, connecting the Baltic Coast with the Mediterranian functioned as early as in the 2nd century a.C. Excavated stores of raw material, artifacts and semiproducts from the 9th-13th centuries confirm the existence of numerous workshops of amberware makers at those times.

The gathering and digging of amber as well as amber trade was a monopoly of the rulers of Gdańsk. Among others the Cistercian monks from the monastery in Oliwa, founded in the 12th century, were given right to gather amber in their territory. The fishers from Gdańsk obtained such rights too, under the condition to give all, what they have found, to the Teutonic Knights. Later on, in the Polish times, the amber monopoly went over to the Municipal Council of Gdańsk. In 1477 the Guild of Amberwaremakers was founded. Their number, at first equal to 46, was subsequently reduced to 40. From 1536 to 1812 286 masters were registered.

Many of them were very famous. The masters Gottfried Turow and Ernest Schacht from Gdańsk created the famous Amber Chamber, lost in the last war. Gdańsk was also a world center of scientific research on amber, carried out by members of the Natural History Society. Till 1895 25 papers were published in this field. The Museum of Natural History in the Green Gate, established in 1879, had the world's second / largest collection of raw amber pieces, often with unique inclusions. This splendid traditions are maintained and developped also today.

The Museum of Amber takes up all the floors of the historical Prison Tower, with each floor dedicated to a different amber-related issue.

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DocentX

September 26th, 2009, 11:29 PM

Gdańsk

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DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 12:29 AM

Gdańsk

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Wisloujście Fortress

The Tower of Wisłoujście - situated right by the port canal - guarded Gdansk from the sea. Until the 16th century it was directly on the coast. Later, the Westerplatte penninsula was formed, separating it from the sea. In days gone by, though, its walls were struck by sea waves and inside a fire burned to guide in ships to the port of Gdansk. So began its tradition as a lighthouse.

The monument is almost 500 years old and was built according to Dutch design. However its look is characterised by the influence of different architectural styles over the centuries.

The Tower of Wisłoujście is a unique example of a relatively well-preserved port defense structure from the first half of the 17th century, and has witnessed several key events in the history of Poland and Gdansk. It was stormed by King Stefan Batory, launched the fleet of King Zygmunt II to victory, and defended the legally chosen king Stanisław Leszczyński causing a certain amount of trouble for the Poles who, along with Napoleon, liberated Gdansk from the hands of the Prussians.

In the 19th century, the Prussians housed a prison in the dungeons of the Tower.

Currently closed to visitors due to renovation work. The Tower of Wisłouijście is due to open after a complete overhaul of Fort Carre and will be transformed into a museum and tourist area.

http://iv.pl/images/jjmn9usuqcdf6q19h2gc.jpg

http://www.tik24.pl/img_size_page.php/galerie/257/twierdza_wisloujscie.jpg

polskadan

September 27th, 2009, 01:50 AM

Ahh Gdansk, Moje Miasto :)

Great Pictures DocentX!

DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 08:16 AM

Sopot

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Sopot is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000.

It lies between the larger cities of Gdańsk (to the south-east) and Gdynia (to the north), the three towns together making up the metropolitan agglomeration called Trójmiasto (Tri-City).

Sopot is a major health-spa and tourist resort destination. It has the longest wooden pier in Europe, at 515.5 meters, stretching out into the Bay of Gdańsk. The city is also famous for its Sopot International Song Festival, the largest such event in Europe after the Eurovision Song Contest. Among its other attractions is a fountain of bromide spring water, known as the "inhalation mushroom".

Sopot is currently undergoing a period of intense development, including the building of a number of five star hotels and spa resorts on the waterfront. The main pedestrianized street, Monte Cassino, has also been extended by diverting traffic underneath it, meaning the whole street is now pedestrianized. Sopot, aside from Warsaw has the highest property prices in Poland.

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww199/kuzmiak/DSC02135a.jpg?t=1246209705

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/94/21/download/3863486.jpg

DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 10:16 AM

Sopot

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww199/kuzmiak/DSC02460.jpg

http://www.tomarguide-gdansk.com.pl/foto/sop102.jpg

http://www.national-geographic.pl/uploads/pics/91568123.jpg

http://www.wzr.com.pl/duze/b01.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Muzeum_Sopotu.PNG

DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 10:26 AM

Sopot

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The Crooked House

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1812480.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1527168.jpg

republic_srpska

September 27th, 2009, 01:07 PM

Wonderful Polska :)

Mrle

September 27th, 2009, 01:14 PM

Sopot

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The Crooked House

LOL ^^

:nuts:

ovo izgleda dobro :applause:

DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 04:44 PM

Gdynia

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.

Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over a million people.

The decision to build a major seaport at the Gdynia village was made by the Polish government in the winter of 1920, in the midst of the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1920). The authorities and seaport workers of the Free City of Danzig felt Poland's economic rights in the city were being misappropriated to help fight the war. Despite these demands, the workers went on strike, and Poland realized the need for a port city it was in complete control of, economically and politically.

Construction of Gdynia seaport was started in 1921, but because of financial difficulties was conducted slowly and with interruptions. It was accelerated after the Sejm (Polish parliament) passed the Gdynia Seaport Construction Act on 23 September 1922. By 1923 a 550-metre pier, 175 metres of a wooden tide breaker, and a small harbour had been constructed. Ceremonial inauguration of Gdynia as a temporary military port and fishers' shelter took place on 23 April 1923, and the first major seagoing ship arrived on 13 August 1923.

To speed up the construction works, the Polish government in November 1924 signed a contract with the French-Polish Consortium for Gdynia Seaport Construction, which by the end of 1925 had built a small seven-metre-deep harbour, the south pier, part of the north pier, a railway, and had also ordered the trans-shipment equipment. The works were going more slowly than expected, however. They accelerated only after May 1926, because of an increase in Polish exports by sea, economic prosperity, the outbreak of the German–Polish trade war which reverted most Polish international trade to sea routes, and also thanks to the personal engagement of Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, Polish Minister of Industry and Trade, also responsible for construction of Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy. Till the end of 1930 docks, piers, breakwaters and many auxiliary and industrial installations were constructed (such as depots, trans-shipment equipment, and a rice processing factory) or started (such as a large clod room).

Trans-shipments rose from 10,000 tons (1924) to 2,923,000 tons (1929). At this time Gdynia was the only transit and special seaport designed for coal exports. In the years 1931–1939 the Gdynia harbour was further extended to become a universal seaport. In 1938 Gdynia was the largest and most modern seaport on the Baltic Sea, as well as the tenth biggest in Europe. The trans-shipments rose to 8.7 million tons, which was 46% of Polish foreign trade.

In the harbour, there are two anchored museum ships, the ORP Blyskawica destroyer and the Dar Pomorza Tall Ship frigate. Gdynia is famous for its numerous examples of early 20th century architecture, especially monumentalism and early functionalism. Recently reconstructed Świętojańska street and Kościuszko square are also worth a mention.

Gdynia is also the host of the Heineken Open'er Festival, one of the biggest contemporary music festivals in Poland. The festival welcomes many foreign hip-hop, rock and electronic music artists every year.

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1899782.jpg

http://images31.fotosik.pl/273/8310d1b9a542b34d.jpg

DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 05:05 PM

Gdynia

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

ORP Blyskawica

ORP Błyskawica was a Grom-class destroyer serving in the Polish Navy during World War II, currently preserved as a museum ship in Gdynia. It is the only ship of the Polish Navy awarded with the Virtuti Militari medal, as well as the oldest preserved destroyer in the world.

She was the latter of two Grom (Thunder)-class destroyers, built for the Polish Navy by J. Samuel White, Cowes. The name means Lightning. The two Groms were some of the most heavily-armed and fastest destroyers on the seas before World War II.

Two days before the war, on 30 August 1939, the Błyskawica withdrew, along with Grom and Burza destroyers, from the Baltic Sea to Britain in accordance with the Peking Plan to avoid open conflict (and possible destruction) from Germany. From then on they acted in tandem with the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. On 7 September 1939, Błyskawica made contact with and attacked a U-Boat, resulting in possibly the first combat between the Allied and the German fleets.

In early May 1940, Błyskawica took part in the Norwegian Campaign, shelling German positions and downing two Luftwaffe aircraft. Her sister ship Grom was bombed and sunk during the campaign. Later that month, she took part in covering Operation Dynamo, the successful Franco-British evacuation from Dunkirk.

During the remainder of the war, Błyskawica took part in convoy and patrol duties, engaging both U-boats and the Luftwaffe in the Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. In 1941 her 120 mm guns were replaced with British four-inch (102 mm) anti-aircraft guns. The ship was also given escort duties to troop transports, notably RMS Queen Mary, Błyskawica being one of the few ships that could keep up with the liner.

On the nights of May 4 and May 5, 1942, Błyskawica was instrumental in defending the Isle of Wight town of Cowes from a potentially devastating air raid by 160 German bombers. Coincidentally this is where the ship had been built in 1935-7 by J. Samuel White. The ship was undergoing an emergency refit at the shipyard and on the night of the air raid fired repeated rounds at the German bombers from outside the harbour, her guns becoming so hot they had to be doused with water and extra ammunition had to be ferried over from Portsmouth. This ensured the bombers had to stay high to avoid the weapons fire, making it hard for them to target properly. Additionally the ship laid down a smokescreen hiding Cowes from sight. Although a lot of damage was done to the town and the shipyard, it is generally thought that without this defensive action, it would have been far worse. In 2002 the crew's courage was honoured by a local commemoration lasting several days to mark the 60th anniversary of the event. In 2004 an area of Cowes was named Francki Place in honour of the ship's commander. The Isle of Wight Council has approved the idea of having the Błyskawica return to Cowes in 2012 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the event and 75 years since the ship's commissioning.[1]

On 8 June 1944, Błyskawica took part in a battle with the German destroyers at Ushant.

During the war, she logged 146,000 nautical miles (270,000 km) and escorted eighty-three convoys. In combat she damaged three U-boats and shot down at least four aircraft before the war's conclusion in May 1945, also took part in sinking some other ships.

In late 1945/early 1946, the Błyskawica took part in Operation Deadlight, the scuttling of over 100 German U-Boats, along with the destroyer HMS Onslow.

After the war, she returned to Poland. Since 1 May 1976 she has served as a museum ship in Gdynia, replacing Burza. In July 2006, Błyskawica was "twinned" with the Canadian destroyer HMCS Haida in a ceremony in Gdynia. Both ships served in the 10th Destroyer Flotilla during World War II. The ceremony was attended by former crew members of both ships and the general public. A similar ceremony took place in Canada with HMCS Haida in 2007. In November 2007 she was awarded the International Maritime Heritage Award of the World Ship Trust.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/39/82/download/3875602.jpg

Dar Pomorza

The Dar Pomorza is a Polish sailing frigate, currently preserved in Gdynia as a museum ship.

The ship was built in 1909 by Blohm + Voss and in 1910 dedicated by Deutscher Schulschiff-Verein as German training ship Prinzess Eitel Friedrich. In 1920 following World War I the ship was taken as war-reparations by Great Britain, then brought to France. There it was used by the seamen's school at St-Nazaire under the name "Colbert". It then was given to Baron de Forrest. Due to too high a costs for refurbishing it was sold in 1929.

Still bearing the name Prinzess Eitel Friedrich, she was bought by the Polish community of Pomerania for 7000 GBP, as the new training ship for the Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia. She was given the name Dar Pomorza, which means "the gift of Pomerania". In 1930 the ship was repaired and fitted with an auxiliary diesel engine.

During the following years, she was used as the training ship, receiving a nick-name "White Frigate". In 1934-1935 she traveled around the world. During World War II she was interned in Stockholm, after the war she was brought to Poland and used as a training ship again.

In the 1970s she took part in several Operation Sail and Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, winning her first race in 1972, then seizing the 3rd place in 1973 and the 1st place and Cutty Sark Trophy in 1980. She was one of several Blohm und Voss built tall ships, most popular in the world at that time.

In September 1981 she undertook her last race. On 4 August 1982 she was decommissioned and replaced by the Dar Młodzieży as a training ship. Since 27 May 1983 she has been a museum ship in Gdynia (next to the Błyskawica).

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/16/80/download/3979298.jpg

Rinchinlhumbe

September 27th, 2009, 05:44 PM

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1812480.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1527168.jpg

omg :nuts:

DocentX

September 27th, 2009, 11:21 PM

Gdynia

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

http://www.moje-morze.pl/czer04/gdynia/33.JPG

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6930/dsc04342s.jpg

DocentX

September 28th, 2009, 10:00 AM

Malbork castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The Castle in Malbork (German: Die Marienburg, Polish: Zamek w Malborku) was built in Prussia by the Teutonic Order as an Ordensburg. The Order named it Marienburg, literally "Mary's Castle".

The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress, and is the world’s largest brick gothic castle (some say it is the world's largest castle). UNESCO listed the castle and its museum as World Heritage Sites in December 1997 as Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork.

The castle was founded in 1274 by the Teutonic Order during their government of Prussia and is located on the Southeastern bank of the river Nogat. It was named Marienburg after the Virgin Mary, patron saint of the Order.

The Order had been based in Acre, but when this last stronghold of the Crusades fell, the Order had to move its headquarters to Venice. In 1309, in the wake of both the papal persecution of the Knights Templar as well as the Teutonic takeover of Danzig, the Order under Siegfried von Feuchtwangen moved its headquarters into the Prussian part of their monastic state. They chose the Marienburg, conveniently located on the Nogat, in the Vistula Delta, which allows access by ship.

The castle was expanded several time to host the growing number of Knights, and became the largest fortified Gothic building in Europe, featuring several sections and walls. It consists of three separate sections - the High, Middle and Lower Castles, separated by multiple dry moats and towers. The castle once housed approximately 3,000 "brothers in arms", and the outermost castle walls enclose 52 acres (210,000 m²), four times larger than the enclosed space of Windsor Castle.

The favourable position of the castle on the river Nogat and its relatively flat surrounding allowed for easy access by barges and trading ships, from the Vistula and the Baltic Sea. During their governance, the Teutonic Knights collected river tolls on passing ships, as did other castles along the rivers, imposing a monopoly on the trade of amber. When the city became a member of the Hanseatic League, many Hanseatic meetings were held at Marienburg castle.

In the summer of 1410, the castle was besieged following defeat by the armies of Władysław II Jagiełło at the Battle of Grunwald, but Heinrich von Plauen successfully led the defense in the Siege of Marienburg (1410), during which the city itself was razed.

In 1456, during the Thirteen Years' War, the Order—deserted and opposed for establishing taxes to pay high ransoms for prisoners taken by the Polish king—could not pay its mercenaries. Hochmeister Ludwig von Erlichshausen moved the seat of the Order to Königsberg, and gave the castle to the Bohemian mercenaries as payment. The mercenaries left, after selling the castle to Polish King Casimir IV Jagiellon, who thus acquired what he and his predecessor could not conquer. He entered the castle triumphantly in 1457.

Under mayor Bartholomäus Blume, the city itself resisted the Polish onslaught for three more years, until the Poles captured and hanged Blume in 1460. Castle and town became part of Royal Prussia in 1466, and served as one of the several Polish royal residences. During the Thirty Years' War, in 1626 and 1629, Swedes occupied the castle, and again from 1656 to 1660 in The Deluge (Polish history) during the Northern Wars.

After the First Partition of Poland in 1772 the town became part of the Kingdom of Prussia province of West Prussia. At that time the rather neglected castle was used as poorhouse and barracks for the Prussian Army. In 1794 David Gilly, a Prussian architect and head of the Oberbaudepartement, was ordered to make a structural survey of the castle, to decide about its future use or even its complete demolition. Gilly's son, Friedrich Gilly, produced several engravings of the castle and its architecture, which he exhibited in Berlin and had published by Friedrich Frick from 1799 to 1803. These engravings led to a "rediscovery" of the castle and the history of the Teutonic Knights by the Prussian public.

Johann Dominicus Fiorillo published a recension of the engravings on 12 February 1803. Fiorillo said he hoped the engravings would encourage public interest, and Max von Schenkendorf critizised the defacement of the castle. Throughout the Napoleonic period the castle was used as a hospital and arsenal, but after Prussia was liberated again, it became a symbol of Prussian history and national consciousness. Reconstruction began after 1816 on the initiative of Theodor von Schön, Oberpräsident of West Prussia, and lasted with varying intensity until World War II started.

With the rise of Adolf Hitler to power in the early 1930's the Nazis began using the site for annual pilgramages by both the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. It was the Teutonic Castle at Marienburg, Malbork that served as the blue print for the Order Castles of the Third Reich.

World War II combat in 1945 destroyed more than half of the castle. At the conclusion of World War II, the castle, together with the surrounding city, became part of Poland. It has since been mostly rebuilt, with restoration ongoing since 1962. However, the main cathedral in the castle, fully restored just before the war, remains in ruins.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/67/41/download/89598.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/42/76/download/3627875.jpg

DocentX

September 28th, 2009, 06:30 PM

Malbork castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Some of the castle interiors

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/11/9/download/1092860.jpg

http://monumentservice.pl/foto/malbork_refektarz/3.jpg

http://dziedzictwo.ekai.pl/_album/803,500,q.jpg

http://www.tourguidegdansk.com/i/gal_55d.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/37/34/download/1097332.jpg

http://zamek.malbork.pl/img_all/galerie/n8_2.jpg

http://www.zamek.malbork.pl/img_all/wystawy/inf1.jpg

http://www.zamek.malbork.pl/img_all/wystawy/inf2.jpg

Armour of the Polish King Zygmunt August presented in Malbork

http://www.muzeapolskie.pl/wystawy/53/zdjecie2.jpg

DocentX

September 28th, 2009, 07:58 PM

Kwidzyn castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Formerly a Prussian stronghold, Kwidzyn was conquered by the Order of Teutonic Knights and conferred town rights in 1233. From 1285 to 1587 Marienwerde (Virgin Mary's Island), as the Teutons had originally called the settlement, was a seat of the Bishops of the Pomesania Diocese.

Today, the Pomesanian Chapter's castle and the cathedral erected in the 14th and 15th centuries are the most precious historic and architectural treasures of Kwidzyn.
The impressive castle with its tall corner towers was part of the town's defensive system. The main tower, which still dominates the castle's skyline, served as the cathedral's belfry.

But surprisingly it is the sanitary tower, known as 'dansker", that distinguishes the Kwidzyn castle from all other Gothic castles built by the Teutons. The tower was added to the castle in 1384. It is situated 50 meters away from the west wing, and is accessible through a gallery spanning five tall arches.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/alexlie/IMG_5227a.jpg

http://www.szlak.zamkigotyckie.org.pl/kwidzyn/3a.jpg

DocentX

September 29th, 2009, 11:27 AM

Gniew castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The Gniew castle was the most powerful fortress of the Teutonic Order on the left bank of the Visula. Built at the turn of the 13th and 14th century, it was home to Commanders of the Order, and in the times when the town belonged to Poland, it housed the offices of local administrators.

Since 1992, the castle has been used as a venue for spectacles, historical shows and chivalric tournaments. Today it is recognised as one of the major centres for promoting and maintaining the medieval tradition and heritage in Poland.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/alexlie/IMG_5262a.jpg

http://boaedon.pl/albums/zamki_gniew/gniew_01.jpg

DocentX

September 29th, 2009, 01:38 PM

Bytów castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The castle in Bytów was built by the Teutonic Knights in 1398-1405. The major construction works were supervised by Nicolaus Fellensteyn, a master builder of the Order. The construction of the castle fell to the period when Jacob von Reinach was the procurator of Bytów and Konrad von Jungingen was the Order's Grand Master. The castle was located on a hill, towering above the town, which guaranteed excellent natural defence.

The castle, very modern for those days, was a seat of the local administration officials, a border fort and a stopover for knights arriving from western Europe to Malbork. The seat of the Bytów procurator, the castle, most probably housed from a few to more than a dozen knights accompanied by their pages and lansquenets. The complete crew of the castle could count a few dozens.

During the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466) Bytów Castle was ceded by the townspeople of Gdańsk to the Polish King, Kazimierz Jagiellończyk. In 1454 it was granted by the King to the Duke of Pomerania, Eric II, whose family, the Gryfits, ruled the castle and the lands of Bytów until the death of the last member of the dynasty, Bogusław XIV.

The castle, enlarged by the Gryfit dukes in the second half of the 16th century, became a seat of the local administration officials in the early 17th century and a summer residence of Pomeranian dukes. Around 1560 the castle court was redone and the construction of a new wing, known as the Ducal House, was undertaken. Once it had been completed, an identical, although smaller building was constructed adjacent to the curtain walls. This one was named the Ducal Chancery. Both exquisite buildings with imposing stairway towers turned the fortress into a Renaissance residence.

In 1637-1657 the castle and the land of Bytów were administered by Polish officials. Badly damaged by Swedish troops in 1656, the castle and the lands of Lębork and Bytów were ceded, by the power of the Welawa-Bydgoszcz treaty, to Frederic Wilhelm I, Elector of Brandenburg. When the Brandenburgians arrived, they found the castle and the town, as well as many of the nearby villages damaged and looted by the Swedes in 1656.

The castle, which had also lost its earlier functions, was then used to house a court of justice and a treasury office. Some if the castle buildings were converted into apartments, some changed into storehouses and workshops.

After the IIWW the castle was turned in a museum and a hotel.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/90/38/download/3952019.jpg

http://www.szlak.zamkigotyckie.org.pl/bytow/1a.jpg

DocentX

September 29th, 2009, 03:55 PM

Człuchów castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

By the beginning of the 13th century Człuchów was a Slavic settlement under the overlordship of the Kingdom of Poland located at the intersection of two trade routes.

In 1312 the Teutonic Knights purchased the settlement for 250 silver marks from Nicholas of Poniec, a son of the voivod of Kalisz. The Order began constructing a fortress known as Schlochau on a hill east of the settlement; the fortress, the Order's second-largest after Marienburg, was completed in 1367.

By 1323 it was used as a komturei (bailiwick) by the crusaders and consisted of three support buildings and the main castle. The fortress was so well-developed that Grand Master Heinrich von Dusemer granted the town Kulm law in 1348. After the defeat of the Order in the Thirteen Years' War, the town was transferred to Poland in the Second Peace of Thorn (1466).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Czluchow3_js.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/92/45/download/1707847.jpg

DocentX

September 29th, 2009, 05:22 PM

Tczew

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Tczew is a town on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 60,128 inhabitants (1 January 2005). It is an important railway junction with a classification yard dating to the Prussian Eastern Railway (German: Preußische Ostbahn). The city is known for its attractive old town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew.

Tczew was first mentioned as Trsow in a privilege of the Knights Hospitaller in 1198. By 1252 the settlement was known by the names Tczew and Dirschau, and in 1258 Tczew hosted the first city council in Poland. It received Lübeck rights from Duke Sambor II in 1260. Tczew was captured by Heinrich von Plötzke of the Teutonic Knights in 1308, but was rebuilt from 1364–1384 and granted Kulm law. After the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), Tczew was transferred from the Teutonic Order to the newly-created Polish province of Royal Prussia.

During the Protestant Reformation most of Tczew's inhabitants converted to Lutheranism. In 1577 the town was burnt to the ground by troops of King Stefan Batory of Poland after they defeated a rebellion by Gdańsk.

The town was annexed from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Partitions of Poland. It was occupied by Polish troops of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski in 1807 during the Napoleonic Wars, but became Prussian again in 1815. It became part of the German Empire in 1871.

Tczew grew rapidly during the 19th century after the opening of the Prussian Eastern Railway line connecting Berlin and Königsberg, with the Vistula bridge near Dirschau being an important part. The Prussian census of 1905 counted 15,144 Polish or Kashubian-speaking citizens and 25,466 German-speaking citizens in the town.

After World War I Treaty of Versailles, Tczew became part of the Second Polish Republic when troops of General Józef Haller entered the town on January 30, 1920. During the Interwar period, Tczew was famous for its maritime academy (later moved to Gdynia).

According to the city's website, Tczew was the location of the start of World War II when German bombers attacked Polish sapper installations to prevent the bridge from been blown up at 04:34 on 1 September 1939 (the shelling of Westerplatte commenced at 04:45). The town was occupied by Nazi Germany during the war and liberated in 1945.

http://foto.recenzja.pl/foty/panorama_miasta_tczew-104-8791e0c352c1a08816543b470c68d0f4.jpeg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/21/93/download/1810695.jpg

Bridge in Tczew

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/12/11/download/3180377.jpg

DocentX

September 29th, 2009, 06:01 PM

Szymbark

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Upside-down house

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/30/75/download/2067356.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/29/89/download/3929050.jpg

DocentX

September 29th, 2009, 10:49 PM

Kashubian landscapes

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Kashubia is one of the most beautiful and atractive tourist region of Poland because there are many forests, lakes, meadows.

Kashubia is actually known as “the land of a thousand lakes”. There is a lot of fresh and clean air here , as well as charming valleys and peace, silence. Kaszuby are often called ” Kaszubian Switzerland”

http://www.kaszuby.com.pl/pix/users/Image/kultura/3.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/50/14/download/2922066.jpg

DocentX

September 30th, 2009, 01:13 PM

Kashubian landscapes

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1809080.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1539561.jpg

polskadan

September 30th, 2009, 05:43 PM

This is the region I am originally from and yes it is beautiful ;) I believe the first picture of Kaszuby is taken from the tower near Szymbark, the tallest point (highest altitude) in Northern Poland is at this point. And the following picture looks like it is part of one of the largest lakes in the Kaszubian region called, Ostrzyce :cheers: Good memories there :cheers:

DocentX

September 30th, 2009, 07:16 PM

Vistula Split (Vistula Peninsula)

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The Vistula Spit (Polish: Mierzeja Wiślana; Russian: Балтийская коса; German: Frische Nehrung) is a spit, or peninsular stretch of land, which cuts the Vistula Lagoon off from Gdańsk Bay (Danziger Bucht) in the Baltic Sea. The border between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia, runs across it, splitting it politically in halves. The westernmost point of Russia is located on the Vistula Spit. The Polish part contains a number of tourist resorts, incorporated administratively as the town of Krynica Morska.

Until the 13th century, the spit had navigable straits in the middle, which allowed the city of Elbląg (Elbing), part of the monastic State of the Teutonic Knights, direct access to the Baltic Sea. The natural closing of the straits in the late 13th century reduced Elbing's status as an important trading seaport. Thus, and by the Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdańsk) and Polish Pomerania in 1308, the importance of Gdańsk (Danzig) grew.

Nowadays, Poland is considering the idea of digging a channel through its part of the spit, in order to regain direct access to the Baltic, rather than by the only natural, yet Russian-controlled port at Baltiysk (Pillau/Piława).

http://terakowski.republika.pl/wislana.jpg

http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/3/3536/z3536153X.jpg

DocentX

September 30th, 2009, 07:26 PM

Krynica Morska

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Krynica Morska is a town and coextensive municipality (gmina) on the Vistula Spit in northern Poland with 1,364 inhabitants (2006).

Krynica Morska is the main tourist destination on the Vistula Spit. The administrative area of the town extends along most of the Polish part of the spit, up to the Russian border, also including a number of other localities such as Przebrno and Piaski (the latter being about 4 km from the border, which is not crossable at present).

It has the smallest population of any urban gmina in Poland. Because of the inclusion of mainly rural areas of the spit within its boundaries, it has the lowest population density of any town (miasto) in Poland, with 11.74 persons/km².

http://www.polonez.at/2009/Lato09/InfoL09_pliki/matKrynica/Krynica_Morska-1158d.jpg

http://www.ratownicy.net/krynica/krynica2.jpg

Johnny Blade

September 30th, 2009, 07:34 PM

After seeing this place I now wanna live in an upside down house too! http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/konfus/f030.gif

Upside-down house

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/30/75/download/2067356.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/29/89/download/3929050.jpg

Johnny Blade

September 30th, 2009, 07:45 PM

I remember once seeing a picture of this particular castle 12 years ago but what I couldn't remember is which country it was from so thank-you for posting photos of it. :cheers:

Kwidzyn castle

http://www.szlak.zamkigotyckie.org.pl/kwidzyn/3a.jpg

FLAWDA-FELLA

September 30th, 2009, 09:09 PM

After seeing this place I now wanna live in an upside down house too! http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/smilie/konfus/f030.gif

Interesting house and I want to live in one too. :lol:

Urbanista1

October 1st, 2009, 02:29 AM

DocentX

October 1st, 2009, 07:49 AM

Thanks DocentX. I have been dreaming of the perfect Baltic vacation. Krynica Morska looks close to perfect. Did you stay there and could you recommend any hotels/guest houses and is the water warm and clean?

I used to go to Swinoujscie when I visited Poland as a little boy and remember how much fun it was, but can't remember if the water was nice.

I've been to many places on Polish Baltic coast, but never in Krynica Morska. There are many nice towns - I would recommend Hel Penisula (Jurata, Jastarnia, Chalupy, Hel). Apart from that definately Łeba, Ustka or small but lovely Jarosławiec. I've never been to Międzyzdroje, but seems to be a nice destination as well. And of course let's don't forget about Sopot - perfect town to spend some summer days. :cheers:

I've only mentioned a few places - there are more - don't know all of them ;)

DocentX

October 1st, 2009, 10:48 AM

Żuławy

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Zulawy (fens, plural from "żuława") is the alluvial delta area of Vistula, in large part reclaimed artificially by means of dykes, pumps, channels (over 17000 km of total length) and extensive drainage system.

It is a forestless agricultural plain of ca 1000 square km, which falls from a base situated near Biala Gora where Vistula branches, from a height of just over 10 m., a.s.l. to -1.8 m. b.s.l., in the north and particularly north-east, forming a depression (28% of the area).

Farming features wheat, oats, colza, corn, white beets, cabbage and stockbreeding. Zulawy is traditionally divided according to the historical ownership into Zulawy Gdanskie - the western part, from Gdansk to Vistula, Zulawy Malborskie or Zulawy Wielkie (Greater Zulawy) between Vistula and its right arm Nogat and Zulawy Elblaskie - on the eastern bank of Nogat.

Since the 16th century Mennonites who were persecuted in Holland settled in Poland, mainly on the Żuławy and in the valley of the Vistula. They improved the system of draining and canal building and they lead intensive agriculture. What is left from their times is arcade houses, churches, cemeteries with characteristic steles and winmills.

Formerly Zulawy - the Vistula plain was a very wet and marshy land, but the Dutch turned it into a farmland.

"(..) Centuries of human activities are visible in the thousands of kilometers of canals and drainage ditches, a dense drainage network, the banking up of the rivers, pumping stations and the formation of a system of polders. In effect, the natural environment underwent such transformation that it would be difficult to find any fragments, which remain unchanged." (B. Augustowski, Żuławy Wiślane, Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe, Gdańsk 1976)

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/93/43/download/2841459.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/48/22/download/1243418.jpg

DocentX

October 1st, 2009, 11:05 AM

Żuławy - examples of Dutch architecture

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The most characteristic architectural feature of the Dutch colonization in Zulawy is a Dutch house or a homestead.

http://zulawy.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Trutnowy.JPG

http://www.chem.univ.gda.pl/~tomek/image/DSC_2568lecze.jpg

http://img.naszemiasto.pl/grafika2/nowy/55/320_94438_1_d_9112.jpg

http://www.chem.univ.gda.pl/~tomek/image/DSC_1886ww.jpg

http://imggal.trojmiasto.pl/zdj/arch/21400/Szaleniec-dom-podcieniowy-21475.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Bystrze_-_dom_podcieniowy.jpg

http://images29.fotosik.pl/274/6e752c9370a9bf34.jpg

http://www.palczewo.org/obrazy/128.jpg

DocentX

October 2nd, 2009, 09:41 AM

Słowiński National Park

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Słowiński National Park (Polish: Słowiński Park Narodowy) is a National Park in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It is situated on the Baltic coast, between Łeba and Rowy.

In 1977 UNESCO designated the Park a biosphere reserve under its Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MaB).

In the past, the park’s area was a Baltic Sea bay. The sea’s activity, however, created sand dunes which in the course of time separated the bay from the Baltic Sea. As waves and wind carry sand inland the dunes slowly move, at a speed of 3 to 10 meters per year. Some dunes are quite high - up to 30 meters. The highest peak of the Park – Rowokol (115 meters above sea level) – is also an excellent observation point. The "moving dunes" are regarded as a curiosity of nature on a European scale.

Waters, which occupy 55% of Park’s area, are made up of lakes - Łebsko (71.40 km², maximum depth 6.3 m), Gardno (24.68 km², maximum depth 2.6 m) and Dolgie Wielkie (1.46 km², maximum depth 2.9 m). Both Lebsko and Gardno lakes were previously bays. There are also 7 rivers crossing the Park, the largest being the Łeba and the Łupawa.

Forests in the Park are mainly made of pines. These trees cover 80% of wooded areas, there are also peat bogs of several types. Of animals, most numerous are birds with 257 species. This is because Park is located on the paths of migrating birds. They feel safe here because human activities are limited. The most interesting species are: erne, eagle owl, crow, swan and various kinds of ducks. Among mammals, one has to point out deer, elk, wild pig and hare.

http://www.cambridge2000.com/gallery/images/P7157351e.jpg

http://foto.poland.gov.pl/cache/imgs/_w800/gallery/image/KrajobrazyPolski_048.jpg

DocentX

October 2nd, 2009, 09:45 AM

Słowiński National Park

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pl/d/d6/Wydmy_w_Slowinskim_PN1.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol0/23/2/download/4094423.jpg

DocentX

October 2nd, 2009, 01:30 PM

Łeba

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Łeba is a town in Middle Pomerania, Poland, located near Łebsko Lake and the mouth of the river Łeba on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Leba is one of the biggest and most famous resorts in Poland. Leba has a wonderful microclimate. Wide beaches, proximity to the Slowinski National Park where you can watch the famous moving sand dunes. Leba is also ideal for sports, especially windsurfing and horse riding.

In the proximity of Łeba there is a large testing area for long-range rocket weapons. On this area the German long-range rocket Rheinbote was tested between 1941 and 1945. Also the V-1 flying bomb was tested here from 1943 to 1945. Between 1963 and 1973 33 Polish sounding rockets of the type Meteor were launched in Łeba.

Allegedly, the German general Erwin Rommel practiced desert warfare in the vast dunes of Łeba.

http://www.hotel.bakista.pl/pl/img/leba_plaza01_big.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pl/f/fa/Leba_hotel_neptun.jpg

DocentX

October 2nd, 2009, 05:08 PM

Słupsk

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Słupsk is located in the northwestern part of the country, on the Koszalin Coast, 18 kilometres (11 mi) from the Baltic Sea, on the Słupia River. It has a population of 98,757.

The city rights of Słupsk, probably given by Swantopolk II, the duke of Gdańsk in 1265, were extended in 1310 and confirmed in 1313 by the margraves of Brandenburg. By then, the town had become a centre of local administration and trade and a Hanseatic League associate. Between 1368 and 1478, it was the residence of the dukes of Pomerania-Stolp, a partition of the Duchy of Pomerania. In 1648, according to the peace treaty of Osnabrück, Słupsk (then Stolpe) and its surrounding territories of Farther Pomerania were awarded to Brandenburg-Prussia and later formed the Province of Pomerania. The city became part of Poland in 1945.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/70/17/download/1673800.jpg

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss356/allchemik12/DSCF2345.jpg

DocentX

October 2nd, 2009, 05:24 PM

Słupsk

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

http://images34.fotosik.pl/345/2c1d5455741c837e.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/1/80/download/2964988.jpg

DocentX

October 2nd, 2009, 06:21 PM

Welcome to Hel

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Hel Peninsula

Hel Peninsula is a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea.

The width of the peninsula varies from approximately 300 m. near Jurata, through 100 m in the most narrow part to over 3 km at the tip. Since the peninsula was formed entirely of sand, it is frequently turned into an island by winter storms. Until the 17th century the peninsula was a chain of islands that formed a strip of land only during the summer.

A road and a railroad run along the peninsula from the mainland to the town located at the furthest point, Hel, a popular tourist destination. Other towns, ports, and tourist resorts are Jurata, Jastarnia, Kuźnica, Chałupy, and Władysławowo.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4488/p7130022hel1uq7.jpg

Hel

Hel is a town located on the tip of the Hel Peninsula, some 33 kilometres from the Polish mainland.

The Kashubian village of Hel was first mentioned in 1198 as a centre of herring trade area named Gellen. In one of the Danish chronicles of 1219 it is mentioned that a damaged ship of King Valdemar II the Victorious was set ashore on an "Island of Hel". By 13th century the village became one of the most important trade centres of the area, competing with the nearby town of Gdańsk. It was then that the village was granted city rights by Duke Świętopełk II the Great of Pomerania. The privileges were later confirmed in 1378 when the town came under the rule of the Teutonic Knights.

Initially the town was located some 1.5 kilometres from its present-day centre. It contained a church, hospital, city house, two market places, several guest houses and a small port. However, during the 15th century the peninsula started to shrink through marine erosion and soon the town was relocated to a safer location. In 1417 St Peter's Church was built in the town, devoted to the patron saint of fishermen. Hel experienced a period of growth, but was later left behind by the faster growing city of Gdańsk. In 1466 King Casimir IV of Poland granted the town as a fief to the rulers of Gdańsk, which ended the century-long struggle for economical domination over the Gdańsk Bay. In 1526 Polish King Sigismund I the Old withdrew all privileges previously granted to Hel and sold the town and the peninsula to the city authorities of Gdańsk. Since then Hel's fate was tied to the fortunes of its bigger neighbour.

The period of decline was halted in 1893 when a fishing harbour was built in the village. It provided a shelter for fishing vessels, but also became a popular destination for weekend trips of the inhabitants of Gdańsk and Sopot. In 1896 the village was granted the status of a sea-side resort.

As a result of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles Poland was re-established as an independent nation, Hel became part of Poland. In 1921 a new railway was built along the peninsula connecting the town to the mainland. The authorities of the Pomeranian voivodship also planned to build a road to the village, but the peninsula was found too narrow at the time.

Soon Hel became one of the most important tourism centres in Polish Pomerania. New suburbs of villas were built for tourists, as well as a new church, school, fishing institute and geophysical observatory. In addition, the village became one of the two main naval bases of the Polish Navy. The harbour was expanded and in 1936 the president declared the peninsula a "Fortified Area" under jurisdiction of the Polish Army. The naval base was expanded significantly and a battery of coastal artillery was built to provide cover for the military facilities.

During the Invasion of Poland the Hel Peninsula was one of the longest-defended pockets of Polish Army resistance. Approximately 3,000 soldiers of the Coastal Defence Group (Grupa Obrony Wybrzeża) units under Kapitan [Stanislaw Zwartynski]"The Defender of Hel" defended the area against overwhelming odds until October 2, 1939. Shortly before capitulation, Polish military engineers detonated a number of torpedo warheads, which separated the peninsula from the mainland transforming it into an island. During World War II the Kriegsmarine used the Hel naval base to train U-Boat crews. At the end of the war the village was the last part of Polish soil to be liberated: the German units encircled there surrendered on May 10, 1945, two days after Germany capitulated.

After the war the village yet again became a naval base. In 1960 a road linking Hel with Jastarnia on the mainland was built. Three years later city rights were reintroduced. Since then the tourist industry started to recover and several hotels, guest houses and pensions were built. In 1996 the Polish Navy sold all remaining parts of the peninsula to the civilian authorities and only a small naval base is located there today.

The harbour now serves primarily as a yacht marina. Hel houses a sea life biological laboratory and there are interesting examples of naval armament and equipment exhibited throughout the town.

The most easterly edge of Hel, which was once a military territory, can now be accessed by the general public making it possible to walk all the way around the peninsula.

http://odkryjpomorze.pl/obrazy_obiektow/2507/4761.jpg

DocentX

October 3rd, 2009, 11:46 AM

Jastarnia

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Jastarnia is a small town in Puck County, Pomeranian Voivodship, northern Poland. It is located on the Hel Peninsula on the Baltic Sea.

Popular Polish seaside resort and small fishing port.

http://www.oazaborek.katolicki.eu/news/photo/jastarnia.JPG

Hotel Spa "Dom Zdrojowy"

http://www.inpro.com.pl/zdrojowy/i/zd88.jpg

http://www.inpro.com.pl/zdrojowy/i/zd92.jpg

http://www.spa-info.pl/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dom_zdrojowy.jpg

DocentX

October 3rd, 2009, 06:58 PM

Pelplin

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Pelplin is a small town in Pomeranian Voivodship, Poland. Population: 9,993 (2007).

Pelplin as the Episcopal city and a capital of diocese is very valuable to the whole region of Pomerania. The biggest highlight of the town is the Cistercian group of antique buildings the heart of which is the Cathedral (one of the most prominent works of the gothic architecture).

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/alexlie/IMG_5331a.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e27/alexlie/IMG_5347a.jpg

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 09:53 AM

Ustka

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Ustka is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northwestern Poland with 17,100 inhabitants (2001).

The first settlers arrived at Ustka as early as the 9th century, and established a fishing settlement with the original name of Ujść.

The area at the mouth of the river Słupia (Stolpe) was ceded to the town of Słupsk (Stolp) in 1337 with the purpose to built a fishing harbour and a commercial port there to the Baltic Sea. According to documents in 1355 a church was built. In 1382 the city of Stolp (Słupsk) became a member of the Hanseatic League.

The town was given to Brandenburg-Prussia as part of the Duchy of Pomerania after the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The first railway station was opened in 1878. The rails were transported by the sea and the bedding for the track was formed by sand taken from the dunes on the Western Beach. The first passenger train departed Ustka (then Stolpmünde) on 1 October 1878. The rail was also used as a main transport facilitating the trade from the harbour. The rail track was extended to run into the harbour, trading mostly grain and spirits. Records state that in 1887, the local harbour shipped 5 million litres of plain spirits. The Harbour lost its importance after the World War II, fishing taking priority over trade. The current shape of the harbour is a result of an investment between 1899 and 1903 creating the largest port between Szczecin and Gdańsk.

Ustka is a popular tourist destination and a fishing port on the south coasts of the Baltic. For a number of years, the town has won a string of local awards for the best summer place in the country. Since the end of the 19th century, Ustka has been recognised as a summer holiday resort and various illnesses treatment and recovery centre.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_BjzOIT9sQ1A/R4pmh4RyE6I/AAAAAAAAAgA/i_KQD2-Rf8c/Morze+jesie%C5%84+2007+078.jpg

http://www.from.okay.pl/fotkom/rower/2008/DSC00274.JPG

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 10:02 AM

Ustka

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

The old part of the town has retained its layout since the Middle Ages. The small residential buildings were modernised in the thirties of the 19th century, however the layout of the streets was not changed. Since 2005, Ustka's authorities and the European Union embarked on the Revitilisation Programme for Old Ustka. Many buildings have and are being restored.

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss356/allchemik12/DSCF0087.jpg

http://i591.photobucket.com/albums/ss356/allchemik12/DSCF0030k.jpg

http://images26.fotosik.pl/77/68699d095688c66bmed.jpg

http://images25.fotosik.pl/77/b6bde6f2cf47fa53med.jpg

http://images23.fotosik.pl/77/86e47829fbf53a93med.jpg

http://images13.fotosik.pl/75/aa73ff3a4798a0a7med.jpg

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 11:06 AM

Chojnice

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Chojnice is a town in northern Poland with 39 670 inhabitants (2004), near famous Tuchola Forest, Lake Charzykowskie and many other water reservoirs.

Duchy of Pomerelia or Eastern Pomerania

Around 1230 - Konitz founded by Hermann von Balk († 1239), German knight of the Teutonic Order 1275 – first notice of Chojnice / Konitz in documents.

Teutonic Order 1309 - 1466

1309 – German Teutonic Order rule: Eastern Pomerania (often known as Pomerelia), became much absorbed into the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights 1340 - 1360 church Hl. Johannes Täufer; 14th century walls and 22 towers being erected by the Teutonic Order 1410 – Polish army occupies the town but has to return it to the Order according to the Treaty of Thorn 1417-1436 Konitz becomes an important centre for textile production 18.09.1454 – Polish army of King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk loses the Battle of Konitz 28.09.1466 – Teutonic Order has to surrender Konitz to the Polish army, after three month siege.

Poland 1466 - 1772

19.10.1466 Konitz being annexed by Poland according to the 2nd Treaty of Thorn 1555 – city council accepts reformation officially, the Protestants take over the church, the Roman Catholic priest Jan Siński dies in the following turmoil 1620 – the Jesuits fight the reformation movement 10.04.1627 - town burns 18.12.1657 - town burns 1655 - 1660 war against Sweden, see Battle of Chojnice (1656) 1700 - 1721 war 15.04.1742 - town burns third time.

Prussia 1772 - 1871

12.09.1772 – Konitz becomes Prussian / First partition of Poland 1864 - telegraph to Stettin

German Empire 1871- 1920

15.11.1871 – railway to Schneidemühl (Piła) 1870 – Gas power plant 1873 - railway to Dirschau (Tczew) 1877 – railway to Stettin 1886 – hospital 1894 – railway to Nakel (Nakło) 1900 – water supply system and electricity power plant 1902 – railway to Berent (Kościerzyna) 1900-1902 Konitz ritual murder case & antisemitic pogrom 1909 – used water system 1912 – ,,Gazeta Chojnicka" first Polish language newspaper in town

Poland 1920-1939

31.01.1920 – Polish troops enter the town according to the Treaty of Versailles, town being renamed Chojnice 06.08.1932 – regional museum Chojnice

Third Reich 1939 - 1945 (Reichsgau Westpreußen)

01.09.1939 – 4.45 o´clock German Wehrmacht occupies Chojnice, town renamed Konitz (see Battle of Chojnice (1939)) 15.09.1939 – execution of Poles in the city forest (Stadtwald).

Poland 1945

14.02.1945 – Red Army occupies the town, 800 soldiers die, town centre heavily damaged (45%). reconstruction by Polish authorities follows.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/62/70/download/2998078.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/69/6/download/3875551.jpg

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 11:11 AM

Chojnice

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Chojnice_Fontanna.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/13/56/download/2977760.jpg

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 11:36 AM

Jastrzębia Góra

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_pomorskie.gif

Jastrzebia Gora is a small town in Pomorskie in Poland. It is situated at the coast of Pommerania at a wide sandy beach. It is the most northern part of Poland and by many regarded as one of the most beautiful part of the Polish coast.

http://www.agawa.jastrzebiagora.pl/plaza_jastrzebia_gora.jpg

http://www.jastrzebiagora.pl/galeria/b115.jpg

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 01:47 PM

Bory Tucholskie (The Tuchola Forest)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/314.71_Bory_Tucholskie.png

The Tuchola Forest (Polish: Bory Tucholskie) is a large forest near the town of Tuchola in northern Poland, and lies between the Brda and Wda Rivers.

The area was formed during the last glacial age and is covered with low hills and more than 900 post-glacial lakes. With 1,200 km² of dense spruce and pine forest, the area is one of the biggest forests in Poland and Central Europe. Since 1996 part of the area has been designated as the Tuchola Forest National Park, covering 46.13 square kilometres (17.81 sq mi). Approximately 30% of the area is inhabited by the Kociewiacy people.

The Kociewiacy are a Polish ethnic group. They live in Pomerania south of Gdansk. The region they inhabit is called Kociewie and has well-developed industry and agriculture. The capital city of Kociewie is Starogard Gdański, while their biggest city is Tczew. Most of the Kociewiacy are Roman Catholics.

They live next to the other important ethnic group in the area, the Kashubians.

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1562841.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/50/57/download/2090775.jpg

DocentX

October 4th, 2009, 11:56 PM

Katowice

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Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers (tributaries of the Oder and the Vistula). Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about 50 km on north from the Silesian Beskids (part of the Carpathian Mountains) and about 100 km on south-east from Sudetes Mountains.

Katowice is large local center of science, culture, industry, business and transportation. Katowice is the main city in the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, and of the 2,7 million conurbation, the Katowice urban area, within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population within the city limits is 312,201.

The area around Katowice in Upper Silesia has been inhabited by ethnic Silesians from its earliest documented history. It was first ruled by the Polish Silesian Piast dynasty (until its extinction). From 1335 it was a part of the Crown of Bohemia. In 1526 the territory passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy after the death of King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia. In 1742 most of Silesia was annexed from Austria by the Kingdom of Prussia during the First Silesian War.

Katowice was founded in the 19th century and gained city status in 1865 as Kattowitz in the Prussian Province of Silesia. The city flourished due to large mineral (especially coal) deposits in the nearby mountains. Extensive city growth and prosperity depended on the coal mining and steel industries, which took off during the Industrial Revolution. Kattowitz was inhabited mainly by Germans, Silesians, Jews and Poles. Previously part of the Beuthen district, in 1873 it became the capital of the new Kattowitz district. On 1 April 1899, the city of Kattowitz was separated from the district, becoming an independent city.

According to the Treaty of Versailles after World War I the Upper Silesia plebiscite was organised by the League of Nations. In the voting district of Katowice overall (combined with rural areas near the city and castle area) they were 66,119 votes for Poland and 52,992 for Germany and following the Silesian Uprisings (1918-21) Katowice became part of the Second Polish Republic with a certain level of autonomy (Silesian Parliament as a constituency and Silesian Voivodeship Council as the executive body).

In 1953 the city was renamed Stalinogród ("Stalin City") by the Polish communist government. However, the new name was never accepted by the city's population and in 1956 the former name of 'Katowice' was restored.

Severe ecological damage to the environment occurred during the post-Second World War time of communist governance in the People's Republic of Poland, but recent changes in regulations, procedures and policies of Polish government since the fall of Communism have reversed much of the harm that was done.

Due to economic reforms, there has been a shift away from heavy industry, and towards business.

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DocentX

October 5th, 2009, 09:52 AM

Katowice

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Mariacka street - recently revitalized

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DocentX

October 5th, 2009, 01:21 PM

Katowice

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DocentX

October 5th, 2009, 01:31 PM

Katowice

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Urbanista1

October 5th, 2009, 05:59 PM

Katowice is such a unique and authentic city who's time has come. I really hope they move forward soon to redevelop the main railway station - it is a very ugly gateway into an otherwise fascinating city.

republic_srpska

October 5th, 2009, 06:19 PM

Slavic beauty:cheers:

DocentX

October 5th, 2009, 08:04 PM

Slavic beauty:cheers:

Serbia is also beautiful and fascinating country :cheers:

I think Poland and Balkan Slavs share many similar values :cheers:

DocentX

October 5th, 2009, 09:27 PM

Katowice

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Nikiszowiec

Nikiszowiec, city in the city, the most remarkable part of Katowice and probably one of the most amazing old industrial urban areas in Europe, was built by mining company Georg von Giesche's Erben as the living area for miners employed in Nikisch Coal Mine.

On the area of 200 000 m2 Emil and Georg Zillman designed about 1000 flats in blocks built on the oblong plan with close garden inside each quarter.
The area also contained public park, church, Police station, Inn, school with flats for teachers and of course shops, laundry and public bath.

After war Nikiszowiec considered as inner city faced its decline but luckily now is getting popular and fashionable.

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DocentX

October 5th, 2009, 10:49 PM

Katowice

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DocentX

October 6th, 2009, 01:26 PM

Gliwice

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Gliwice (German: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Gliwice is the west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder).

Gliwice is one of the cities of a 2.7 million conurbation known as the Katowice urban area and is within the larger Silesian metropolitan area, which has a population of about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 197,393.

Gliwice was first mentioned as a town in 1276 and was ruled during the Middle Ages by the Silesian dukes from Polish Piast dynasty. It became a possession of the Bohemia crown in 1335, passing with that crown to the Austrian Habsburgs as Gleiwitz in 1526.

Because of the vast expenses incurred by the Habsburg Monarchy during their 16 century wars against the Ottoman Empire, Gleiwitz was leased to Friedrich Zettritz for the meager amount of 14,000 thalers. Although the original lease was for a duration of 18 years, it was renewed in 1580 for 10 years and in 1589 for an additional 18 years.

During the mid 18th century Silesian Wars, Gliwice was taken from Austria by the Kingdom of Prussia along with the majority of Silesia. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Gleiwitz was administered in the Prussian district of Tost-Gleiwitz within the Province of Silesia in 1816. The city was incorporated with Prussia into the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany. In 1897 Gleiwitz became its own Stadtkreis, or urban district.

Gleiwitz began to develop into a major city through industrialization during the 19th century. The town's ironworks fostered the growth of other industrial fields in the area. During the late 19th century Gleiwitz had: 14 distilleries, 2 breweries, 5 mills, 7 brick factories, 3 sawmills, a shingle factory, 8 chalk factories and 2 glassworks.

Other features of the 19th century industrialized Gleiwitz were a gasworks, a furnace factory, a beer bottling company, and a plant for asphalt and paste. Economically, Gleiwitz opened several banks, Savings and loan associations, and bond centers. Its tram system was completed in 1892, while its theater was opened in 1899; until World War II, Gleiwitz' theatre featured actors from through Europe and was one of the most famous theatres of entire Germany. The city's population in 1875 was 14,156.

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, Gleiwitz's population in 1905 was 61,324. By 1911 it had two Protestant and four Roman Catholic churches, a synagogue, a mining school, a convent, a hospital, two orphanages, and a barracks. Gleiwitz was the center of the mining industry of Upper Silesia. It possessed a royal foundry, with which were connected machine factories and boilerworks. Other industrialized areas of the city had other foundries, meal mills, and factories producing wire, gas pipes, cement, and paper.

After the end of World War I, clashes between Poles and Germans occurred during the Silesian Uprisings. Ethnically Polish inhabitants of Upper Silesia wanted to incorporate the city not into Germany, but into the Second Polish Republic. The differences between Germans and Poles led to the First & Second Silesian Uprisings, and German resistance against them. Seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict, the League of Nations held a plebiscite on March 20, 1921 to determine which country the city should belong to. In Gleiwitz, 32,029 votes (78.7% of given votes) were for remaining in Germany, Poland received 8,558 (21.0%) votes, and 113 (0.3%) votes were declared invalid. The total voter turnout was listed as 97.0%. This prompted the Third Silesian Uprising, which then forced the League of Nations to arbitrate. It determined that three Silesian towns: Gleiwitz/Gliwice, Hindenburg/Zabrze and Beuthen/Bytom would remain in Germany, and the rest of Upper Silesia with its main town of Katowice (Kattowitz) would join restored Poland.

An attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz on August 31, 1939, staged by the German secret police, served as a pretext for Nazi Germany to invade Poland, which marked the start of the Second World War. The city was placed under Polish administration according to the 1945 Potsdam Conference and thus part of the Silesian-Dabrowa Voivodeship. Most of the German population was expelled to Germany as stated by the Potsdam Conference and replaced with Poles.

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DocentX

October 6th, 2009, 04:13 PM

Gliwice

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Urbanista1

October 6th, 2009, 06:23 PM

Looks like a very beautiful city that didn't suffer much destruction during WWII.

Nikiszowiec really should be a UNESCO site. Amazing

DocentX

October 7th, 2009, 12:29 PM

Sosnowiec

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Sosnowiec is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Brynica river (tributary of the Vistula).

Sosnowiec is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 222,586 (2008).

It is sometimes known by the names Sosnowietz, Sosnowitz, Sosnovitz (Yiddish), Sosnovyts, Sosnowyts, Sosnovytz, Sosnowytz, Сосновец (Russian), Sosnovetz. There are 5 other smaller towns in Poland also called Sosnowiec.

Sosnowiec was granted city rights only in 1902, over a century after the military partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The rights were created by joining together a number of settlements often several centuries old. The oldest of them were: Milowice, Sielec and Pogoń, while Modrzejów, Niwka, Środula and Radocha were not much younger either.

Sosnowiec belonged originally to the Kraków Voivodeship (14th century-1795). As a result of the third partition of Poland however, it was seized by the Kingdom of Prussia and joined with the New Silesia. During the Napoleonic Wars against Prussians, it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw and later, Congress Poland ruled by the namestniks of the Russian Empire. In June 1902, by the order of tsar Nicholas II, Sosnowiec was legally named a city with the area of 19 km² and with 60,000 inhabitants. Obtaining the city rights helped the dynamic economic and cultural development of the town. Apart from steelworks and coal-mines and many enterprises of heavy and light industry, new cultural and social establishments were opened as well.

Natural resources and good geographical location near the borders of German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, had an important influence on the development of Sosnowiec. Opening of branch line of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway in 1859 was of vital importance for the growth of the town. Development of industry with the new factory of rope and wire, rolling mill, steelworks, iron foundry, steam boilers factory, and later spinning mill, dye-house and paper mill sealed the new image of the town as entirely urban. The Summer Theatre, and in 1887 the Winter Theatre were founded, the second of which was called City Theatre from 1924 in already independent Poland, and later the Theatre of Zagłębie.

Sosonowiec suffered war damages during both military conflicts in the 20th century, the First World War, which caused mainly destruction to industry, and during World War II, which brought about the terror of executions, which however, did not diminish the courage of Sosnowiec people, many of whom were active in the resistance.

Sosonowiec is characterised by its urban dynamics, economic activity, and care for both, its cultural heritage and natural environment. In recent years, Sosnowiec was further transformed from an industrial center with mainly mining and heavy industries into a hub of trade and services. Nevertheless, it still operates several important coal mines, steel factories and other heavy industrial plants.

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DocentX

October 7th, 2009, 12:37 PM

Sosnowiec

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DocentX

October 7th, 2009, 05:41 PM

Chorzów

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Chorzów (German: Königshütte [ˈkøːnɪçshʏtə]) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with the population of 2 millions. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa River (a tributary of the Vistula).

Chorzów is one of the cities of the 2.7 million conurbation - the Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area with the population of about 5,294,000 people. The population within the city limits is 113,678 (2008).

Chorzów used to be one of the most important cities in the largest Polish economic area (the Upper Silesian Industry Area) with extensive industry in coal mining, steel, chemistry, manufacturing, and energy sectors. Many heavy-industry establishments were closed or scaled down in the last two decades because of environmental issues in the center of a highly-urbanized area, and also because of decades-long lack of investment. Others were restructured and modernized. Wedged between a dozen of other cities, the population has been decreasing. The city character has been evolving towards the service economy as new industrial development takes mostly place at the border of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union.

The city of Chorzów was formed in 1934-1939 by a merger of 4 adjacent cities: Chorzów, Królewska Huta, Nowe Hajduki and Hajduki Wielkie. The name of the oldest settlement Chorzów was applied to the amalgamated city.

In 2007, Chorzów became a part of Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, effectively forming the largest legally-recognized urban entity in Poland. The Latin word Silesia seems to be the favourite candidate for the name of the new metropolis.

Chorzów (German Chorzow): The etymology of the name is not known. Chorzów is believed to be first mentioned as Zversov or Zuersov (u and v were written similar in Middle Ages) in a document of 1136 by Pope Innocent II as village with peasants, silver miners and two inns. Another place name likely indicating Chorzów is Coccham or Coccha, which is mentioned in a document of 1198 by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who awarded this place to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Next, Chorzów is mentioned as Chareu (Charev) in 1257 and then Charzow in 1292. The last name may originate from the personal name Charz, short for Zachary and may mean Zachary's place. The a in the early names may have been later modified to the current pronunciation with o perhaps due to similarity to the common adjective chory=ill and a presence of a hospital (which was moved in 1299 to Bytom). Today, the place of the old village is a subdivision called Chorzów III or Chorzów Stary = the Old Chorzów.

Królewska Huta (German Königshütte): The industrial and residential settlement south-west of Chorzów constructed since 1797 around the Royal Coal Mine and Royal Iron Works was named Królewska Huta by the Poles or Königshütte by the Germans, both names meaning Royal Iron Works. As it was growing quickly this settlement was granted city status in 1868. Today this neighbourhood is called Chorzów I or Chorzów-Miasto meaning Chorzów Centre.

Hajduki (German Heiduk): the name etymology is ambiguous and is interpreted[4] as either (1) related to the German word for moorland (German: die Heide), or (2) adopted from the German/Polish/Silesian term for hajduk(s) (Polish (plural): Hajduki; German (singular): Heiduck), which locally meant bandits. The place was first mentioned in 1627 as Hejduk and shown on 18th century maps as "Ober Heiduk" and "Neider Heiduk" (i.e., Upper and Lower Heiduk). The later names Hajduki Wielkie and Nowe Hajduki mean Great Hajduks and New Hajduks, respectively. The two settlements were merged in 1903 and named after the Bismarck Iron Works Bismarckhütte. When the international borders shifted, the name of Bismarck was replaced with the name of the Polish king Batory (so-chosen to preserve that initial "B", which appeared on an economically-important local trademark). Today this city subdivision is called Chorzów IV or Chorzów-Batory.

In the 12 century, the castellany of Bytom, including the Chorzów area, belonged to the province of Kraków. In 1179 it was awarded by Duke Casimir the Just to the Duke of Opole, and since that time the history of Chorzów has been connected to the history of Upper Silesia (Duchy of Opole).

The oldest part of the city, the village of Chorzów, today called Chorzów Stary, belonged since 1257 to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Already at that time silver and lead ores were mined nearby, later also the ores of iron. There is more documentation for 16th century developments.

Since 1327 the Upper Silesian duchies ruled by the dukes of the Piast dynasty were subject to Bohemian kingdom overlordship, Bohemian kingdom itself elected a Polish-Lituanian Jagiellons kings since 1490 and the Austrian Habsburgs kings since 1526. In 1742 the area was conquered by the Prussian Hohenzollerns in Silesian Wars, setting the stage for the Prussian industrial might. The Prussian and then German period lasted for about 180 years and overlapped with the time of rapid industrialization.

With the discovery of bituminous coal deposits at the end of the 18th century by a local church priest, new industrial sectors developed in the Chorzów area. In the years 1791–1797 the Prussian state-owned Royal Coal Mine was constructed (Kopalnia Król, Königsgrube, later renamed several times with the changing political winds). In 1799, first pig iron was made in the Royal Iron Works (Królewska Huta, Königshütte). At the time, it was a pioneering industrial establishment of its kind in continental Europe. In 1819 the iron works consisted of 4 blast furnaces, producing 1,400 tons of pig-iron. In the 1800s the modern Lidognia Zinc Works was added in the area. In 1871 the iron works were taken over by the holding called Vereingte Königs- und Laurahütte AG für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb, which added a steel mill, rail mill and workshops. In the vicinity of the Royal Coal Mine, Countess Laura Coal Mine was opened in 1870, and by 1913–1914 coal production increased to 1 million tons a year. In 1898, a thermal power plant was commissioned which was, until the 1930s, the biggest electricity producer in Poland with power of 100 MW (electrical). Today, it operates as "ELCHO". In 1915, nitrogen chemical works (Oberschlesische Stickstoffwerke) were built nearby to produce fertilizers and explosives by newly invented processes: from air, water and coal (see Haber-Bosch process). Today, it operates as "Zakłady Azotowe SA".

Settlements grew near the new coal and iron works. Since 1797, one group of settlements was called Königshütte (Królewska Huta in Polish) after the iron works. In 1846 Królewska Huta received a railway track to Świętochłowice and Mysłowice, in 1857 to Bytom and till 1872 to all major cities in the Silesian region. Królewska Huta received city status in 1868 as part of Bytom County, and in 1898 it was made a separate city-county.

The population of Królewska Huta was increasing rapidly: from 19,500 inhabitants in 1870 to 72,600 in 1910. Among them 17,300 workers were employed in the industry (similar number for 1939). The population spoke mostly Silesian or German.

In the village of Hajduki Wielkie, just south of Chorzów and Królewska Huta, Bismarck Iron Works (Bismarckhütte), were opened in 1872, later called Bathory Iron Works (Huta Batory). A large carbochemical plant was started in 1889, the first such chemical plant in what was to later become the Polish state. Today the company operates as "Zakłady Koksochemiczne Hajduki SA".

Towards the end of 19 century, Chorzów experienced a revival of Polish national feelings. Ethnic tensions were mixed with the religious and class conflicts. Karol Miarka was the editor of Polish books and newspapers including Katolik (The Catholic) published in Królewska Huta since 1868, Poradnik Gospodarski since 1879. He was also the founder of several organizations: Upper Silesian Union, Upper Silesian Peasants Union. Juliusz Ligoń was a Polish activist and poet.

After the World War I (1914-1918), the Second Polish Republic gained independence in 1918. Depite the Upper Silesia plebiscite with largely pro-German result in the city itself (adjacent areas voted for Poland), following three Silesian uprisings, the eastern part of Silesia, including Chorzów and Królewska Huta, was separated from Germany and awarded to Poland in 1922. Migrations of people followed. Because of its strategic value, the case of the nitrogen factory Oberschlesische Stickstoffwerke was argued for years before the Permanent Court of International Justice, finally setting some new legal precedences on what is "just" in international relations[5]. In 1934 the industrial communities of Chorzów, Królewska Huta and Nowe Hajduki were merged into one municipality with 81,000 inhabitants. The name of the oldest settlement Chorzów was given to the whole city. In April 1939 the settlement of Hajduki Wielkie with 30,000 inhabitants was added to Chorzów.

In part due to the German-Polish trade war in the 1920s, the industry of Chorzów, a border city at that time, stagnated until 1933. In 1927, a division of Huta Piłsudski was separated into a company making rail cars, trams and bridges; today it operates as Alstom-Konstal. The State Factory of Nitrogen Compounds (Państwowa Fabryka Związków Azotowych) was in 1933 merged with a similar company (largely its copy) in Tarnów-Mościce.

At the end of World War II, Chorzów (with the balance of Silesia) was re-incorporated into Poland. Generally, the Chorzów industry suffered little damage during World War II due to its inaccessibility to Allied bombing, a Soviet Army enveloping maneuver in January 1945[7], and perhaps Albert Speer's slowness or refusal to implement the scorched earth policy. This intact industry now played a critical role in the post-war reconstruction and industralization of Poland. After the war, businesses were nationalized and operated, with minor changes, till 1989. At the fall of communism in 1989, the area was in decline. Since 1989, the region has been transitioning from heavy industry to a more diverse economy. In 2007, Chorzów became a part of Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a voluntary union of a continuous chain of cities aimed at increasing the poor visibility of the area, improving its competitiveness, and modernizing the infrastructure.

In this period, the region experienced several waves of migrations, including those commencing in 1945 (to Germany and from Poland), in 1971 (to Germany), in 1982 (to Western countries), and in 2005 (to other countries of the EU).

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DocentX

October 7th, 2009, 05:48 PM

Chorzów

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DocentX

October 7th, 2009, 05:57 PM

Chorzów

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'Silesia' Stadium

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Chorzów's park

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 03:28 PM

Zabrze

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Zabrze (German: Hindenburg O.S., Silesian: Zobrze) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (tributary of the Oder).

Zabrze is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 189,062 (2008).

Biskupice, which is now a Zabrze subdivision, was first mentioned in 1243 as Biscupici dicitur cirka Bitom. Zabrze (later Alt-Zabrze) was mentioned in 1295-1305 as Sadbre sive Cunczindorf. Beginning in the Late Middle Ages, the local Silesian Piast dukes invited German settlers to the territory resulting in increasing German settlement of the area.

Zabrze was inherited by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526 and was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia during the 18th century Silesian Wars. In 1774 nearby Dorotheendorf settlement was founded. With the first mine opened in Zabrze in 1790, the town became an important site for mining in 19th century. When Upper Silesia was partitioned between Poland and Germany in 1921, Zabrze remained in Germany. The settlement received its city charter in 1922.

In 1905 the Zabrze commune was formed by the former communes Alt-Zabrze, Klein-Zabrze and Dorotheendorf. The Zabrze commune was renamed Hindenburg in 1915 to honor Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg. In 1922 the commune and other places were formed into a new city, named Hindenburg. After the city became part of Poland in that year following World War II the city was renamed on May 19, 1945 in Zabrze and most of the remaining German inhabitants were expelled according to the Potsdam Conference.

Like other towns in this populous region, it is an important manufacturing centre, having coal-mines, iron, wire, glass, chemical and oil works, breweries, etc.

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 03:31 PM

Zabrze

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 05:27 PM

Zabrze

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GUIDO mine

The monumental mine „Guido” in Zabrze is the only museum of coal mining in Europe, in which the sightseers can go down under the ground to authentic mine workings.

The mine was established in 1855 and its founder was Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck, the great landowner and industrial baron. It lost on its meaning in 30 ties years of the XX century, and after World War II it became an inoperative region of „Makoszowy” mine. In its present shape, as a mining skansen museum, it has functioned since June 2007.

Initially the surface part was made available for sightseeing and the 170 m horizon at which the conditions in which miners used to work in the XIX century were reconstructed. Besides the authentic machines and equipment also the mining headings were reproduced and stables. The sightseeing is being accompanied by audio visual effects. In near future the tourists will be able to admire the 320 m horizon, on which the operation of the XX century’s mine is to be presented.

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 05:42 PM

Zabrze

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 05:48 PM

Bytom

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Bytom (German: Beuthen) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The central-western district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Bytom is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Bytomka river (tributary of the Kłodnica).

The city belongs to the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999. Previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship. Bytom is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 184,765 (2008).

Bytom is one of the oldest cities of Upper Silesia, having been known as Bitom in 1136 and Beuthen since 1440. It received city rights from Polish prince Władysław in 1254 with its first centrally located market square. The city of Bytom benefited economically from its location on a trade route linking Kraków with Silesia from east to west, and Hungary with Moravia and Greater Poland from north to south.

The first Roman Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary was built in 1231. In 1259 Bytom was raided by the Mongols. The Duchy of Opole was split and in 1281 Bitom became a separate duchy, since 1289 under overlordship and administration by the Kingdom of Bohemia. Due to German settlers coming to the area, the city with time was Germanized. It came under control of the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526, which increased the influence of the German language.

The city became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1742 during the Silesian Wars and part of the German Empire in 1871. In the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries, the city rapidly grew and industrialized. During World War II, the Beuthen Jewish community was liquidated via the first ever Holocaust transport to be exterminated at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In 1945 the city was transferred to Poland as a result of the Potsdam Conference. Its German population was largely expelled by the Polish and Soviet armies, and populated with repatriated Poles from the eastern provinces annexed by the Soviets, however some indigenous Silesian population remained.

In the post-war period the city did not experience significant investments. Bytom is now a typical Polish post-industrial city. The majority of its coal mines are now closed, while its steel mills are slowly fading. The city is struggling to transform its economic profile from industry to services. Bytom cooperates with two cities with more or less the same problems: Recklinghausen in Germany, and Butte-Silver Bow, United States. The city has a considerable unemployment rate which is centered in the poorest part of the city, the Bobrek subdivision.

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 05:54 PM

Bytom

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DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 06:01 PM

Bytom

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burgund

October 8th, 2009, 10:21 PM

Poznań

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2 photo from me :)

DocentX

October 8th, 2009, 10:54 PM

Ruda Śląska

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Ruda Śląska is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It is a district in the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (tributary of the Oder).

Ruda Śląska is one of the cities in the Katowice urban area (population 2.7 million) and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area (population 5,294,000). The population of the city is 144,584 (2008).

A large village is known to have existed at the location of the present day city center in 1243. The city name appears to indicate the awareness and perhaps exploitation of ores from early times.

The area underwent rapid industrialization (coal, steel, zinc) in the 19th and the beginning of 20th century. However, it remained a cluster of industrial settlements and villages until the 1950s, when it was administratively united. It never developed into a truly unified city.

After the fall of communism in 1989, the significant heavy industry was largely scaled down or restructured. The area has been transforming to a service-based economy. The well-known still operating coal mine is "Halemba".

Since 2007, Ruda Śląska has been a member of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, the largest legally recognized urban area in Poland.

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DocentX

October 9th, 2009, 09:35 AM

Ruda Śląska

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DocentX

October 9th, 2009, 12:03 PM

Pszczyna

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Pszczyna is a town in southern Poland with 26,827 inhabitants (2003) within the immediate gmina rising to 50,121 inhabitants/

The history of Pszczyna is intertwined with the history of the Polish Piast dynasty and their local residence, the 12th century castle palace now a site of the Muzeum Zamkowe (Castle Museum) at the main square.

Early in the 12th century, Pszczyna laid within the territory of the Polish Piast dynasty. The city belonged to Lesser Poland (Małopolska) until 1177, when it became part of the Duchy of Racibórz. From this time on, it was also a part of the Kraków bishopric.

In 1336, the main line of the dukes of Racibórz died out and the Duchy was ruled by the Czech Přemyslid dynasty. From 1412 until 1452, Countess Helena, sister of Jogaila, ruled the Duchy. After her stepdaughter governed from 1452 until 1462, the Podebradies took over. The Thurzó family acquired the Duchy and sold it, with the approval of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1548 to the Promnitz family, who ruled the Duchy until 1765; it was inherited from them by the Dukes of Anhalt-Cöthen-Pless, and in 1846 by the Counts of Hochberg.

The city is first mentioned in a document from 1327, as most probably founded in the late 13th century on the trade route from Kraków to Cieszyn. The city was famed for its fish, mostly carp, exported to Kraków and beyond, due to many streams and swamps in the area. During the Middle Ages the region became part of the Duchies of Silesia known as the Duchy of Pszczyna. Pszczyna and the surrounding area got populated by German settlers during Medieval Ostsiedlung, but from the 16th century on it was predominantly Polish again. Frederick II of Prussia conquered the Duchy from its Habsburg rule in the War of the Austrian Succession, encompassing most of Silesia.

In the beginning of the 19th century, small-scale industrialisation started with factories manufacturing garters. The first newspaper in all of Upper Silesia was founded here. In 1868 the railroad to Czechowice-Dziedzice arrived. Because of the Germanisation under Prussian rule the German share of the population increased. For example, in 1829, 94,3% of the population in Pszczyna county declared themselves Polish, but according to the 1900 census this number had decreased to 86,6%. In 1910 census 105,744 citizens spoke Polish (86,0%), 16,464 German, 447 Polish and German and 242 another language.

One of the Silesian Uprisings, led by Albert or Wojciech Korfanty, started in the city on August 16, 1919. In 1922, the city was officially joined with Poland.

During the Invasion of Poland the Wehrmacht marching into Pszczyna in September 1939 was met with fierce resistance. On 14 September, 14 Poles were killed by Germans invading the county. In the winter of 1944-1945, death marches from the Auschwitz concentration camp passed through the city.

Castle in Pszczyna (Polish: Zamek pszczyński) is a classicist magnate palace in Pszczyna. Constructed as a castle in 13th century or earlier, in a gothic style, it was rebuilt in renaissance style in 17th century, in baroque in 18th century and classicist in 19th century; the classicist modernization transformed the castle into what is usually described a palace.

In its history the castle was a residence of local Piasts dynasty members, then Promnitz family (mid 16th to mid 18th centuries) and later, von Pless family. The castle was owned by the government since 1936. Since 1946 it is a site of the Muzeum Zamkowe (Castle Museum).

Pszczyna castle

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DocentX

October 9th, 2009, 12:16 PM

Pszczyna

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Pszczyna castle

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DocentX

October 9th, 2009, 01:23 PM

Pszczyna

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ted5012

October 9th, 2009, 01:32 PM

Great job DocentX. I'm impressed:)

DocentX

October 9th, 2009, 02:48 PM

Wodzisław Śląski

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Wodzisław Śląski is a town in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 50,493 inhabitants (2007).

The city's name derives from the Polish prince Władysław Opolski. He located city and funded in Wodzisław monastery in 1257 year.

The city's origins can be traced back into the 10th and 11th century, when three Slavic settlements existed on Wodzisław's present-day territory which eventually merged to form one town. In the course of the medieval eastward migration of German settlers (Ostsiedlung), Wodzisław, as many other Polish settlements, was incorporated (granted city status and right) according to the so-called Magdeburg Law at some point before 1257 (the exact date remains unknown). This, however, is not to be confused with a change in national affiliation; Wodzisław continued to be part of the Kingdom of Poland, until Silesia as a whole became a fiefdom of the Bohemian crown in 1327. The city continued to grow and developed into a regional trade centre. In the 15th century, the Hussites devastated the city. From 1526, Bohemia, including the fiefdom of Silesia, which Wodzisław was a part of, came under the authority of the Habsburg crown.

In century XVI and XVII also time Thirty Years' War Wodzisław been part of Habsburg Empire. After the end of the Thirty Years' War Wodzisław was destroyed. Never back to Middle Ages' "golden time". At the beginning of the War of the Austrian Succession between Frederick II of Prussia (the Great) and the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the greatest part of Silesia, including Wodzisław, was annexed by Prussia in 1740, which Austria eventually recognized in 1763. Coal mining gained importance for Wodzisław's economy as early as the 19th century.

After the end of World War I in 1918, Polish statehood was finally restored. Amidst an atmosphere of ethnic unrest, a referendum was organized to determine the future national affiliation of Upper Silesia.

The lowest amount of pro-German votes (nevertheless still 49 % of the total) was registered in the districts of Rybnik and Pszczyna (Pless). The city and the largest part of the district of Rybnik were attached to the territory of the Second Polish Republic; Wodzisław thus became part of a Polish state for the first time since 1526. The Upper Silesia plebiscite and eventual division of Upper Silesia were accompanied by three Silesian Uprisings of Polish milicians.

Within the Second Polish Republic of the interwar period, Wodzisław was part of the Silesian Voivodeship, which enjoyed far-reaching political and financial autonomy.

With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the border city Wodzisław returned under the rule of Germany, being in the part of Poland that was directly incorporated into the German state. The population was ethnically categorized and either "re-Germanized" or disfranchised and partially deported into the General Government as Poles.

On 22 January 1945 a death march from Nazi German's death camp Auschwitz, 35 miles away, ended in Wodzisław_Śląski, where the prisoners were put on freight trains to other camps. When the Soviet army advanced on Poland, nine days before the Soviets arrived, the SS had marched 60,000 prisoners out of the camp. Approximately 15,000 prisoners died on the way. There is a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust from Wodzisław in the Baron Hirsch Cemetery Staten Island, New York where the Wodzisław landsmanshaft has a section.

In March 1945 the Soviet army arrived near Wodzisław. From 26 March 1945 Wodzisław was once more integrated into Poland.

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DocentX

October 10th, 2009, 07:56 AM

Będzin

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Będzin (German: Bendzin) is a city in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - metropolis with the population of 2 millions. Located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza river (tributary of the Vistula).

Będzin is one of the cities of the 2,7 million conurbation - Katowice urban area and within a greater Silesian metropolitan area populated by about 5,294,000 people. The population of the city is 58,639.

The primeval Slavic settlement was destroyed by the Tartar invasion in 1241. First notes of the village Będzin date back to 1301. In 1358 Będzin was granted a charter according to the Magdeburg law. In 1364 a town’s defensive wall and a stone castle were built.

In 1457 the town was damaged as a result of an invasion of Jan - the Duke of Oświęcim. In 1616 the town was destroyed by a great fire. In 1655 the town was destroyed by the Swedish army. Since 1793 Będzin was under Prussian rule, in 1807 it became a part of the Duchy of Warsaw, and since 1815 it was a part of Congress Poland (the Kingdom of Poland). In the 19th century hard bituminous coal deposits were discovered near Będzin. The first mine was opened in 1825. In 1914 Będzin was occupied by the German army.

During World War II, in September 1939 Będzin was occupied by the German army. Będzin was incorporated into Germany which resulted in mass deportations of Poles to the General Government. The Germans murdered about 25,000 inhabitants of Będzin in total (50% of all inhabitants). In January 1945 Będzin returned to Poland.

Będzin castle

The village of Będzin originated in the 9th century. The local wooden fort, that the records show existed as early as the 11th century was destroyed during the Tatar invasion in 1241, and subsequently rebuilt.

During the reign of Polish King Casimir the Great the castle received an upgrade from wooden fortress to a stone one, and the stone fort was operational as early as in 1348. The growing trading village of Bytom was given Magdeburg Law city rights shortly afterwards, in 1358.

The castle was meant to be a military outpost on the southwestern border of the Kingdom of Poland (later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). It was the most westward fortification, and was meant to hold off any invasion coming from Bohemian or Silesian lands. In 1364 the castle was visited by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1588, Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, was held prisoner in here, after his defeat in the War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588).

The castle fell into disrepair in the late 16th century. The fire of 1616 and damage during The Deluge in 1657 resulted in the further destruction. The fortress was periodically repaired, but due to shifts in the layout of the borders and relations between Poland and its neighbours, it lost much of its importance. After the partitions of Poland, Będzin fell into Prussian control and the castle became property of the Hohenzollern family. In 1807, the nearby lands were transferred to the Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815, to the Congress Poland. In 1825 the castle was virtually falling apart, and when a piece of the stone crushed a passerby, demolition of the castle was ordered, but before it was started, the castle was declared a monument. In 1830s the castle was bought by Count Edward Raczyński and partially rebuilt.

In 1952–1956, a museum was opened there.

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DocentX

October 10th, 2009, 08:43 AM

Polish Jurassic Highland

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The Polish Jura Chain, also known as the Polish Jurassic Highland or Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic Highland Chain (Polish: Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska), is part of the Jurassic System of south–central Poland, stretching between the cities of Kraków, Częstochowa and Wieluń. The Polish Jura borders the Carpathian Mountains to the south, including part of the Carpathians of the Slovak Republic and the highland of Central Poland to the north, toward the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Polish: Góry Świętokrzyskie).

The Polish Jura Chain consists of a hilly landscape with Jurassic limestone rocks, cliffs, valleys and vast limestone formations, featuring some 220 caves. The relief of the upland developed since the Paleogene, under climatic conditions changing considerably. Its main component is a peneplain, crowned by monadnocks, rocky masses that resisted erosion, generated as hard rock on Late Jurassic buildup surrounded by less resistant bedded limestone of the same age. The Polish Jura Chain is visited by roughly 400,000 visitors a year. Part of it belongs to the Ojców National Park, the smallest of Poland's twenty national parks, ranking among the most attractive recreational areas of the country.

The Kraków-Częstochowa Jurassic Upland consists of a rich ecosystem, where completely opposite plants coexist in the same timeframe, partly because of the unique microclimate and also, because of the whole upland being surrounded by virgin forest. Plant and animal life is very biodiverse with over 1600 species of plants and 5500 species of animals. These include 4600 species of insects, including 1700 of beetles and 1075 of butterflies and 135 of birds. Mammals include the beaver, badger, ermine and 15 species of bats, many of which hibernate in the park's caves during the winter.

The climate of the upland differs significantly from the surrounding area. The snowpack covers the area for 180 days a year and the rainy season lasts from April until September. Annual precipitation varies between 650-700 mm, higher than in surrounding regions, the median temperature is lower, from 0.5 to 1.0°C. Average temperature is 19°C in summer and -3°C in winter.

There are a number of rivers that originate from the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, among them the Warta, Biała Przemsza, Pilica, Dłubnia, Szreniawa, Prądnik, Wiercica and Rudawa.

Apart from a diversity of plant and animal species, one can find a unique cultural landscape with archeological objects and relics of ancient inhabitation, with a vast collection of artifacts. The earliest settlement in the area dates to the Paleolithic period, approximately 120,000 years ago. The region is rich in flint, which attracted early humans.

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DocentX

October 10th, 2009, 09:01 AM

Olsztyn castle

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The Castle at Olsztyn was built by Polish King Casmir the Great in the first half of XIVth century to be a fortress on the border between Malopolska (South Eastern part of Poland) and Silesia.

Damaged in 1656 in the war by the Swedes it felt into ruin. The ruins are situated on the ridge of a high hill among lime rocks. Historic value of the site and picturesque landscape attract many tourists.

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DocentX

October 10th, 2009, 12:21 PM

Ogrodzieniec castle - The Eagle Nests Trail

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The Eagle Nests Trail is one of the best tourist trails in Poland, and is noted as no. 1 on the official Polish trail list. The name of the trail derives from the so-called Eagle-Nest Castles – a group of castles picturesquely situated on limestone hills in the Krakow-Czestochowa Jurassic Highland Chain (Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska), mostly erected in the 14th century during the reign of Polish king Casimir the Great, who wanted to protect the then Polish borders, running in immediate vicinity of Krakow – at that time the capital of Poland – and important trading routes.

Traditionally, the Eagle Nests Trail runs from Krakow to Czestochowa through about 25 castles, watchtowers and other fortifications (most of them more or less ruined), all in particularly charming landscapes.

The 14th century castle in Ogrodzieniec was built on the remains of earlier, wooden fortifications. Though ruined in the 19th century, the castle is still quite a breathtaking site, and the remains are carefully maintained.

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DocentX

October 10th, 2009, 09:27 PM

Bobolice castle

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The castle in Bobolice was built by Polish King Kazimierz III the Great in the middle of the 14th century, probably in place of an earlier wooden structure.

The castle was a part of the defence system of royal strongholds protecting the western border of Poland on the side of Silesia. In 1370, immediately after becoming King of Poland, Louis I the Great granted the castle to Władysław Opolczyk, Duke of Opole, as a prize for his support of the king’s dynastic plans. Nine years later Opolczyk leased the castle to Andrzej Schoen, a Hungarian from Barbalas; the new owner manned it with Germans and Czechs, who robbed local inhabitants and conspired with the Teutonic Order.

Dissatisfied with their behaviour, the Polish king Władysław Jagiełło invaded Bobolice in 1396 and took over the castle with adjacent estates. From that time on, the stronghold was owned by a number of families, including Szafrańcowie, Trestkowie, Krezowie and later Chodakowscy, Męcińscy and Myszkowscy.

The beginning of the decline of the castle dates back to 1587, when it was heavily devastated during the invasion of Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, a rival of Sigismund III Vasa to the Polish throne. The castle was reconstructed by the then owners, the Krezowie family, but in 1657, during the Swedish Deluge, it was plundered and totally ruined by Swedish troops. The condition of the stronghold was so bad that when King John III Sobieski arrived here in 1683, he had to spend the night in a tent.

In 1882, after parcelling out the land, the already deserted walls were acquired by the peasant family of Baryłów. Now the castle belongs to the Lasecki family, who decided to rebuild it in 1999.

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DocentX

October 11th, 2009, 08:58 AM

Mirów castle

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Mirów is best known for the ruins of the 14th-century Mirów Castle, part of a defensive chain of medieval castles built by Polish King Casmir the Great along Polish Jura (Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska).

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DocentX

October 11th, 2009, 08:22 PM

Siewierz castle

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In history, Siewierz (Sewerien) was first mentioned in 1125, which was administered by the Castellan of Bytom. In 1177, Casimir II granted Sewerien to Mieszko IV Tanglefoot duke of Silesia and Racibórz, together with the duchy of Bytom. The town became a seat of a separate castellan by the beginning of the 13th century. In 1241, the Mongols burned the city, and razed the fort to ground.

In 1276, Siewierz received city status. On 26 February 1289, in front of the city gates of Siewierz, the allied forces of Władysław I the Elbow-high, then Duke of Kujawy and Mazovia, the future King of Poland, defeated the army of Henryk IV Probus, duke of Wrocław and Kraków. Henryk IV Probus accepted vassalage and protection from the Bohemian king, Wenceslaus II. He was the first Piast Silesian duke to become Bohemian vassal, leading to Bohemian annexation of most Silesia in the coming years.

In 1337, the duchy of Bytom sold Siewierz to Kazimierz I, duke of Cieszyn. In 1359 the duke of Teschen bought the city of Sewer from Bolko duke of Świdnica, lord of Fürstenberg, for 2,500 marks. The king Charles IV authorized the sale the same year. On 30 December 1443, Zbigniew Oleśnicki, the bishop of Kraków, bought Sewer/Siewierz from Wacław I of Teschen, who was deeply in debts then. The sale was for 6000 Prager Groschen. The bishops of Kraków became dukes of Siewierz, the duchy being not a part of Poland. The city became the seat of the bishops of Kraków, who received also the title duke of Siewierz. They also constructed a castle in Siewierz.

In 1790, near to the doom of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the ecclesiastic duchy of Siewierz was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland. In 1795, Sewerien, because it was a part of Silesia and its adjacent regions were annexed by Prussia, into the new province of New Silesia (in German: Neuschlesien), by the third partition of Poland. In 1800, the seat of the bishop moved away from Sewerien.

In 1807, Napoleon recreated the duchy of Siewierz (Sievers), and granted it to Jean Lannes, after Prussia was forced to cede all her acquisitions from the 2nd and 3rd partitions of Poland. After the failure of Napoleon, Siewierz was included in the Congress Kingdom of Poland, under Imperial Russian rule. The city declined continuously, due to the lacking of industry and communication. In 1870, it lost its city status. In 1918, Siewierz became part of the Second Polish Republic, from 1939 to 1945 of Nazi Germany. In 1962 it regained its city status.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/84/52/download/3577493.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/34/35/download/2097424.jpg

DocentX

October 12th, 2009, 10:00 AM

Toszek

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

The beginning of the settlement and fortified keep is dated in the ninth and tenth centuries when the area was ruled by the Piasts, Mieszko I of Poland and later Bolesław I the Brave.

The fortified keep had grown to the size of a town during the rule of Duke of Wrocław Bolesław Wysoki and during his rule it received city rights in 1235. After 1281 it became the seat of the regional Duchy and title of local ruler Bolesław was "the enlightened Bolesław, Duke of Toszek".

In the 1300s the original Piast settlement passed to the Habsburgs. In 1536, the city received Magdeburg rights from King Ferdinand I (later Emperor). In 1593 Rudolf II sold the castle and the area to Freiherr von Redern auf Groß Strehlitz. It was owned by Joseph von Eichendorff from 1791 to 1797.

Like many other areas in Silesia, the Toszek area was subjected to Germanisation when the Silesian dukes became independent from Poland.

Tost burned down on 18 August 1677, and was looted in 1807.

Town returned to Poland in 1945.

Toszek castle

http://www.pyskowice.internetdsl.pl/lotnisko/toszek/016.jpg

http://notebook.strefa.pl/art-photo/fotografia-zakopane_galerie/zamek_toszek/dsc_2554_0306.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1692828.jpg

DocentX

October 12th, 2009, 06:17 PM

Brynek palace

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/66/76/download/3189246.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/27/76/download/3422694.jpg

DocentX

October 12th, 2009, 06:30 PM

Chudów castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Chudów is famous for its 16th-century castle built by the noble family of Gieraltowski.

In an already restored tower, there is a small museum that shows one of the most interesting exhibitions of medieval oven tiles in Poland, which were found at the castle during the excavations.

Every year in August the Chudów Castle Fund organizes one of the biggest and most interesting re-enactments of medieval tournaments in Poland.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/81/64/download/1772136.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/8/36/download/3960512.jpg

Urbanista1

October 12th, 2009, 10:44 PM

I've never seen these castles before. Hope you plan on doing all of the castles on the eagles route. Thanks again.

DocentX

October 12th, 2009, 10:51 PM

I've never seen these castles before. Hope you plan on doing all of the castles on the eagles route. Thanks again.

If you are interested in Polish castles check this thread:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=890484

:cheers:

DocentX

October 12th, 2009, 10:59 PM

A1 motorway under const.

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/4899/beznazwy7e.jpg

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/8859/beznazwy32.jpg

DocentX

October 13th, 2009, 12:54 PM

Pławniowice palace

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/97/13/download/3110474.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1514778.jpg

DocentX

October 14th, 2009, 07:43 AM

Częstochowa

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Częstochowa is a city in south Poland on the Warta River with 248,894 inhabitants (2004). It has been situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (administrative division) since 1999, however, Czestochowa historically is part of Lesser Poland, not of Silesia and before 1795 it had belonged to the Kraków Voivodeship.

The town is known for the famous Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra that is the home of the Black Madonna painting (Polish: Jasnogórski Cudowny obraz Najświętszej Maryi Panny Niepokalanie Poczętej), a shrine to the Virgin Mary. Every year, millions of pilgrims from all over the world come to Częstochowa to see it.

The village of Częstochowa was founded in 11th century. It is first mentioned as a village in historical documents from 1220. In 1382 the Paulist monastery of Jasna Góra was founded by Władysław Opolczyk (Ladislav of Opole) - the Polish Piast prince of Upper Silesia. Two years later the monastery received its famous Black Madonna icon of the Virgin Mary and in subsequent years became a centre of pilgrimage, contributing to the growth of the adjacent town. Before 1377 Częstochowa received a town charter, which was later changed to the Magdeburg Law in 1502.

In the 17th century the local monastery was turned into a fortress, which was one of the pockets of Polish resistance against the Swedish armies during The Deluge in 1655. The Jewish community in Częstochowa came into existence by about 1700. After the second Partition of Poland it was annexed by Prussia. After 1760, Jacob Frank, the leader of a Jewish religion mixing Kabbalah, Catholicism and Islam, was imprisoned in the monastery by the church. His followers established near him, establishing a cult of his daughter Eve Frank. In August of 1772, Frank was released by the Russian general Bibikov, who had occupied the city.

During the Napoleonic Wars, in 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw and since 1815 the Kingdom of Poland. This started a period of fast growth of the city. In 1819 renowned military architect Jan Bernhard planned and started the construction of Aleja Najświętszej Panny Marii - the Holiest Virgin Mary Avenue, which currently is the main axis of the modern city. The two existing towns of Częstochowa and Częstochówka (the latter received the city rights in 1717 as Nowa Częstochowa) were finally merged in 1826. In 1846 the Warsaw-Vienna Railway line was opened, linking the city with the rest of Europe. After 1870 iron ore started to be developed in the area, which gave a boost to the local industry. Among the most notable investments of the epoch was the Huta Częstochowa steel mill built by Bernard Hantke, as well as several weaveries and paper factories. Up to the Second World War, like many other cities in Europe, Częstochowa had a significant Jewish population: according to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 45,130, Jews constituted 12,000 (so around 26% percent).

During World War I the town came under German occupation, and in 1918 it became a part of the newly-reborn Republic of Poland. The new state acquired large deposits of good iron ore in Silesia and the mines in Częstochowa became inefficient and soon were closed. This brought the period of prosperity to an end. At the same time a bishopric was relocated to the city in 1925.

After the Polish Defensive War of 1939, the town was occupied by Nazi Germany, renamed to Tschenstochau, and incorporated into the General Government. The Nazis marched into Częstochowa on Sunday, September 3, 1939, two days after they invaded Poland.

The city was liberated from the Germans by the Red Army on January 16, 1945. Due to the communist idea of fast industrialisation, the inefficient steel mill was significantly expanded and named after Bolesław Bierut.

In modern times, Pope John Paul II, a native son of Poland, prayed before the Madonna during his historic visit in 1979, several months after his election to the Chair of Peter. The Pope made another visit to Our Lady of Częstochowa in 1983 and again in 1991.

Currently the city is one of the main tourist attractions of the area. It attracts millions (4.5 mln - 2005) of tourists and pilgrims every year. The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, housed at the Jasna Góra Monastery, is a particularly popular attraction.

http://www.czestochowa.ws/lotnicze/rynek.jpg

http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu161/PawkaLukasz/Czestochowa_08_2008/P1000822.jpg

DocentX

October 14th, 2009, 01:24 PM

Częstochowa - Jasna Góra Monastery

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

The Jasna Góra Monastery (Polish: Jasna Góra, English: Bright Mount, Hungarian: Fényes Hegy, Latin: Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland is the most famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in Poland and the country's greatest place of pilgrimage - for many its spiritual capital.

The image of Black Madonna of Częstochowa, to which miraculous powers are attributed, is Jasna Góra's most precious treasure. Founded in 1382 by Pauline monks who came from Hungary at the invitation of Władysław, Duke of Opole. The monastery has been a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of years, and it contains the most important icon of the Virgin Mary in this part of Europe. The icon, depicting the Mother of God with the Christ Child, is known as the Black Madonna of Częstochowa or Our Lady of Częstochowa, which is widely venerated and credited with many miracles.

Among these, it is credited with miraculously saving the Jasna Góra monastery during a siege that took place at the time of The Deluge, a 17th century Swedish invasion. Although this event was of little military importance, the event stimulated the Polish resistance. The Poles could not immediately change the course of the war but after an alliance with the Crimean Khanate they repulsed the Swedes. Shortly thereafter, in the cathedral of Lwów, on April 1, 1656, Jan Kazimierz, the King of Poland, solemnly pronounced his vow to consecrate the country to the protection of the Mother of God and proclaimed Her the Patron and Queen of the lands in his kingdom.

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3842708.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Jasna_G%C3%B3ra_-_panorama_z_Bastionu_%C5%9Bw._Rocha.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Czestochowa-bazylika.jpg

Urbanista1

October 14th, 2009, 06:57 PM

Really enjoy your descriptions that add so much depth to the visual experience.

Has the historic core of Czestochowa undergone a lot of restoration like Krakow and others. I don't remember if the historic area was very large actually.

thanks.

DocentX

October 14th, 2009, 09:22 PM

Has the historic core of Czestochowa undergone a lot of restoration like Krakow and others. I don't remember if the historic area was very large actually.

thanks.

No - the historic area is not huge - there is some revitalization undergoing - for example the main street was revitalized some time ago.

DocentX

October 14th, 2009, 09:41 PM

Cieszyn

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Cieszyn is a town in southern Poland, it has 36,109 inhabitants (2004). Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín.

It is situated in the heart of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. Until the end of World War I in 1918 it was a seat of the Duchy of Teschen. In 1920 Cieszyn Silesia was divided between the two newly created states of Poland and Czechoslovakia and the smaller western suburbs of Teschen were joined to Czechoslovakia as a new town of Český Těšín. Larger part of the town was joined to Poland as Cieszyn.

The town combines both Polish and Austrian peculiarities in the style of its buildings. Because of several major fires and subsequent reconstructions (the last one in the late 18th century), the picturesque old town is sometimes called Little Vienna. The only relic of the ancient castle is a square tower, dating from the 12th century and 10th century romanesque chapel.

The area has been populated by Slavic peoples since at least the 7th century. According to the legend, in 810 three sons of a prince – Bolko, Leszko and Cieszko, met here after a long pilgrimage, found a spring, and decided to found a new settlement. They called it Cieszyn, from the words "cieszym się", "I'm happy". This well can be found at the ulica Trzech Braci ("Three Brothers Street"), just west of the town square.

The town was the capital of the Duchy of Teschen and shared its history throughout the ages. It was in Teschen where Maria Theresa and Frederick II signed on 13 May 1779, the Teschen Peace Treaty, which put an end to the War of the Bavarian Succession. Teschen was known for its national, religious and cultural diversity, comprising mostly of German, Polish, Jewish and Czech communities. There was also a small but lively Hungarian community in the town comprised mostly of officers and clerks.

According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 22,489 inhabitants. 13,254 (61.5%) were German-speaking, 6,832 (31.7%) were Polish-speaking and 1,437 (6.7%) were Czech-speaking. Jews were not allowed to declare Yiddish, most of them thus declared German as their native language. The most populous religious groups were Roman Catholics with 15,138 (67.3%), followed by Protestants with 5,174 (23%) and the Jews with 2,112 (9.4%).

The town was divided in July 1920, by the Spa Conference, a body formed by the Versailles Treaty, leaving a sizeable Polish community on the Czechoslovak side. Its smaller westerns suburbs became what is now the town of Český Těšín in the Czech Republic. Both towns were joined together again in October 1938 when Poland annexed the Zaolzie area together with Český Těšín. In 1939 whole Cieszyn Silesia was annexed by German forces and during the World War II was a part of Nazi Germany. After the war, the border between Poland and Czechoslovakia was restored to the one from 1920.

After Poland and the Czech Republic joined the European Union and its passport-free Schengen zone, border controls were abolished and residents of both the Polish and Czech part can move freely across the border.

Since 19th century the Cieszyn Silesia has been an important centre of Polish Protestantism. Currently Cieszyn is also the site of the Cieszyn Summer Film Festival, one of the most influential film festivals in Poland. There is also a longer established Czech-Polish-Slovak film festival.

http://www.strykowski.net/cieszyn/Panorama_Cieszyna_-_Cieszyn_fotki__2356.jpg

http://www.polskiekrajobrazy.pl/images/stories/big/6152b.JPG

http://www.strykowski.net/cieszyn/Cieszyn_-_zdjecia_rynku,_rynek_w_Cieszynie_2351.jpg

DocentX

October 14th, 2009, 09:45 PM

Cieszyn

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/6394/hpim1118.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/448/hpim1198.jpg

DocentX

October 14th, 2009, 10:36 PM

Cieszyn

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/7219/hpim1095yva.jpg

One of the oldest sacred architectural relics on Polish soil is the Cieszyn Rotunda of Saints Nicholas and Wenceslas situated on the Castle Mount in Cieszyn. From the moment this stone structure was erected in the first half of the 11th century it fulfilled the function of castle church.

Apart from the Cieszyn rotunda, we know of a further eleven surviving rotundas of this type on Polish territory. It must be pointed out, though, that most of them exist only as stone remains of parts of different constructions, or merely as foundations. These buildings are as follows: St, Benedict’s on Krzemionki in Krakow, two examples on Wawel hill, in Wiślica, two in Przemyśl on the castle hill and under the presbytery of the cathedral, in Płock, Strzelin, St. John the Baptist’s in Grzegorzewice, in Stronia (Lower Silesia) and one discovered recently in Łękno in Wielkopolska.

The Cieszyn rotunda is also, along with the one in Stronia, the best preserved specimen of this type of building in Poland. It was erected by an early medieval castellan fort on the Castle Mount, with origins dating back to the 10th century, in the first half of the 11th century. This indicates that it may have been built in the period prior to 1025, during Bolesław Chrobry’s brief reign over the Czech lands, and it cannot be ruled out that he created a strong administrative base in the fort at Cieszyn to rule over the frontier lands in his name, or that in the 2nd quarter of the 11th century, when the Cieszyn province of Silesia was governed by the Czech ruler Břetislav.

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/3802/hpim1077y.jpg

DocentX

October 15th, 2009, 01:53 PM

Bielsko-Biała

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Bielsko-Biała (German: Bielitz-Biala; Czech: Bílsko-Bělá) is a city in southern Poland with 176,987 inhabitants.

Bielsko-Biała is composed of two former cities on opposite banks of the Biała River, Bielsko and Biała, amalgamated in 1951.

Both parts of the name stem from "biel" or "biała", which means "white" in Polish.

Between 1933 and 1938 an archaeological team discovered remains of a fortified settlement in what is now Stare Bielsko (Old Bielsko) district of the city. The settlement was dated to the 12th - 14th centuries. Its dwellers manufactured iron from ore and specialized in smithery.

The current center of the town was probably developed as early as the first half of the 13th century. At that time a castle (which still survives today) was built on a hill.

In the second half of the 13th century, the Piast Dukes of Opole invited German settlers to land between Silesia and Lesser Poland in order to colonize the Silesian Beskids. Nearby settlements west of the Biała River were Nikelsdorf, Kamitz, Alt-Bielitz (now Stare Bielsko), Batzdorf and Kurzwald. Nearby settlements east of the river Bialka were Kunzendorf, Alzen and Wilmesau. Nearby settlements in the mountains were Lobnitz and Bistrai.

After the partition of the Duchy of Oppeln in 1281, Bielsko passed to the Dukes of Cieszyn (Teschen). The town was first documented in 1312 when a Duke of Cieszyn granted a town charter. From 1457 the Biała River was the border between Silesia (within the Holy Roman Empire) and Lesser Poland. The town of Biała was established on the opposite bank of the Biała River in 1723.

During the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Biała was annexed by Austria and included in the crownland of Galicia. In 1918 both cities became part of a reconstituted Polish state.

The city of Bielsko-Biała was created on 1 January 1951 when the adjacent cities of Bielsko and Biała were unified.

Nowadays Bielsko-Biała is one of the best-developed parts of Poland. It was ranked 2nd best city for business in that country by Forbes. About 5% of people are unemployed (compared 9,6% for Poland). Bielsko-Biała is famous for its textile, machine-building, and especially automotive industry. In Bielsko-Biała there are four areas that belong to Katowice Special Economic Zone. Another reason for the low unemployment rate is that large numbers of young families have become economic migrants and have moved to the UK for employment. There are large communities originally from Bielsko-Biała now living in towns such as Slough and Southampton.

Bielsko-Biała is a beautiful city. It has a vibrant modernistic presence being a student-city with its associated nightlife, as well as having numerous historical sights.

http://www.kocjan.pl/albums/userpics/10001/bielsko_panorama_teatr_poczta_zamek_2439p.jpg

http://www.kocjan.pl/albums/panoramy/bielsko_panorama_rynek_fontanna_9856p_.jpg

DocentX

October 15th, 2009, 09:12 PM

Bielsko-Biała

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/7900/86786965.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6238/12702664.jpg

DocentX

October 15th, 2009, 09:21 PM

Bielsko-Biała

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

http://www.strykowski.net/bielsko_fotografia_zdjecia/Teatr_Polski_-_Bielsko_-_zdjecie_nocne_5218.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_QzoWzFQZvO0/SHnvypagkuI/AAAAAAAABcs/HAM41sTdn0Y/Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a+Ko%C5%9Bci%C3%B3%C5%82+%C5%9Aw.Miko%C5%82aja.jpg

Kim André

October 16th, 2009, 02:04 AM

I've looked through the entire thread now! This was a fantastic journey around Poland! :bow:

Thanks to all the contributors, and a special thanks to DocentX for the very many picture-posts provided.

Urbanista1

October 16th, 2009, 05:28 AM

I hope it's not over yet, is it? There's still more. But thanks just the same.

DocentX

October 16th, 2009, 09:41 AM

Silesian Beskids

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/513.45_Beskid_%C5%9Al%C4%85ski.png

Silesian Beskids is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic.

Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separated from the Moravian-Silesian Beskids by the Jablunkov Pass.

The Polish part of the range includes the protected area called Silesian Beskids Landscape Park.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/79/50/download/1516731.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/88/93/download/1202362.jpg

Terpentin07

October 16th, 2009, 09:42 AM

I never thought that Poland was so beautiful.Great photo's and architecture.

DocentX

October 16th, 2009, 10:10 AM

Żywiec

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Żywiec is a town in south-central Poland with 32,242 inhabitants (Nov. 2007).

The history of Żywiec has over 700 years. Its name has probably been taken from a word "feed" which suggests that the local soils were fertile and the land abounded in wild animals. The first mention about the city comes from registers of the Diocese of Cracow from 1308 where we find a "parochia ecclesie de Ziwicz" which stands for "the parish of Żywiec". In 1327 Żywiec got a city charter.

Throughout the centuries Żywiec changed hands severally. Initially the city belonged to dukes of Cieszyn then to dukes of Oświęcim. Przemysław, the last prince from the Piast dynasty, ruled Żywiec until 1433. The land was then taken over by the Skrzyński family that belonged to the noble clan of Swans. According to Długosz Chronicle, the family was into robbery, and the time of their rule was one of the most turbulent. In 1456 the Żywiec district was bought back by the king Kazimerz Jagiellończyk. After him the land was ruled by the Komorowski family and then by the king's Zygmunt III Waza wife - Constance. In 1626, Constance issued the statute of Żywiec which put order in all the current endowments and charters and defined civic legislation. It resulted in immediate improvement of internal relations and increased economic development.

Constance was then succeeded by the Bishop of Wrocław Karol Ferdynand, then followed the king Jan Kazimierz who, during the Swedish invasion of Poland in 1655-1660, stayed in Żywiec twice. This was the time of patriotic conduct and people from the District of Żywiec faithfully defended their king and the city against Swedes. However, the invader were much greater in numbers and the city was for a short time taken over by Swedes. In 1678 Żywiec was bought back by earl Jan Wielkopolski and stayed in his family for over one and a half century. In 1838 Adam Wielkopolski sold the land to the Habsburgs who ruled the district until World War II.

The fast development of the city in 19th century is connected with industrialization. Metallurgical plant producing screws, paper-mill, printing house and brewery called Arcyksiążęcy Browar - the most famous company associated with Żywiec and established by Albrecht Ferdynand Habsburg, were built. In World War II, the District of Żywiec was included in Reich and underwent strong Germanization. Germany deported 20 000 people and the abandoned households were settled with Germans. During occupation the District of Żywiec was one of the most important centres of the resistance movement. Here were an assembly area of AK forces and a smuggling point to Slovakia.

In the post-war period the city developed industry and collective enterprises. Almost every quarter had its own housing estates and educational and cultural institutions. The city gained a new face in 1967 when after accumulation of water levels of the river Soła in Tresna the Lake of Żywiec come into existence. In 1999 due to a new administrative division of the country, Żywiec became a part of Silesian province.

The city is famous for its Żywiec Brewery.

http://d.wiadomosci24.pl/g2/a0/68/38/100867_1245424136_39fd_p.jpeg

http://www.strykowski.net/zywiec/Zabytki_Zywieckie_-_Kosciol_Katedralny_4611.jpg

DocentX

October 16th, 2009, 10:14 AM

Żywiec castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

The Old Castle in Żywiec, made of stone and roughast, dates back to the mid-14th century. On the north-eastern side it is adjoinet by a quadrilateral tower topped with pseudo Gothic crenelles.

But it is not only the age of the castle that makes it deserve its place in the world cultural heritage. It is also its most interesting history, closely linked with the history of Europe. The founders of the castle are not not known, and the first documented owners of the town and the castle were the Komorowskis of the "Korczak" crest, who, through their foregin contacts and travels, made the castle fit in with the European Renaissance art trends.

They initiated the transformation of the Gothic structure into a Renaissance one and their work was the beautiful arcaded courtyard, with we can still admire today in its original lay-out. The interiors, once sumptuous, have not kept their original decorations, and only a few of the second-floor chambers still display their polichromies from the beginning of the 18th century and remains of Renaissance paintings. The least Changed is the courtyard surrounded on the four sides by three-storeyed arcaded galleries.

The arcades have columns of Tuscan order on the ground floor and Ionic ones on the first floor, and 19th-century cast-iron posts on the second floor. The castle also boasts several portals in various styles, from the Gothic to the Baroque; one of them bears the date 1571 and a Latin inscription.

http://www.strykowski.net/zywiec/Zamek_w_Zywcu_-_galeria_zdjec_-_Zywiec_4593.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Zywiec2_(js).jpg

DocentX

October 16th, 2009, 10:27 AM

Żywiec beer

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Żywiec beer is a Polish medium-light bodied pilsner beer that is the most popular in Poland and gaining popularity in the United States and all over the world.

Żywiec beer has been brewed in the village of Żywiec, Poland for almost 150 years at the Żywiec Brewery. Żywiec Brewery began exporting its products in 1913. They began exporting and extended its distribution to other towns of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which include Budapest, Ostrava and Cieszyn.

Żywiec beer spread all over the world when Polish residents traveled and immigrated to other countries and brought Żywiec beer along with them. It spread to such countries as France and Great Britain mostly due to WWII. Żywiec is by far the most popular beer in Poland, and has had good success in other countries and continents, and is quite popular in heavily Polish populated cities in the United States such as Chicago and Buffalo, NY.

In the 1990s, the brewery was acquired by Heineken International and was also thoroughly modernized. It is currently considered to be one of the most modern breweries in the world. Żywiec Beer has become a symbol of Polish pride and Polish recognition for many Poles.

http://newzar.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/zywiec.jpg

DocentX

October 16th, 2009, 01:52 PM

Żywiec lake

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

One of the largest lake in the region, situated in the picturesque surroundings of the Beskidy Mountains. A popular site for water sports, especially for sailing and windsurfing.

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http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/8/18/download/918980.jpg

tony64

October 16th, 2009, 08:06 PM

Very nice country!

DocentX

October 17th, 2009, 08:19 AM

Very nice country!

Lengyel, magyar – két jó barát, együtt harcol, s issza borát :cheers:

DocentX

October 17th, 2009, 08:55 AM

Żywiec Beskids

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/513.51_Beskid_%C5%BBywiecki.png/600px-513.51_Beskid_%C5%BBywiecki.png

The Żywiec Beskids (Polish: Beskid Żywiecki) is a mountain range in the Outer Eastern Carpathians in southern Poland. It is the second highest range in Poland, after the Tatra Mountains. The highest peak is Babia Góra (1,725 m) and Pilsko (1,557 m).

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DocentX

October 17th, 2009, 08:59 AM

Żywiec Beskids

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view from Pilsko towards Babia Góra

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DocentX

October 17th, 2009, 11:16 AM

Wisła

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Wisła is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,810 (2006), near the border with Czech Republic in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range. Wisła is the Polish name for the Vistula River, which has its source in the mountains near the town.

Located near the national tourist centre Ondraszek, Wisła is a popular year-round tourist destination, with the nearby mountains favoured by ski jumpers. It is known for being the home town of ski jumper Adam Małysz.

Wisła is also the home of the Beskid Museum, on B. Hoff square. It has on display agricultural tools, folk costumes and goatskin bagpipes from the surrounding region.

In Wisła a trail starts that leads to the Stożek Wielki, a mountain on the border with the Czech Republic that reaches a height of 978 meters.

Wisla is the only town in Poland with a Protestant majority.

http://www.golebiewski.pl/hg_wisla/galeria/wisla/big/wisla1.jpg

http://malinka.wisla.pl/new/skocznia/fotorelacja/080923/skoki09.jpg

DocentX

October 17th, 2009, 12:06 PM

Wisła - Presidential castle

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The mountainous residence of the President of the Republic of Poland.

A monumental castle with the pre-war interior in an Art Deco style, available also for tourists.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/9231/13z.jpg

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/4945/11z.jpg

DocentX

October 17th, 2009, 12:18 PM

Barania Góra mountain

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Barania Góra is a mountain in southern Poland. At a height of 1,220 metres (4003 feet), it is the second highest mountain in the Silesian Beskids, and the highest in the Polish part of Upper Silesia. It is a popular tourist destination with many spectacular views of the neighboring terrain and lowlands.

The sources of the Vistula, the longest Polish river, are located on the western slope of the mountain.

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euromerican

October 18th, 2009, 06:25 AM

Amazing pictures of Poland!!

DocentX

October 18th, 2009, 08:32 AM

Szczyrk

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_slaskie.gif

Szczyrk is a town in the Beskid Śląski mountains of southern Poland, situated in the valley of the Żylica river. It has a population of 5,810 people (2004).

The town is a popular winter sports centre, with over 60 km of ski routes served by 30 ski lifts. The principal training centre for Poland's Winter Olympic athletes is based in the town, where they train for events such as skiing, ski jumping and ice skating. The ski jumping in the Youth WInter Olympics 2009 took place in Szczyrk.

The two mountain ranges that surround the valley are topped by the peaks of Skrzyczne (1,257m) and Klimczok (1,117m), both of significant interest to tourists. One can observe a great view from the top of either peak. Moreover, there is no difficulty in climbing these peaks. They are easily accessible for everyone.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol0/20/30/download/3471286.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1916288.jpg

DocentX

October 18th, 2009, 01:52 PM

Ustroń

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Ustroń is a health resort town in Cieszyn Silesia, southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Beskids mountain range. The populatios of the town is 15 000 people.

According to the Austrian census of 1910 the town had 4,275 inhabitants. Census asked people for their native language, 3,917 (91.8%) were Polish-speaking and 333 (7.8%) were German-speaking. Most populous religious groups were Protestants with 2,439 (57%) followed by Roman Catholics with 1,728 (40.4%) and the Jews with 107 (2.5%).

The village has a futuristic outlook because of a cluster of pyramid-shaped hotels. It is also the home of the Jan Jarocki Museum. It was founded in April 1986 as Museum of Metallurgy. It is housed in a old building of former Klemens Steel Works, which was in use in 1772-1897. Museum collects technical tools, historical and ethnographic artifacts.

The Równica and Czantoria mountains are nearby and hikable from the town center.

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DocentX

October 19th, 2009, 11:55 AM

Łódź

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Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 753,192 in 2007. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately 135 kilometres (84 mi) south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canting: depicting a boat, it alludes to the city's name which translates literally as "boat".

Łódź first appears in the written record in a 1332 document giving the village of Łodzia to the bishops of Włocławek. In 1423 King Władysław Jagiełło granted city rights to the village of Łódź. From then until the 18th century the town remained a small settlement on a trade route between Masovia and Silesia. In the 16th century the town had fewer than 800 inhabitants, mostly working on the nearby grain farms.

With the second partition of Poland in 1793, Łódź became part of the Kingdom of Prussia's province of South Prussia, and was known in German as Lodsch. In 1798 the Prussians nationalized the town, and it lost its status as a town of the bishops of Kuyavia. In 1806 Łódź joined the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw and in 1810 it had 190 inhabitants. In 1815 Congress of Vienna treaty it became part of Congress Poland, a client state of the Russian Empire.

In the 1815 treaty, it was planned to renew the dilapidated town and with the 1816 decree by the Czar a number of German immigrants received territory deeds for them to clear the land and to build factories and housing. In 1820 Stanisław Staszic aided in changing the small town into a modern industrial centre. The immigrants came to the Promised Land (Polish Ziemia obiecana, the city's nickname) from all over Europe. Mostly they arrived from Southern Germany, Silesia and Bohemia, but also from countries as far as Portugal, England, France and Ireland. The first cotton mill opened in 1825, and 14 years later the first steam-powered factory in both Poland and Russia commenced operations.

A constant influx of workers, businessmen and craftsmen from all over Europe transformed Łódź into the main textile production centre of the Russian Empire. Three groups dominated the city's population and contributed the most to the city's development: Poles, Germans and Jews, which started to arrive since 1848. Many of the Lodz craftspeople were weavers from Silesia.

In 1850, Russia abolished the customs barrier between Congress Poland and Russia proper; industry in Łódź could now develop freely with a huge Russian market not far away. Soon the city became the second-largest city of Congress Poland. In 1865 the first railroad line opened (to Koluszki, branch line of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway), and soon the city had rail links with Warsaw and Białystok.

One of the most important industrialists of Łódź was Karl Wilhelm Scheibler. In 1852 he came to Łódź and with Julius Schwarz together started buying property and building several factories. Scheibler later bought out Schwarz's share and thus became sole owner of a large business. After he died in 1881 his widow had a large Mausoleum at the Lutheran cemetery erected in his honor.

In the 1823–1873, the city's population doubled every ten years. The years 1870–1890 marked the period of most intense industrial development in the city's history. Many of the industrialists were Jewish. Łódź soon became a major centre of the socialist movement. In 1892 a huge strike paralyzed most of the factories.

During the 1905 Revolution, in what became known as the June Days or Łódź insurrection, Tsarist police killed more than 300 workers.

Despite the air of impending crisis preceding World War I, the city grew constantly until 1914. By that year it had become one of the most densely-populated industrial cities in the world —13,280 inhabitants per square kilometer (34,395/sq mi). A major battle was fought near the city in late 1914, and as a result the city came under German occupation after December 6, but with Polish independence restored in November 1918 the local population liberated the city and disarmed the German troops. In the aftermath of World War I, Łódź lost approximately 40% of its inhabitants, mostly owing to draft, diseases and because a huge part of the German population was forced to move to Germany.

In 1922, Łódź became the capital of the Łódź Voivodeship, but the period of rapid growth had ceased. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Customs War with Germany closed western markets to Polish textiles while the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the Civil War in Russia (1918–1922) put an end to the most profitable trade with the East. The city became a scene of a series of huge workers' protests and riots in the interbellum. On 13 September 1925 a new airport, Lublinek Airport, started operations near the city of Łódź. In the interwar years Łódź continued to be a diverse city, with the 1931 Polish census showing that the total population of 604,470 included 315,622 (52.21%) Poles, 202,497 (33.49%) Jews and 86,351 (14.28%) Germans (determination based on the declaration of language used).

During the Invasion of Poland the Polish forces of the Łódź Army of General Juliusz Rómmel defended Łódź against initial German attacks. However, the Wehrmacht captured the city on September 8. Despite plans for the city to become a Polish exclave, attached to the General Government, the Nazi hierarchy respected the wishes of the local governor of Reichsgau Wartheland, Arthur Greiser, and of many of the ethnic Germans living in the city, and annexed it to the Reich in November 1939. The city received the new name of Litzmannstadt after the German general Karl Litzmann, who captured the city during World War I. Nevertheless, many Łódź Germans refused to sign Volksliste and become Volksdeutsche, instead being deported to the General Government.

Soon the Nazi authorities set up the Łódź Ghetto in the city and populated it with more than 200,000 Jews from the Łódź area. As Jews were deported from Litzmannstadt for "resettlement" (extermination) others were brought in. Due to the value of the goods that the ghetto population produced for the German military and various civilian contractors it was the last major ghetto to be "liquidated" (destroyed); approximately 900 people survived the liquidation of the ghetto in August 1944. Several concentration camps and death camps arose in the city's vicinity for the non-Jewish inhabitants of the regions, among them the infamous Radogoszcz prison and several minor camps for the Romani people and for Polish children.

By the end of World War II, Łódź had lost approximately 420,000 of its pre-war inhabitants: 300,000 Polish Jews and approximately 120,000 other Poles. In their place were thousands of new German residents, many of whom were Volksdeutsch who had been repatriated from Russia during the time of Hitler's alliance with the Soviet Union.

In January 1945 most of the German population fled the city for fear of the Red Army. The city also suffered tremendous losses due to the German policy of requisition of all factories and machines and transporting them to Germany. Thus despite relatively small losses due to aerial bombardment and the fighting, Łódź had lost most of its infrastructure.

The Soviet Red Army entered the city on January 18, 1945. According to Marshal Katukov, whose forces participated in the operation, the Germans retreated so suddenly that they had no time to evacuate or destroy the Łódź factories, as they did in other cities. In time, Łódź became part of the People's Republic of Poland.

At the end of World War II, Łódź had fewer than 300,000 inhabitants. However the number began to grow as refugees from Warsaw and territories annexed by the Soviet Union immigrated. Until 1948 the city served as a de facto capital of Poland, since events during and after the Warsaw uprising had thoroughly destroyed Warsaw, and most of the government and country administration resided in Łódź. Some planned moving the capital there permanently, however this idea did not gain popular support and in 1948 the reconstruction of Warsaw began. Under the Polish Communist regime many of the industrialist families lost their wealth when the authorities nationalised private companies. Once again the city became a major centre of industry.

After the period of economic transition during the 1990s, most enterprises were again privatised.

Piotrkowska Street is the main artery and attraction stretching north to south for a little over five kilometres, making it one of the longest commercial streets in Europe.

Although Łódź does not have any hills nor any large body of water, one can still get close to nature in one of the city's many parks, most notably Łagiewniki (one of the largest city park in Europe). Łódź has one of the best museums of modern art in Poland, Muzeum Sztuki on Więckowskiego Street, which displays art by all important contemporary Polish artists.

The largest 19th Century textile factory complex which was built by Izrael Poznanski has been turned into a shopping centre called "Manufaktura" which is by far the best example on how the mall should be incorporated into the city's architecture.

Before 1990, Łódź's economy focused on the textile industry, which in the nineteenth century had developed in the city owing to the favourable chemical composition of its water. As a result, Łódź grew from a population of 13,000 in 1840 to over 500,000 in 1913. By just before World War I Łódź had become one of the most densely populated industrial cities in the world, with 13,280 inhabitants per km2. The textile industry declined dramatically in 1990 and 1991, and no major textile company survives in Łódź today. However, countless small companies still provide a significant output of textiles, mostly for export to Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

The city benefits from its central location in Poland. A number of firms have located their logistics centres in the vicinity. Two planned motorways, A1 spanning from the north to the south of Poland, and A2 going from the east to the west will intersect northeast of the city. When these motorways are completed around 2012, the advantages due to the city's central location should increase even further. Work has also began on upgrading the railway connection with Warsaw, which reduces the 2 hours travel time to make the 137 km (85 mi) journey to 1.5 hour in 2009. In the next few years much of the track will be modified to handle trains moving at 160 km/h (99 mph), cutting the travel time to about 75 minutes.

Recent years has seen many foreign companies opening offices in Lodz.

In January 2009 Dell announced that it will shift production from its plant in Limerick, Ireland to its plant in Łódź, largely because the labour costs in Poland are a fraction of those in Ireland. The city's investor friendly policies have attracted 980 foreign investors by January 2009. Foreign investment was one of the factors which decreased the unemployment rate in Łódź to 6.5 percent in December 2008, from 20 percent four years before.

The Leon Schiller's National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera w Łodzi) is the most notable academy for future actors, directors, photographers, camera operators and TV staff in Poland. It was founded on March 8, 1948 and was initially planned to be moved to Warsaw as soon as the city was rebuilt following the Warsaw Uprising. However, in the end the school remained in Łódź and today is one of the best-known institutions of higher education in that town.

At the end of the Second World War Łódź remained the only large Polish town besides Kraków which war had not destroyed. The creation of the National Film School gave the town a role of greater importance from a cultural viewpoint, which before the war had belonged exclusively to Warsaw and Kraków. Early students of the School include the directors Andrzej Munk, Andrzej Wajda, Kazimierz Karabasz (one of the founders of the so called Black Series of Polish Documentary) and Janusz Morgenstern, who at the end of the Fifties became famous as one of the founders of the Polish Film School of Cinematography.

Immediately after the war, Jerzy Bossak, Wanda Jakubowska, Stanisław Wohl, Antoni Bohdziewicz and Jerzy Toeplitz worked as the first teachers. The internationally renowned film director Roman Polański was among the many talented students who attended the School in the 1950s. Łódź's cinematic involvement and its Hollywood-style star walk on Piotrkowska Street have earned it the nickname "Holly-Łódź". The school is also associated with the Camerimage Film Festival, which occurs annually in late November and early December. Founded in Toruń in 1993, the festival was specifically organised to focus on the art of cinematography and is well-attended every year by world-renowned cinematographers, many of whom also participate in seminars, workshops, retrospectives and Q&A sessions. Because of both subject matter and attendee composition, it is considered a key event for industry exhibitors, who often make European debuts of their products here.

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DocentX

October 19th, 2009, 04:06 PM

Łódź

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DocentX

October 19th, 2009, 06:14 PM

Łódź

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Piotrkowska street

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DocentX

October 20th, 2009, 09:55 AM

Łódź

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http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3055/dsc09408o.jpg

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DocentX

October 20th, 2009, 10:05 AM

Łódź

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Old factories

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DocentX

October 20th, 2009, 01:36 PM

Łódź

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Manufaktura complex

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http://farm1.static.flickr.com/118/313360559_8510cdf2da.jpg?v=0

DocentX

October 20th, 2009, 05:54 PM

Łódź

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Księży Młyn

Old industrial part of Łódź.

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christos-greece

October 20th, 2009, 06:39 PM

^^ I like those red buildings in those photos :)

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 12:17 AM

Piotrków Trybunalski

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Piotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants (2005).

According to tradition, but not confirmed by historical sources, Piotrków was founded by Piotr Włostowic, a powerful 12th century magnate from Silesia. The name of the city comes from the Polish version of the name Peter (Piotr), in a diminutive form (Piotrek, or "Pete").

In the early Middle Ages the Piotrków region was included in the province of Łęczyca owned by the Piast dynasty. Ca. 1264 it became part of a separate principality. The foundation of the city and its development were connected with its geographical position and an advantageous arrangement of the roads linking the provinces of Poland in the Piast times. At first a market town and a place of the princes' tribunals (in the 13th and 15th centuries), Piotrków became an administrative centre (the capital of the district since 1418), and in the later centuries it also became an important political centre in Poland. The first record of Piotrków is included in a document issued in 1217 by the Prince of Kraków, Leszek I the White, where there is a mention of the prince's tribunal held "in Petrecoue". Medieval Piotrków was a trading place on trade routes from Pomerania to Russia and Hungary, and later from Masovia to Silesia.

During the 13th century, apart from the tribunals, Polish provincial princes made Piotrków a seat of a few assemblies of the Sieradz knights, which according to historical sources were held in 1233, in 1241, and in 1291. It might have been during the 1291 assembly that the Prince of Sieradz, Władysław I the Elbow-high, granted Piotrków civic rights, because in documents from the beginning of the 14th century he mentions "civitate nostra Petricouiensi".

The first foundation certificate and the other documents were burnt in a great fire which destroyed the city ca. 1400. The privileges and rights were re-granted by King Władysław II Jagiełło in 1404. The city walls were built during the reign of King Casimir III, and after the great fire they were rebuilt at the beginning of the 15th century. During the reign of Casimir III, many expelled German Jews from the Holy Roman Empire immigrated to the town, which grew to have one of the largest Jewish settlements in the kingdom.

Between 1354 and 1567 the city held general assemblies of Polish knights, and general or elective meetings of the Polish Sejm (during the latter Polish kings of the Jagiellon dynasty were elected there). It was in the city of Piotrków that the Polish Parliament was given its final structure with the division into Upper House and Lower Chamber in 1493. King John I Albert published his "Piotrków privilege" on May 26, 1493, which expanded the privileges of the szlachta at the expense of the bourgeoisie and the peasantry.

Piotrków became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. When the seat of the Parliament was moved to Warsaw, the town became the seat of the highest court of Poland, the Royal Tribunal, and trials were held there from 1578-1793; the highest Lithuanian court was held in Hrodna (Grodno). Piotrków's Jewish population was expelled in 1578 and only allowed back a century later. The town became a post station in 1684. Ca. 1705, German settlers (often Swabians) arrived in the town's vicinity and founded villages; they largely retained their customs and language until 1945.

While the importance of Piotrków in the political life of the country had contributed to its development in the 16th century, the city declined in the 17th and 18th centuries, due to fires, epidemics, wars against Sweden, and finally the Partitions of Poland.

The first official inventory of important buildings in Poland, A General View of the Nature of Ancient Monuments in the Kingdom of Poland, led by Kazimierz Stronczynski from 1844-55, describes the Great Synagogue (Piotrków Trybunalski) as one of Poland's architecturally notable buildings.

In 1793, the Kingdom of Prussia annexed the town in the Second Partition of Poland and administered it in the Province of South Prussia. During the Napoleonic Wars, Piotrków became part of the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-15) and was a district seat in the Kalisz Department. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Piotrków became part Congress Poland, a puppet state of the Russian Empire. The town was made the seat of an oblast.

When the Warsaw-Vienna railway was built in 1846, there was a slight increase in the economic and industrial development of Piotrków. In 1867 Russian authorities formed the Oblast (province) of Piotrków, which included within Łódź, Częstochowa, and the coal fields of Dąbrowa Górnicza and Sosnowiec.

The province had the best developed industry of all of Congress Poland until 1914. Many Poles demonstrated and went on strike during the Russian Revolution of 1905.

During World War I, Piotrków was occupied by Austria–Hungary. From 1915-16, it was a centre for Polish patriotic activity. The city was a seat of the Military Department of National Committee, and headquarters for the Polish Legions, which were voluntary troops organized by Józef Piłsudski, Władysław Sikorski, and others to fight against Russia. Piotrków was made part of the Second Polish Republic following the defeat of the Central Powers in the war.

In the interwar period, Piotrków was the capital of Piotrków County in the Łódź Voivodeship, and it lost its previous importance. In 1938 the town had 51,000 inhabitants, including 25,000 Jews and 1,500 Germans. The town had a large Jewish settlement and a thriving Hebrew printing and publishing industry until the Holocaust.

During the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II, Piotrków was the setting for fierce fighting between the Polish 19th Infantry Division and the 16th Panzer Corps of the German Wehrmacht on September 5, 1939. The town was occupied by Nazi Germany for the following six years.

Piotrków had the first ghetto for Jews in occupied Poland, built as early as October 1939. Approximately 25,000 people from Piotrków and the nearby towns and villages were imprisoned there. During the Holocaust 22,000 were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp, while 3,000 were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps.

From the first months of the war, Piotrków was a centre for underground resistance. Since the spring of 1940, it was the seat of the district headquarters of the Armia Krajowa, or Home Army. In the summer of 1944, the 25th infantry regiment of the Home Army was formed in the district; it was the biggest military unit of the Łódź Voivodeship, and it fought against Germans until November 1944.

On January 18, 1945, the Soviet Red Army entered the city, dislodging the German troops. Anti-communist partisans continued to fight in the vicinity in the following years. From 1949-70, Piotrków was built into an industrial center.

Piotrków lies almost in the center of Poland. In Piotrków cross three national roads. Piotrków, thanks to its location, is known as second biggest "logistic center" after Warsaw. There is high concentration of warehouses and distribution centres around the city.

http://www.piotrkow.pl/xinha/plugins/ImageManager/demo_images/PIOTRKOW/p0180.jpg

http://images29.fotosik.pl/203/f531d8cbcdda002b.jpg

http://www.flog.pl/media/foto/sebko_13fc7fe689c79b7610b8f0369e186c48.jpg

Urbanista1

October 21st, 2009, 03:28 AM

Do you have any pics of this great synagogue...I am assuming that it did not survive the Nazis.

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 11:07 AM

Do you have any pics of this great synagogue...I am assuming that it did not survive the Nazis.

Surprise - it survived :cheers:

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 11:23 AM

Piotrków Trybunalski

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

The Great Synagogue

The Great Synagogue in Piotrków Trybunalski, (Polish: Wielka Synagoga w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim), was built between 1791-1793 and designed by David Friedlander. The synagogue was devastated by Nazis during the World War II. After the war, the building was renovated and now serves as a library.

The first official inventory of important buildings in Poland, A General View of the Nature of Ancient Monuments in the Kingdom of Poland, led by Kazimierz Stronczynski from 1844-55, describes the Great Synagogue of Piotrków as one of Poland's architecturally notable buildings.

The synagogue is currently renovated.

http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/gallery/eventImages/269000.jpeg

All Saints Orthodox church

All Saints Orthodox Church. The orthodox parish in Piotrków dates back to the 18th century. It was established in 1788 by Greek exiles fleeing the Turkish rule to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The present building was constructed in 1844-47 on the request of Russian officials, as Piotrków was then the capital of the Petrokovskaya Governorate of the Russian Empire. The Orthodox community of Piotrków is very small, numbering no more than 50 faithful.

http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/gallery/eventImages/268998.jpeg

Urbanista1

October 21st, 2009, 05:53 PM

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 06:04 PM

Wow, you keep surprising me with how much there is to see in Poland, especially in these smaller places who`s historical importance is far beyond their size. The synagogue in Zamosc is also being restored now as well as the cathedral. Keep up the great work.

That's true - sometimes I keep surprising myself ;) There are lot's of small interesting places and only some part of it can be covered by this thread.

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 06:14 PM

Piotrków Trybunalski

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

The building of the court

http://www.piotrkow-tryb.so.gov.pl/images/court_foto.jpg

Royal Castle (curently museum)

http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/gallery/eventImages/53434.jpeg

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 06:25 PM

Sulejów Abbey

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Cistercian Abbey of Sulejów - was founded in 1176 by the duke Kazimierz II the Just. The most valuable parts of the abbey are:

* Romanesque Saint Thomas Becket of Canterbury Church.
* Romanesque fortified district which stopped Mongolian Hordes in 13th century.

http://www.salebiznesowe.pl/images/obiekt573/podklasztorzezlotuptaka.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/9/67/download/2719414.jpg

DocentX

October 21st, 2009, 06:33 PM

Sulejów Abbey

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Sulej%C3%B3w-Podklasztorze3.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Sulejow_kolumna-kapitularz.jpg

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 10:34 AM

Pilica river and The Zalew Sulejowski lake

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

http://www.landbrand.pl/uploads/pics/zalew.jpg

Pilica is a river in central Poland, the longest left tributary of the Vistula river, with a length of 319 kilometres (8th longest) and the basin area of 9,273 sq. km (all in Poland). A 228 km long "Szlak wodny Pilicy" is a kayak route on Pilica River. It begins in Zarzecze near Szczekociny and ends on a mouth of the Pilica River.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/66/0/download/4010978.jpg

The Zalew Sulejowski is an artificial lake, a reservoir, in the Łódź Voivodeship built in the years 1969-1974 on the territories of three gmin: Tomaszów, Piotrków and Wolbórz. The aim of this reservoir was to supply a fresh drinking water to the city of Łódź and Tomaszów Mazowiecki. At full capacity the reservoir contains up to 95 million m3 of water.

Alongside its normal functions of retaining water and energy generation, the artificial lake created as a result of the dam is used for a variety of recreational purposes such as, but not limited to, windsurfing, kayaking and sailing.

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 04:13 PM

Łęczyca

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Łęczyca (in full The Royal Town of Łęczyca, Polish: Królewskie Miasto Łęczyca) is a town of 16,594 inhabitants (as of 2004) in central Poland.

Łęczyca is one of the oldest Polish cities, mentioned in the 12th century. It was the place of the first recorded meeting of Sejm, the Polish parliament in 1182. It was the capital of the Łęczyca Duchy in the 13th century, and next it became the capital of Łęczyca Voivodeship since 14th till 18th century.

In 1331 the Teutonic Knights sacked the city during one of their repeated incursions into central Europe. A considerable number of buildings were burned down, including two churches. A few decades later, on the initiative of Kazimierz the Great, the city was walled and a castle built to the southeast of the city.

The city's prominence came to and end with the Swedish invasion of Poland when the castle was overrun and most of the city once again destroyed, and it remained in a state of crisis until the Partitions.

Because of its royal history Łęczyca is probably more tourist-worthy than its current size might suggest. Some of the more interesting sights include:

* The Royal Castle - dating from the 14th Century.
* The Church of St Andrew the Apostle—the current church dates was consecrated in 1425.
* The former Dominican monastery in Ul. Pocztowa (served as a prison from 1799 until 2006).
* The Cistercian church and monastery in ul. Poznańska, built between 1636-1643.
* The city walls, some of which are still extant. The original walls enclosed an area of approximately 9 hectares, amounted to 1150 metres in length and 7 metres in height. The town plan is still recognisably that of a medieval town.

A couple of kilometres away are the Collegiate church and the earthworks at the site of the medieval settlement of Tum.

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6451/leczyca05kolorowo.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb208/empeo/ELE/DSC02394a.jpg

ilrepublicanodz

October 22nd, 2009, 04:27 PM

thanks a lot for these very beutiful photos. i love this country. i

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 04:58 PM

Tum

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

The Collegiate church of St. Mary and St. Alexius in Tum is a Romanesque church of granite built during the years 1140–1161 in Tum in central Poland (about 3 km/2 mi east of the town of Łęczyca).

The church was built in opus emplectum style and has the form of an aisled basilica with galleries, twin-tower west facade and two apses (west and east). The church resembles the Wawel Cathedral founded by Władysław I Herman. The main (north) portal is sculpted and dates back to the first half of 12th century.

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1664305.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/6_Tum_04.jpg

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 05:23 PM

Park in Arkadia

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

In the 70s of the 18th century a new style in gardening called English style appeared in Poland. It originated at the beginning of the century in England and then was gradually spreading across the other European countries.

The English style definitely opposed artificiality and regularity of baroque gardens. It promoted unrestricted and emotional compositions of sentimental or symbolic forms and architectural constructions referring to ancient and medieval works of arts as well as to the everyday life in the country, often also to the overseas exotic forms.

The style had been transformed together with philosophic, ideological and esthetical changes of the epoch from sentimental forms to the vision of romantic garden.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/69/24/download/3965310.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/18/72/download/1881422.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1644401.jpg

Urbanista1

October 22nd, 2009, 05:41 PM

You keep surprising me. St. Alexius and St. Mary church looks like it may have suffered a fire at some time, but the church looks original. So much to see.Thanks

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 05:55 PM

Nieborów palace

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

The origins of Nieborów date back to the end of 12th century when a settlement was founded and afterwards a village with the wooden mansion and the church erogated in 1314. At the beginning of the 16th century a Gothic Renaissance mansion was raised which lasted till the 17th century. At that period of time the Nieborów grounds belonged to the Nieborowski family of the Prawda (Truth) coat of arms.

In 1694 Cardinal Michał Stefan Radziejowski bought the grounds together with the mansion from Nieborowski family and using the existing walls of the older building, he built a baroque palace designed by Tylman van Gameren. In his last will the cardinal offered the Nieborów grounds as well as the palace to Konstancja Towiańska née Niszczycka and Jerzy Hipolit Towiański. In 1723 their son Krzysztof Mikołaj Towiański sold the grounds to General Aleksander Jakub Lubomirski and his wife Karolina Fryderyka von Vitzhum.

Since 1736 the owners of Nieborów grounds were Stanisław and Jan Józef Lochocki, who sold the grounds in 1766 to the great Lithuanian hetman Michał Kazimierz Ogiński. In the years 1766-1768 the hetman redesigned the palace's interiors in the rococo style.

In 1774 the new owner of Nieborów became Duke Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł, the voivode of Vilnius and one of the richest Polish–Lithuanian magnates. Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł organised one of the most significant collection of paintings by European masters of art – Dutch, German, Italian and Spanish. He also laid foundations to the collection of portraits of famous Polish and foreign personalities, several thousand engravings and etchings and a unique library of old prints (dating back to the 16th century), sets of Polish, English and French, furniture, artistic handicraft and decorative art – silvers, porcelain, glass and fabrics.

At the beginning of 70s of the 18th century architect Szymon Bogumił Zug founded regular (French) garden for Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł. He also rebuilt the interior of the palace in the early classicist style in 1784 (Yellow and Green Cabinet, Voivode's Bedroom). The duke also introduced modern forms of management of the grounds on the farm.His wife Helena née Przeździecka founded famous romantic garden which she called Arkadia, following the assumptions of English theoreticians. In the pavilions of gardens she gathered together a collection of art originating mostly from ancient Greece and Rome.

After the death of Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł in 1831 Nieborów grounds started to fall into decline, the golden era of the palace ended.The heirs argued over the great succession within Russian Empire, Polish Kingdom and the Great Duchy of Poznań. In 1841 a part of lands within Polish Kingdom with Nieborów was inherited by the son of Michał Hieronim – Michał Gedeon Radziwiłł, the general of Polish army and one of the Commanders-in-Chief in the November uprising in 1831. His son and heir Zygmunt Radziwiłł appeared to be a spendthrift who led the ancestral estates to ruin. He sold the best part of his grandfather’s collection of paintings and library at auctions in Paris and sold the Gardens of Arkadia with all of its unique equipment. Luckily, in 1879 he sold the whole Nieborów estate to his nephew Michał Piotr Radziwiłł and moved to France. The new owner raised palace from ruin, bought Arkadia, opened the workshops of furniture and majolica, renovated and furnished the residence and re-supplied the Palace Library. He died in 1903 leaving no heir. Three years later widow after him sold Nieborów grounds together with the palace to his cousin - Janusz Radziwiłł, Lord of the manor of Ołyż. Janusz Radziwiłł was a well-known political and economic activist of the inter-war period.

In years 1922-1929 he rebuilt the interiors of the Palace in Nieborów - among others the Venetian Chamber, and the Tobacco Room (architect Kazimierz Skórewicz), he also added the third floor (architect Romuald Gutt) making Nieborów a known residence near Warsaw which was visited by famous politicians and personalities from public life in Poland. In the dramatic times of the Nazi occupation he participated in the political activities of the resistance movement.

At the same time his son – Edmund Radziwiłł, together with his wife Izabela, were managing the grounds in Nieborów and participating in the resistance movement of Armia Krajowa - Łowicz (Home Army). Janusz Radziwiłł was imprisoned in Soviet Union by Soviet NKVD twice—in 1939 and 1945–1947. After the Warsaw uprising in December 1944 he was put in prison in Berlin by the Germans. Since 1947 he lived in Warsaw where he died in 1967. His wife Anna Radziwiłł née Lubomirska died in 1947 in Krasnogorsk. The younger members of the Radziwiłł family from Nieborów returned to Poland after the deportation, survived the worst period of real socialism and still live in Warsaw.

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1473991.jpg

http://www.poland.gov.pl/gallery_old/max/D20034.jpg

http://www.poland.gov.pl/gallery_old/max/D20036.jpg

http://www.poland.gov.pl/gallery_old/max/D20035.jpg

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 06:26 PM

Walewice palace

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Walewice is the site of a 19th-century palace that belonged to Anastazy Colonna-Walewski, who was chamberlain of last Polish King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski.

Walewice attracts tourists because Napoleon Bonaparte had a love affair with Countess Walewska, who bore their son, Alexandre Walewski, at the palace in Walewice.

http://www.igo-art.net/news2009/walewice4.jpg

http://debecki.motogrono.pl/files/2008/08/p8029555.jpg

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 06:32 PM

Walewice Stud

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/40/81/download/1037256.jpg

http://plfoto.com/zdjecia_new2/1945269.jpg

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 07:02 PM

Kutno

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Kutno is a town in central Poland with 48,000 inhabitants (2005) and an area of 33,6 km².

During the Invasion of Poland of 1939, in and around the town, Polish armies under General Tadeusz Kutrzeba conducted an offensive that was later named the Battle of the Bzura.

Kutno is one of the most important railroad junctions in Poland. Two main lines cross there (Łódź - Toruń and Warsaw - Poznań). Also, another connection starts in Kutno, which goes to Płock.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/kszcz123/SBMkqNUQW3I/AAAAAAAACHM/gby7VAv1DoU/IMG_3578.JPG?imgmax=800

http://lh3.google.pl/kszcz123/R723OTG8M1I/AAAAAAAABEM/t4AAVn9hISM/IMG_2723.JPG?imgmax=800

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 09:33 PM

Łowicz

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 30,383 inhabitants (2004). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into two directions - towards Poznan, and Lodz.

Łowicz was a residence of Polish primates. When they were regents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town became a temporary "capital" of Poland during interregnum. As a result, it has a bishop and a basilica despite its small size. The ruins of a former bishop's castle can be found on the outskirts and the town has an important ethnographic museum and skansen with traditional houses. Napoleon Bonaparte is believed to have stayed in a house on the main square and the town was at the centre of the largest battle of the German invasion of Poland, the Battle of the Bzura River.

The town also has Muzeum w Łowiczu (Museum in Lowicz) exhibiting Polish art and historical artifacts from the region. An open air 17-hectare site outside of town displays a collection of historical structures depicting traditional Polish village life.

http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/gallery/eventImages/269849.jpeg

http://files.myopera.com/basica/albums/15485/Lowicz%205.5.2007%2011im..jpg

DocentX

October 22nd, 2009, 09:44 PM

Łowicz - Łowicki Regional Costume

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

The costuming of the Łowicz region is some of the most beautiful in all of Poland, rich on colorful woven patterns and ornate embroidery.

The people of the small town of Łowicz live in the very heart of Poland. They are descended from the ancient Lusatians, Wends and Slavs from whom the Polish people themselves were born. For many centuries Lowicz was part of a separate dukedom governed by the archbishops of the old eighth century city of Gniezno. The people of Łowicz were known as ksiezacy, or people of the priests. Here we can see the origins of some of their folk motifs. For example, the men's costume bears a close resemblance to uniforms of the Swiss Papal Guard in Rome, after which it was patterned by the archbishops of Gniezno. The costumes of Opoczno, Sieradz and Kolbiel are also modeled on this style.

The men dress in orange and green striped trousers which are tucked into high black boots. Their black jackets with shiny black buttons are pleated at the back. Their white linen shirts have embroidered collars and cuffs. Hats are made of thick black felt and have colorful bands. The women wear dresses made from thick. heavy wool. The bodices are of black velvet with beautiful bead work and the skirts have wide vertical stripes. Over the skin an apron of the same color is worn. Three color schemes can be employed in these costumes. The most ancient is red, the intermediate is orange and the most recent is blue and green. The bottom panels are made of black velvet with brilliant beadwork. The wide open sleeves of the blouses have elaborate embroidery, as do the kerchiefs worn over the hair.

http://zosiex.blox.pl/resource/IMG_7577.jpg

http://www.polskiekrajobrazy.pl/images/stories/big/55815581CSC_01.JPG

DocentX

October 23rd, 2009, 10:27 AM

Uniejów castle

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Originally, a gothic defensive fortress which was later rebuilt as a Renaissance Bishop’s residence the castle includes a huge park with many exotic trees. Today it houses a hotel and a conference centre.

http://www.zamkiobronne.pl/img/big/1272__081027_14_23_05_uniejow01.png

http://www.polskaniezwykla.pl/gallery/eventImages/52167.jpeg

DocentX

October 23rd, 2009, 10:38 AM

Drzewica castle ruins

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Ruins of the late-Gothic and Renaissance castle (1527-35) erected by M.Drzewiecki, the Archbishop of Gniezno .

In the 18th century it belonged to the Sołtyk and Szaniawski families,
since the end of the 18th century the seat of Observant convent. After the fire in 1814 abandoned (the nuns moved to St Katarzyna convent), castle walls preserved till today .One of the most magnificent castle ruins in the region of Łódź.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/33/93/download/2106869.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/88/76/download/1873775.jpg

DocentX

October 23rd, 2009, 05:33 PM

Sokolniki palace

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

http://keim.pl/uploads/pics/Sokolniki.jpg

http://www.zamkilodzkie.pl/grafika/obrazy/sokolniki/sokolniki.jpg

Darhet

October 24th, 2009, 02:53 AM

Autumn in Roztocze

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lubelskie.gif

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/7403/17924183.jpg

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2985/14854940.jpg

Darhet

October 24th, 2009, 03:13 AM

Puszcza Solska
Solska Wilderness

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lubelskie.gif

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/1742/50115191.jpg

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/5621/74124826.jpg

Darhet

October 24th, 2009, 03:37 AM

Rospuda a small river
http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_podlaskie.gif

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/4342/8767341.jpg

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/7100/9953718.jpg

Darhet

October 24th, 2009, 03:49 AM

Warsaw
http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_mazowieckie.gif

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3573/westin1n.jpg

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/3430/wtowers1.jpg

DocentX

October 24th, 2009, 09:12 AM

Bełchatów mine and power plant

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Europe's largest open-pit mine

Poland’s lignite deposits are exclusively mined by opencast methods. Two of these operations are located in central Poland and a third one in the south-western region of the country.

The Belchatów basin, which incorporates two lignite fields, is situated in the central part of Poland. Work at the Bełchatów opencast mine started in 1977. In 2007, the Belchatów mine produced 31 million t (8.4 Mtce) of lignite, representing 55% of Poland’s total lignite production. This required the removal of some 132.2 million cbm of overburden, which represents an overburden-to-lignite ratio of 4.3 cbm/t. The depth of the mining operation in the Bełchatów field is 260 m and the average calorific value of the fuel is 7,960 kJ/kg. The Bełchatów mine is expected to remain in operation until 2038. The lignite output is entirely supplied to the mine mouth power plant, which has a capacity of 4,400 MW. The power plant generates 27 - 28 TWh per year and covers about 20% of domestic power requirements. The power station was built between 1981 and 1988 and at present generates the cheapest electricity in Poland, and probably anywhere else in Europe. A new power unit in Belchatow Power Plant with a capacity of 830 MW is under construction.

The Bełchatów Power Station is Europe's largest thermal power plant.

It has a total electrical power output of 4440 megawatts and two 300 metre high chimneys, which are among Poland's tallest free-standing structures.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Kopalnia_w%C4%99gla_brunatnego_i_elektrownia_w_Be%C5%82chatowie.jpg/1000px-Kopalnia_w%C4%99gla_brunatnego_i_elektrownia_w_Be%C5%82chatowie.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol4/81/39/download/2256976.jpg

DocentX

October 24th, 2009, 09:22 AM

Bełchatów mine

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol0/59/56/download/3738464.jpg

http://www.nettg.pl/media/site/files/images/Wegiel%20brunatny/belchatow_kopalnia_ARC.jpg

Gosc Niedzielny

October 24th, 2009, 11:56 AM

^^ 2nd picture is not from belchatow!!

Darhet

October 25th, 2009, 02:59 AM

The Gorce Mountain

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5411/600px51352gorce.png

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1147/70122909.jpg

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9303/48203261.jpg

Darhet

October 25th, 2009, 04:47 AM

The Baltic Coast
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/9583/70526467.jpg

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/205/12265943.jpg

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1605/eastmrzezynobirdseyevie.jpg

Urbanista1

October 25th, 2009, 06:42 AM

Where would you say are the best white sand beaches and warmest water along the Baltic?

Thanks Darhet

polskadan

October 25th, 2009, 07:15 AM

Whitest sand beach=hel

Normally Zatoka Gdanska is the warmest however not always, this last summer I saw it being warmer in Swinoujscie than in the zatoka

DocentX

October 25th, 2009, 02:10 PM

Sieradz

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Sieradz is a town on the Warta river in central Poland with 44,326 inhabitants (2004). Historically it was one of the minor duchies in Greater Poland.

It is one of the oldest towns in Poland, thrice being a location for the coronation of the Polish monarchs. The town was attacked by the Tartars, Bohemians and Teutonic Knights. Polish Kings chaired six assemblies from here.

The oldest settlements can be traced back to almost 6th century. King Casimir the great had built the Castle of Sieradz.

In the mid 13th century it was conferred with Municipal rights. It had also welcomed many settlers from Scotland & Netherlands after the 13th century. During the fragmentation of Poland, it was the site of the Duchy of Sieradz.

After 1305 part of the united Kingdom of Poland as a vassal duchy, later after 1339 incorporated by the Polish king Casimir III the Great as the Sieradz Voivodship.

In 1445 the election of King Casimir Jagiellonian took place at this town. Until the 16th century the town used to be important trade centre. Merchants from Spain & Portugal were frequently visiting the town for Trade and commerce. In the 17th century due to the Swedish wars, plagues, fires and floods the town lost its trading importance and fell from its prime. In the 18th century the reconstruction of town commenced. The residents during that time were only approximately 1500. On 13 November 1806 the acts of uprising against the Prussians took place in Sieradz. Since the first World War the town has preserved its Agricultural-Industrial character.At the beginning of the WW2 and on the 9th September 1939 the town was attacked by German advancing forces. The Nazis destroyed several traces of Polish culture,historical records, demolished monuments, erased many structures, changed street names in an effort to wipe out any connection with the Polish society. The town faced great devastation in the name of occupancy by the Nazis and later on by the Russians during the end of WW2. The resistance and determination of national pride, on the part of the town people grew stronger and they were aimed at bringing back the town to the Polish cultural roots. The Russians had bombed the town in the most horrific manner, killing more than 100 residents, which is still remembered as the most coward act by the Russians on the town of Sieradz.

After three days,on 23rd of January 1945 Sieradz was liberated. The town got back to restoration and re-development soon after the end of WW2. They started their local clothing factories, cereal-milling, spirit plants, potato farming and agricultural activities.

http://www.sieradz.eu/ff_gallery/Plone_Folder.2009-04-20.2827/Gallery_picture.2009-06-28.2220_big?isImage=1

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Sieradz3.JPG/800px-Sieradz3.JPG

DocentX

October 25th, 2009, 03:02 PM

Bolesławiec castle ruins

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/34/36/download/2686788.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3624975.jpg

DocentX

October 25th, 2009, 03:19 PM

Wieluń

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Wieluń is a city in central Poland with 24,347 inhabitants.

The City and Province of Wieluń have a long and interesting history. The traits of early settlements reach back to the 8th century BC. The first administrative center with a church – Ruda – was mentioned by the first Polish historian – Gall Anonym in 1106.

In the early Middle Ages, the town seated a Castellan. According to a medieval legend, Wieluń was founded in 1217 when Władyslaw Odonic, Duke of Greater-Poland spotted a deer and a God’s Sheep over it while hunting in the area. In that very spot, Władysław was said to have had a chapel erected. Around this little church, a settlement started to develop, and its name was taken from the deer hunting, but more precisely from an Old Slavonic word for boggy meadows – vel.

In 1281, Henryk IV, Duke of Silesia moved the seat of a Castellan to Wieluń. In a document signed by Przemysł II of 1283, Wieluń is already mentioned as a city. The development of the city was fostered by its location on crossing of commercial routes from Moravia to Kujawy, and from Wrocław to Kijev, and from Little-Poland to Greater-Poland. During regional disintegration of Kingdom of Poland, the Province of Wieluń was a part of the Senior Duchy. Later it was ruled by Dukes of Calisia, Greater-Poland and Silesia interchangeably.

During the reign of Kazimierz the Great, King of Poland, the city was protected by fortified walls, ramparts, moats and a castle. Soon after, the province becomes a dominion of Władysław, Duke of Opole who made it a Duchy (Wieluń Duchy 1370-1391), brought in the Pauline Order and minted his own currency – a denary with an eagle and Wieluń city coat of arms accompanied by inscription “MONETA WELVNES”. Polish King, Władysław Jagiełło had to use armed forces to return the Province to Kingdom.

The knights of Wieluń Province took part in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, fighting the Teutonic Order Knights under their own battle flag (which was a great honour at the times) – the present City Flag is a remnant of the original Grunwald Battle Flag. In 1419, Archbishop of Gniezno, Mikołaj Trąba moved the Parish from Ruda to Wieluń, and five years later King Jagiełło issued “Wieluń Edict” against the Hussite Brothers.

During the reign of the Jagiełło Dynasty, the City of Wieluń thrives – the 16th century is considered to be its peak development in the entire history of the city. Both trade and handicraft developed dynamically then. There was a Town Hall in the middle of the Old Market Square surrounded by merchants’ and guildsmen townhouses.

During the reign of Zygmunt August, Wieluń was considered to be one of the prettiest towns in Poland. Many Wieluń citizens studied at the first Polish university – Krakowska Academy. The City had its own theater group. Hieronim Spiczyński was born here, called “Hieronim of Wieluń” – the first translator of parts of Holy Scripture from Latin into Polish to be published in printing. After defeat of Byczyna in 1588, Maximilian Habsburg was a prisoner of war and was kept in the Wieluń castle. In the first half of the 17th century, new churches and monasteries were erected: The Sisters of Bernardine and The Franciscan Brothers. The rapid development of Wieluń was halted by fires and epidemics, but first of all by the Swedish Conquest of Poland, when the city was totally burnt and many inhabitants were slaughtered.

Some signs of revival including development of the Pijar Academy were again halted by fires demolishing town in years 1791-1795. After the Second Partition of Poland, the Province of Wieluń was under Prussian occupation. Wieluń citizens supported the Kościuszko Uprising issuing an Act of Joining the Insurrection and setting up military administration. In 1807-1815, the Province was a part of The Duchy of Warsaw, and from 1816 it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland that was under absolute Russian rule. In the 19th century, the City again started to slowly rise from the fall: a clothing manufacture started operation, a modern hospital together with a new town hall were built, a new classical palace was erected on the foundations of a former Piast Castle, a Synagogue and an Orthodox church were built. However, a strong garrison of occupational Russian army was stationed in the city. During the January Uprising (1863-64), Polish troops fighting for freedom operated also in the Wieluń area. The city inhabitants frequently witnessed executions of freedom fighters. A fire brigade started operation in 1877. And in 1893, an Industrial Bank, one of the first in the Kingdom of Poland was established. In 1912, a sugar factory was constructed. In free Poland after the end of First World War (1919), the Province of Wieluń was incorporated into Łódź Voivodship. Wieluń gained rail connection with Silesia and Greater-Poland. At that time about 30% of all inhabitants were Jewish.

The Second World War brought about the most tragic events in the history of the city.

The bombing of Wieluń refers to the indiscriminate bombing of the Polish town of Wieluń by the German Luftwaffe on 1 September 1939, five minutes before the shelling of Westerplatte, which has traditionally been considered the beginning of World War II. The bombing of Wielun is considered as one of the first terror bombings in history and first in this war. German carpet bombing killed an estimated 1300 civilians, injured hundreds more and destroyed 75% per of the town centre. It is widely acknowledged that there were no targets of any importance in the area such as military installations or industrial facilities. The casualty rate was more than twice as high as Guernica.

The widely acknowledged by the majority of historians and official version of the events is that there were no military or industrial targets of note in the area, except for a small sugar factory in the outskirts of the town. German bombers destroyed 90% of the town center (including the historical gothic church) and killed approximately 1,200 civilians, about 8% of the town's population of 15,000. Approximately 75% of all the buildings in Wieluń were destroyed. Among the first targets bombed by the Germans was the hospital (despite a huge Red Cross sign painted on the roof). The undefended town of was captured by the German Army on day one.

http://www.um.wielun.pl/uploads/galeria/z%20lotu%20ptaka/12_b.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/26225286.jpg

Darhet

October 25th, 2009, 03:46 PM

Where would you say are the best white sand beaches and warmest water along the Baltic?

Thanks Darhet

Poland has beautiful beaches with very fine, soft sand. The whole coast-line of Poland has a lot of sand.Warmest?
In bays-I think .

DocentX

October 25th, 2009, 04:42 PM

Poddębice palace

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Palace in Poddębice – one of the most beautiful Renaissance monuments in the Central Poland. Zygmunt Grudziński the successor of Poddębice the Rawa voivode started the construction the palace in 1610 and his son Stefan finished his work. He probably added a loggia with a cross vault, in Kalisz-Lublin style, that gave to the palace a more characteristic and original decor. Further reconstruction was made by princess Barbara Sanguszkowa in 1773, and hundred years later Napoleon Zakrzewski erected from the northern side a transversal building, referring in style to the main part. There is a Regional Room in the palace, with a collection of different objects from the excavations and souvenirs concerning the history of Poddębice and the neighborhood.

http://www.gmina.poddebice.pl/cms/zalaczone_pliki/big_podd%C4%99bicki%20pa%C5%82ac.jpg

http://www.foto.jarekm.pl/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/pdk1_male.jpg

Darhet

October 25th, 2009, 06:32 PM

The Chęciny Castle & Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/9109/62960510.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/4858/zamekwchcinie.jpg

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/1486/24291911.jpg

Sponsor

October 25th, 2009, 06:48 PM

Bełchatów? The picture with road by this huge structure was 100% taken outside Poland :) Road markings suggest me Germany.

DocentX

October 25th, 2009, 08:53 PM

Bełchatów? The picture with road by this huge structure was 100% taken outside Poland :) Road markings suggest me Germany.

My mistake ;) :lol: I've delete it :)

DocentX

October 26th, 2009, 12:25 PM

Pabianice

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_lodzkie.gif

Pabianice is a town in central Poland with 69 648 inhabitants (2008). Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship, it is the capital of Pabianice County. It lies about 10 km southwest of downtown Łódź and belongs to the metropolitan area centered on that city.

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol3/10/8/download/1066641.jpg

http://digart.img.digart.pl/data/img/vol2/36/30/download/3073997.jpg

DocentX

October 26th, 2009, 12:35 PM

Bydgoszcz

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

Bydgoszcz (German: Bromberg (Ltspkr.png listen), Latin: Bydgostia) is a city currently located in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 360,142 (June 2008), agglomeration more than 400 000, which makes it the 8th biggest city in Poland. It has been the co-capital with Toruń of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999.

Bydgoszcz is part of the metroplex Bydgoszcz-Toruń with Toruń, only 45 km away, and over 850,000 inhabitants. Bydgoszcz is the seat of Casimir the Great University, University of Technology and Life Sciences and a conservatory as well as a Collegium Medicum of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Bydgoszcz has a famous Concert Hall (Filharmonia Pomorska), opera house Opera Nova. Thanks to its location between Vistula and Odra water system on the Bydgoszcz channel, the city is an important link in a water system connected via Noteć, Warta, Odra, Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam.

Originally a fishing settlement called Bydgozcya ("Bydgostia" in Latin), the city became a stronghold for the Vistula trade routes. In the 13th century it was the site of a castellany, first mentioned in 1238. The city was occupied by the Teutonic Knights in 1331, and incorporated into the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. The city was relinquished by the Knights in 1343 with their signing of the Treaty of Kaliscz along with Dobryznia and the remainder of Kuyavia.

King Casimir III of Poland, granted Bydgoszcz city rights (charter) on April 19, 1346. The city increasingly saw an influx of Jews after that date. In the 15th-16th centuries Bydgoszcz was a significant site for wheat trading. The Treaty of Bydgoszcz signed between King John Casimar II of Poland and Elector Frederich William II of Brandenburg-Prussia in the city in 1657, announcing a military alliance between Poland and Prussia against Sweden.

Bydgoszcz followed the history of Greater Poland until 1772, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland and incorporated into the Netze District as Bromberg and, later, West Prussia. During this time, a canal was built from Bromberg to Nakło which connected the north-flowing Vistula River via the Brda to the west-flowing Noteć, which in turn flowed to the Oder via the Warta.

In 1807, after the defeat of Prussia by Napoleon, and the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit, Bromberg became part of the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it returned to Prussian rule as part of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Poznań (the Province of Posen after 1848) and the capital of the Bromberg region. After 1871 the city was part of the German Empire. After World War I and the Great Poland Uprising, Bromberg was assigned to Poland in 1919. In 1938 it was made part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

From 1939-45 during World War II, Bydgoszcz was retaken by Nazi Germany, in the Invasion of Poland and annexed to the Reichsgau Wartheland. On September 3, 1939, shortly after the war started, the Bromberg Bloody Sunday incident occurred in which numerous Germans and Poles were killed; the incident was used by Nazi propaganda for retaliation against Poles after Bromberg was occupied by the Wehrmacht on September 9. The city's Jewish citizens were repressed, as thousands of people were sent to concentration camps and/or executed. Bromberg was the site of Bromberg-Ost, a female subcamp of Stutthof. The subcamp was staffed by several female SS guards (Aufseherin) and was commanded by the Oberaufseherin Johanna Wisotzki and a male commandant. A deportation camp was situated in Smukała village, now part of Bydgoszcz. According to Nowa encyklopedia powszechna PWN, 37,000 citizens of the city died during the war.

Landmarks:

Definitely one of the most beautiful buildings, and undoubtedly the oldest building, in the city is the Church of St Martin and Nicolaus, commonly known as Fara Church. It is a three-aisle late Gothic church erected between 1466 and 1502. The church boasts a late-Gothic painting entitled Madonna with a Rose, or the Holy Virgin of Beautiful Love, from the 16th century. The colourful 20th-century polychrome is also worth noticing.

The Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, commonly referred to as "The Church of St Calres," is a famous landmark of the city. It is a small, Gothic-Renaissance (including Neo-Renaissance additions), one-aisle church built between 1582 – 1602. The interior of the temple is rather austere since the church has been stripped of most his furnishings. Not a surprising fact when taking into account that in the 19th century the Prussian authorities dissolved the Order of St Clare and turned the church into a warehouse, among others. Nonetheless, the temple is worth visiting and examining. The original wooden polychrome ceiling from the 17th century draws the attention of every visitor.

Wyspa Młyńska (the Mill Island) is among the most spectacular and atmospheric places in Bydgoszcz. What makes it unique is the location in the very heart of the city centre, just a few steps from the old market square. It had been the 'industrial' centre of Bydgoszcz in the Middle Ages and throughout the next few hundreds years of its existence. It was there that the famous royal mint operated for many years in the 17th century. The buildings which can still be seen on the island come from the 19th century. However, the so-called Biały Spichlerz (the White Granary) remembers the end of the 18th century. But it is the water, footbridges, red-brick edifices of historical tenement houses reflected in rivers, and the greenery, including old chesnut trees, that create the atmosphere of the Island.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/BydgoszczAir.jpg

http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/6605/0069resize8va4ha.jpg

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/3469/0111resize5rl6dt.jpg

DocentX

October 26th, 2009, 01:05 PM

Bydgoszcz

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

http://i41.tinypic.com/2m4skyq.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p27/Machoney/krolkazimierz.jpg

Gatsby

October 26th, 2009, 04:01 PM

DocentX, z Ciebie to prawdziwy stachanowiec;)

DocentX

October 26th, 2009, 04:59 PM

DocentX, z Ciebie to prawdziwy stachanowiec;)

Poznaj swój kraj jak to mówią ;)

DocentX

October 26th, 2009, 05:24 PM

Bydgoszcz

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

http://images27.fotosik.pl/242/c7da2bfddf5369a6.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt176/Kiniuch/Bydgoszcz/DSC02351.jpg

Darhet

October 27th, 2009, 01:00 AM

The Table Mountains/Góry Stołowe
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3466/dlsl.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8763/gs2s.jpg

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/2740/gst1.jpg

Darhet

October 27th, 2009, 01:04 AM

The Table Mountains/Góry Stołowe

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3101/gs4w.jpg

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/692/gs4l.jpg

Darhet

October 27th, 2009, 01:13 AM

The Table Mountains/Góry Stołowe
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/4579/gst1d.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6705/gs2ch.jpg

Darhet

October 27th, 2009, 01:26 AM

The Table Mountains
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/99/widoczek100620052.jpg

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3428/gz1.jpg

Darhet

October 27th, 2009, 01:31 AM

Kłodzko
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3466/dlsl.jpg
Is a town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Nysa Kłodzka river.

Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko County (and of the rural Gmina Kłodzko, although the town itself is a separate urban gmina), and is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship .
With 28,250 inhabitants (2006), Kłodzko is the main commercial centre as well as an important transport and tourist node for the area. For its historical monuments it is sometimes referred to as "Little Prague"
Established 10th century
Town rights 1233

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5356/klodzko.jpg

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1442/kl1o.jpg

Darhet

October 27th, 2009, 01:39 AM

Kłodzko
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3263/kodzkoratusz.jpg

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/2487/kodzkogotyckimostnamynw.jpg

DocentX

October 27th, 2009, 11:14 AM

Toruń

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

Toruń (German: Thorn (Ltspkr.png listen), Kashubian: Torń, Latin: Thorunium, see also: other names) is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River, with population over 207,190 as of 2006, making it the second-largest city of Kujawy-Pomerania Province, after Bydgoszcz.

The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus. In 1997 it was inscribed onto UNESCO's World Heritage List as a World Heritage Site.

Since 1999, Toruń has been a seat of the self-government of Kujawy-Pomerania Province and, as such, one of its two capitals (together with Bydgoszcz). The cities and neighboring counties form the Bydgoszcz-Toruń bipolar metropolitan area.

The first settlement in the vicinity is dated by archaeologists to 1100 BCE (Lusatian culture). During medieval times, in the 7th-13th centuries, it was a place of an old Polish settlement, at the crossing of the river.

The Teutonic Knights, built a castle in the location of the Polish settlement in the years 1230-31. On 28 December 1233, the Teutonic Knights Hermann von Salza and Hermann Balk signed the foundation charters for Thorn and Chełmno. Named after the city this took place, the original document (lost in 1244) with the city rights was called Kulmer Handfeste, the set of rights in general is known as Kulm law. In 1236, due to frequent flooding,it was relocated to the present site of the Old Town. In 1263 Franciscan monks settled in the city, followed in 1239 by Dominicans. In 1264 the nearby New Town was founded.

In 1280, the city joined the mercantile Hanseatic League soon turned into an important medieval trade centre.

The First Peace of Thorn ending the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War (1409-1411) was signed in the city in February 1411. In 1440, the gentry of Thorn formed the Prussian Confederation, and in 1454 rose with the Confederation against the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War. After almost 200 years of coexistence, New and Old Town amalgamated in 1454. The Teutonic castle was destroyed. The Thirteen Years' War ended in 1466 with the Second Peace of Thorn, in which the Teutonic Order ceded their control over Eastern Pomerania (Royal Prussia). Toruń became part of Kingdom of Poland.

The city adopted Protestantism in 1557 during the Protestant Reformation, while most Polish cities remained Roman Catholic. During the time of the mayor Heinrich Stroband (1586-1609), the city became centralised and its administrative power went into the hands of the city council. In 1595, Jesuits arrived in order to promote the Counter-Reformation, taking control of the Church of St. John. Protestant city officials tried to limit the influx of the Catholic population into the city, as Catholics (Jesuits and Dominican Order monks) already controlled most churches, leaving only St. Mary to the Protestant citizens.

In 1677, the Prussian historian and educator Christoph Hartknoch was invited to be director of the Torun Gymnasium, a post which he held until his death in 1687. Hartknoch wrote histories of Prussia, including the cities of Royal Prussia.

In the second half of the 17th century, tensions between Catholics and Protestants grew leading to events known as the Tumult of Thorn. In 1793, the city was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia following the Second Partition of Poland. In 1807, the city became part of the Duchy of Warsaw created by Napoleon and ruled by King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, although Prussia took control of it again after Napoleon's defeat in 1814. In 1870, French prisoners of war taken during the Franco-Prussian War built a chain of forts surrounding the town. In the following year, the city, along with the rest of Prussia, became part of the new German Empire. During this period it became one of centers of resistance to Germanisation and Kulturkampf by Poles, who established a Polish-language newspaper called "Gazeta Toruńska". In 1875, a Polish Science Society was established and in 1884 a secret organisation dedicated to restoration of Poland.

According to the Treaty of Versailles signed after World War I in 1919, it was part of the Polish Corridor assigned to Poland. Toruń became the capital of the then Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 1925, the Baltic Institute was established in the city, with the task of documenting Polish heritage in Pomerania. In general, the interwar period was a time of significant urban development in Toruń. Major investments were completed in areas like transportation (new streets, tramway lines and the Piłsudski Bridge), residential constructions (many new houses, particularly in Bydgoskie Przedmieście) and public buildings.

The city was annexed by Nazi Germany after the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and administered as part of Danzig-West Prussia. During World War II, the chain of forts were used by the Germans as POW camps, collectively known as Stalag XX-A. The city, escaped significant destruction during the war, and was liberated from the Nazis in 1945 by the Soviet Red Army and, as before the war, became part of Poland. The remaining German population was expelled primarily to East Germany between 1945 and 1947.

After World War II, the population increased more than twofold and industry developed significantly. However, one of the most important events of the post-war era was the founding of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in 1945. Over the years, it has become one of the better universities in Poland. Its existence has influenced the life of the city enormously, as well as its perception by non-locals. The University itself was founded by Polish professors of the University of Wilno, who were forced to abandon their native city and move to post-1945 Poland.

Since 1989, when local and regional self-government was gradually reintroduced and the market economy set in, Toruń, like other cities in Poland, has undergone deep social and econonomic transformation. There is some debate among locals as to whether this time has been really spent as successfully as it should have been, but the fact is that Toruń has recently reclaimed its strong position as a regional leader, together with Bydgoszcz

Listed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 1997, Toruń has many monuments of architecture beginning from the Middle Ages, including 200 military structures. The city is famous for having preserved almost intact its medieval spatial layout and many Gothic buildings, all built from brick, including monumental churches, the Town Hall and many burgher houses. The most interesting monuments are:

* Gothic churches:
o The Cathedral of Ss. John the Evangelist and John the Baptist, an aisled hall church built in the 14th century and extended in the 15th century; outstanding Gothic sculptures and paintings inside (Moses, St. Mary Magdalene, gravestone of Johann von Soest), Renaissance and Baroque epitaphs and altars (amongst them the epitaph of Copernicus from 1580)
o St. Mary's church, a formerly Franciscan aisled hall built in the 14th century
o St. Jacob's church, a basilica from the 14th century, with monumental wall paintings and Gothic stalls
* The Old Town Hall, begun in 1274, extended and rebuilt between 1391 and 1399, and extended at the end of the 16th century; one of the most monumental town halls in Central Europe
* City fortifications, begun in the 13th century, extended between the 14th and 15th centuries, mostly demolished in the 19th century, but partially preserved with a few city gates and watchtowers (among them the so-called Leaning Tower) from the Vistula side. See also: Toruń Fortress
* A Gothic house from the 15th century, where Copernicus was allegedly born (now a museum)
* Ruins of the Teutonic Knights' castle from the 13th century
* The House Under the Star (Polish: Dom Pod Gwiazdą), previously Gothic, briefly owned by Filip Callimachus, then rebuilt in the 16th century and in 1697, with a richly decorated stucco facade and wooden spiral stairs
* Toruń has the largest number of preserved Gothic houses in Poland, many with Gothic wall paintings or wooden beam ceilings from the 16th to the 18th centuries

Toruń, unlike many other historic cities in Poland, avoided significant destruction during World War II. In particular, the Old Town was left intact, so all its important monuments of architecture are original.

Major renovation projects have been undertaken in recent years to improve the condition and external presentation of the Old Town. Besides the renovation of various buildings, projects such as the reconstruction of the pavement of the streets and squares (reversing them to their historical appearance), and the introduction of new plants, trees and objects of 'small architecture', are underway.

Numerous buildings and other constructions, including the city walls along the boulevard, are illuminated at night, creating an impressive effect - probably unique among Polish cities with respect to the size of Toruń's Old Town and the scale of the illumination project itself.

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8338/torun000420qr.jpg

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/5884/caly9kh.jpg

DocentX

October 27th, 2009, 03:18 PM

Toruń

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

http://s.v3.tvp.pl/repository/attachment/d/e/f/def63f5f4369d0b98fc78c8145fdfaca1247563712459.jpg

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/339/dsc02689.jpg

DocentX

October 27th, 2009, 10:00 PM

Toruń

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/138/dsc00567resizeve3.jpg

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/382/dsc01710resizefj7.jpg

DocentX

October 27th, 2009, 10:04 PM

Toruń

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/2773/dsc00554resizeqh1.jpg

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DocentX

October 27th, 2009, 10:15 PM

Toruń

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Darhet

October 28th, 2009, 12:50 AM

The Karkonosze Mountains

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Darhet

October 28th, 2009, 01:16 AM

The Karkonosze Mountains

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DocentX

October 28th, 2009, 02:33 PM

Golub-Dobrzyń

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Golub-Dobrzyń is a town in central Poland, located on the both sides of the Drwęca River. It is the capital of Golub-Dobrzyń County and has a population of 12,500.

Golub-Dobrzyń initially consisted of two separate towns: Golub located north of the Drwęca in Chełmno Land and Dobrzyń located south of the Drwęca in the Dobrzyń Land. The two cities were united May 5, 1951.

The village Golub (German: Gollub; Latin: villa golube), populated by Poles, was first mentioned in a document from 1258; Chełmno Land, or Culmerland, had been in the hands of the Teutonic Knights since 1231. The Teutonic Knights built a castle (1296-1306) and elevated it to town status. In 1421 all privileges of the town were confirmed by Grand Master Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg. Golub was severely damaged during wars in 1414 and 1422; the latter war called the Gollub War. The town became part of Poland according to the Second Peace of Thorn (1466).

The height of prosperity of Golub was reached during the rule of King Sigismund III Vasa 1611-25. The town was severely damaged during Polish-Swedish Wars, especially in 1626-29, 1655, and 1660, as well as the later Seven Years' War (1756-63). In the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Golub was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1807-15 it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw. It was assigned to the Duchy of Poznan in 1815, and in 1817 it was included in West Prussia. In 1871 it was included in Imperial Germany and was subject to Germanisation. In January 1920 it became part of Poland.

Since the second half of the 17th century, Dobrzyń (German: Dobrin an der Drewenz) existed as a settlement on the left bank of the Drwęca. In 1684 Zygmunt Działyński named the settlement Przedmieście Golubskie. In 1789 Count Ignacy Działyński founded the city of Dobrzyń. In 1793 after the Second Partition of Poland, Dobrzyń was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1807-15 it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it was included in the Kingdom of Poland in personal union with the Russian Empire. In the second half of the 19th century the Kingdom of Poland was annexed by Russia and the city developed quickly with a growing Jewish population. Eventually Dobrzyń became larger than Golub.

Dobrzyń became part of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 following World War I.

Monuments and landmarks

* Castle of the Teutonic Knights, built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, later rebuilt and extended in the 15th century. Between 1616 and 1623 it was a residence of Anna of Finland; during this period a Renaissance attic was added. The castle was destroyed during the The Deluge. In the 19th century, it was neglected and a gale caused the collapse of its attic. After 1945 the castle was rebuilt and renovated.
* Gothic church of St. Catherine, dating back to the beginning of the 14th century, with the Renaissance chapel of the Kostka family
* Relics of defence walls
* Wooden arcaded house in the market square dating back to the end of the 18th century
* In Dobrzyń - Classicistic church built between 1823 and 1827

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The castle

http://visitkujawsko-pomorskie.pl/upload/GolubDobrzyn03.jpg

DocentX

October 29th, 2009, 08:10 AM

Ostromecko palace complex

http://www.dubielvitrum.pl/img/mapki/mapa_polska_kujawskopomorsk.gif

Ostromecko is situated by the right bank of the Wistula River, at the road connecting Bydgoszcz and Chełmno. Nowadays the village numbers 925 inhabitants. The surrounding areas of Ostromecko are characterized by the great variety of flora and fauna.

A remain of the great past of Ostromecko is the palace complex consisting of two palaces, namely, the Old one – from XVII c. and the New one, founded by Schoenborn and Alvensleben.

In 1985 the Old Palace was taken over by the Pomeranian Philharmonic Society and it became a branch of it. Nowadays in the museum there is a collection of temporary Polish painting and antique pianos. The residence is often visited by music lovers, who come here to listen to Chopin’s recitals and chamber concertos.

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DocentX

October 29th, 2009, 03:57 PM

Chełmno

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Chełmno (older English: Culm; German: Kulm) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 20,000 inhabitants and the historical capital of Chełmno Land (Culmerland).

The name is derived from the Old Slavic word for hill (chełm, in modern Polish language wzgórze). This is a cognate of the English word hill and similar words in other related languages.

Culm was the German name, officially used between 1772 and 1807 and again between 1815 and 1920. During the Nazi occupation in World War II, the town was called Kulm. The town also has been known as Culm in English, but Chełmno is now more commonly used.

The first written mention of Chełmno is known from a document allegedly issued in 1065 by Duke Boleslaus II of Poland for the Benedictine monastery in Mogilno. In 1226 Duke Konrad I of Masovia invited the Teutonic Knights to Chełmno Land (Kulmerland).

In 1233 Chełmno was granted city rights known as "Kulm law" (renewed in 1251), the model system for over 200 Polish towns. The town grew prosperous as a member of the mercantile Hanseatic League. Chełmno and Chełmno Land were part of the Teutonic Knights' state until 1466, when after the Thirteen Years' War Chełmno was incorporated into Poland and made the capital of Chełmno Voivodeship.

In 1772, following the First Partition of Poland, Chełmno was taken over by the Kingdom of Prussia. Between 1807 and 1815 Chełmno was part of the Duchy of Warsaw, returning to Prussia at the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

The city had a mixed German/Polish population during most of his history. Around 1900 the city was about one-third German and two-thirds Polish. Chełmno returned to Poland in 1920 following World War I. During the interwar period the town experienced renewed economic growth.

When World War II broke out in 1939, Nazi German authorities murdered 5,000 Polish civilians upon taking control of the territory. The atrocities took place in Klamry, Małe Czyste, Podwiesk, Plutowo, Dąbrowa Chełmińska, and Wielkie Łunawy, while many other Poles were executed in forests. The rest of the Polish population was expelled to the General Government in line with the German policy of Lebensraum. Polish Secret State resistance groups such as Polska Żyje ("Poland Lives"), Rota, Grunwald, and Szare Szeregi were also active in the area.

On 25 January 1945 German forces set fire to several buildings in the city, including a hospital, a railway terminal, and a brewery, while retreating

Chełmno has a well-preserved medieval center, with five Gothic churches and a beautiful Renaissance town hall in the middle of the market square.

* Gothic churches:
o Church of St Mary, former main parochial church of town, built 1280-1320 (with St. Valentine relic)
o Church of SS Jacob and Nicholas, former Franciscan church, from 14th c., rebuild in 19 c.
o Church of SS Peter and Paul, former Dominican church, from 13-14th c. rebuild in 18 and 19th c.
o Church of SS John the Baptist and Johns the Evangelist, former Benedictine and Cictercian nuns' church, with monastery, built 1290-1330
o Church of Holy Ghost, from 1280-90
*
Town Hall in Chełmno
Town hall, whose oldest part comes from the end of the 13th century, rebuilt in manneristic style (under Italian influence) in 1567-1572
* City walls which surround whole city, preserved almost as a whole, with watch towers and Grudziądzka Gate

Chełmno gives its name to the protected area called Chełmno Landscape Park, which stretches along the right bank of the Vistula.

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Urbanista1

October 29th, 2009, 04:15 PM

What a beautfiul city. It's good to see that in most of these places, the town hall, main church/cathedral and some monastery along with a few houses were at least preserved. It appears that Chelmno survived the war fairy intact. Thanks again.

DocentX

October 29th, 2009, 10:32 PM

Chełmno

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http://chelmno.pl/files/Image/kosciol%20farny/fara.jpg

DocentX

October 30th, 2009, 12:31 PM

Grudziądz

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Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 99,090 inhabitants (2007).

In 1291, the town (as Graudenz) received German Kulm law city rights from the monastic state of the Teutonic Knights it was located in. In 1440, the town joined the Prussian Confederation.

In 1466 under the II peace treaty in Torun, Chelminska Land with Grudziadz came back into the Polish borders. A convenient localisation in Central Royal Prussia decided about choosing Grudziadz to be the seat of the Prussian Parliament’s meetings, state meetings, and in the later time also the general Parliament’s congresses. It was at the congress of 1522, when Nicolaus Copernicus uttered his famous economical dissertation on coins (“De aestimatione monetae”). Between 1526 and 1772 in Grudziadz 170 general congresses took place.

A long period of peace was conducive to the town’s development, handicraft and trade had their good time. The granaries which were built then, were of great importance to trading with Gdansk, Elblag and Torun.

The XVII century was, on the contrary, the period of non-ending wars conducted by the Polish state. These wars did not omit Grudziadz. Here, during the war with Sweden for Royal Prussia, German supporting troops were standing in 1629. Near Grudziadz was the camp of the Great Crown Hetman Koniecpolski. Also Grudziadz was included in the Swedish “flood”. The Swedes gained the town in the first stage of their invasion. During several years of the occupation, the Swedish king Charles Gustaff visited Grudziadz, supervising works on rebuilding fortifications and surrounding walls of the castle. In 1659 the town was liberated by Polish troops commanded by Jerzy Lubomirski. Unfortunately, almost the whole town burnt during the surrounding actions, only the castle, cathedral and only a few living houses escaped destruction.

In the following years Grudziadz experienced hard times again, this time connected with long lasting Northern War and internal conflicts in the country. Despite this fact, this era is called by many researchers “Grudziadz baroque”, since a lot of magnificent monuments of architecture were created then. Among them we can mention: the main altar in St Nicholas’ Church, the wing in the Benedict nuns cloister, the Palace of Abbot nuns and a fabulous interior of the Jesuit Church.

Following the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the city was annexed by the King Frederick II of Prussia and made part of the German Kingdom of Prussia. In 1871, during the unification of Germany, it became part of the Prussian-led German Empire.

After the construction of a railroad bridge across the Vistula in 1878, Grudziadz became a rapidly growing industrialized city as well as a district centre in 1900. In the 1912 Reichstag elections, 21% of the votes were given to Polish candidates, while the National Liberal Party of Germany received 53% of all votes. On January 23, 1920, in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, Grudziądz became part of the newly created Polish republic.

In the 20 years between the world wars, Grudziądz served as an important centre of culture and education with one of the biggest Polish military garrisons and several military schools located both within the confines of the city and around it. A large economic potential, and the existence of important institutions like the Pomeranian Tax Office and the Pomeranian Chamber of Industry and Trade, helped Grudziądz become the economic capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship in the interwar period. Grudziądz's economic potential was featured at the First Pomeranian Exhibition of Agriculture and Industry in 1925, officially opened by Stanisław Wojciechowski, the President of the Second Polish Republic.

The 64th and 65th Infantry Regiments and the 16th Light Artillery Regiment of the Polish Army were stationed in Grudziądz during the 19 years of interwar period. They were part of the 16th Infantry Division, which had its headquarters in the city, as did the cavalry's famous 18th Pomeranian Uhlans Regiment. The Grudziądz Centre of Cavalry Training educated many notable army commanders. Military education in Grudziądz was also provided by the Centre of the Gendarmerie, the Air School of Shooting and Bombarding, and the N.C.O. Professional School, which offered courses for infantry reserve officer cadets.

On September 3, 1939 military troops of Nazi Germany entered Grudziądz and, as Graudenz, annexed the city into the Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, starting a five-year long occupation lasting till the end of World War II. Graudenz was the location of the German concentration camp Graudenz, a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp. As the result of heavy fights in 1945, Grudziadz was destroyed and devastated in over 60%.

Grudziądz is located on the right bank of Vistula river in the northern part of Pomerania Region, amongst main seaports (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot), Bydgoszcz and Toruń. Such location and well-developed road system are the advantages of the town. The international road E-75 (Gdynia-Cieszyn) runs 5 km from the town, and two national roads, No 55 (Toruń-Grudziądz-Kwidzyn-Elbląg) and No 16-the shortest road connecting western border of Poland with Warmia and Mazury, and further Kaliningrad, run directly through Grudziądz. In addition there are plans of the motorway A-1 which will connect the Scandinavia with the southern Europe and the clearway from Poznań through Bydgoszcz, Grudziądz to Olsztyn. Such situation makes the town attractive and gives possibilities of development.

Grudziądz is over 700-year-old town, so there are a lot of monuments, among them fragments of the Town Walls with the Water Gate, the gothic church of St. Nicolas, the complex of granaries, the Jesuits’ college and the St. Francis Xavier’s church, the Benedictines nuns’ cloister, the Abbot Palace, the Citadel, historic tenements, and other monuments from XIX century.

Not only monuments make tourists come to Grudziądz, but also place where they can rest and have fun. There are three lakes in Grudziądz, among them, the biggest one is Great Rudnickie Lake, with beautiful beaches, recreation centres, water equipment rentals, bars, camping sites, sailing cenrtres.
Two water routes-Wisła and Osa, four routes for pedestrians and two international bike routes run through the town.

Scroll --->

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DocentX

October 30th, 2009, 04:30 PM

Grudziądz

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Fog near Grudziądz

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FLAWDA-FELLA

October 30th, 2009, 06:46 PM

Cool looking shots with the approaching fog.

Darhet

October 31st, 2009, 04:11 AM

The Tuchola Forest
Is one of the biggest forests in Poland and Central Europe.

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Darhet

October 31st, 2009, 04:19 AM

The Wda River in Tuchola forest
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Autumn in Tuchola forest
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DocentX

October 31st, 2009, 12:30 PM

Włocławek

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Włocławek is a town in northern Poland on the Vistula (Wisła) and Zgłowiączka rivers, with a population of approximately 117,000.

Włocławek belongs to “medieval pearl” group – the oldest towns in Poland. The burg city was founded by Prince Włodzisław, by Złowiączka river mouth to Vistula river, in early years of Piast’s dynasty reign it was thought as one of the most important strategic Polish army rallying-points. The main, water trade route passed here. In 1123 Włocławek became the seat of Włocławek’s bishops.

The proud towers of the 14th century Cathedral testify the splendour of the medieval town.

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Darhet

November 1st, 2009, 02:25 AM

Collegiate church in Kruszewica
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Was built in 1140 AD.

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Darhet

November 1st, 2009, 03:07 AM

Motorway A1 in Kujawsko-Pomorskie

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As of October 2009, there were 1431 kilometres of motorways and dual-carriageway expressways in Poland.

In October 2009, 606 km of motorways and dual -expressways were under construction.
Under current plans, by 2015 three motorways will span the country, two along the East-West axis (A2, A4) and one along the North-South axis (A1).
On May 15, 2004 the Regulation of the Council of Ministers (on the network of motorways and express roads) referred to a network of motorways and expressways in Poland totalling about 7200 km (including about 2,000 km of motorways).

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A1U/C
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Darhet

November 1st, 2009, 04:06 AM

A wind farm near Puck
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In 2009, the wind power in Poland was produced by almost 200 registered sources and the total installed capacity was 472MW.
Others are under construction .

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DocentX

November 1st, 2009, 09:42 AM

Biskupin

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Biskupin - one of the Oldest and Best Preserved Archeological Sites in Central Europe.

Biskupin is the most famous archeological site in Poland and one of the best sites in Europe. The site was reconstructed and serves as a life-size model of Iron Age fortified settlement. The site was probably established more than 700 BC (over 2700 years ago), in the same time when Roman empire was founded.

In the present time there is a common consensus that the site is a place of highly developed civilization, so called Lusatian culture. It is impossible to establish the clear ethnicity of this highly developed culture. Lusatian culture existed in Central Europe and ranged from Eastern Germany, most of Poland, parts of Czech Republic and Slovakia to the parts of Ukraine.

The site was excavated from 1934 onwards by a team from Poznań University, led by the archaeologists Józef Kostrzewski (1885-1969) and Zdzisław Rajewski (1907-1974). The first report was published in 1936. By the beginning of 1939, ca. 2500 m² had been excavated. The settlement soon became famous in Poland, attracting visits from numerous distinguished guests, including officials of the Piłsudski regime, members of the military, and high churchmen such as the primate of Poland. The excavation soon became part of Polish national consciousness, a symbol of the achievements of the Slavonic forebears in prehistoric times. The site was called the "Polish Pompeii" or "Polish Herculaneum". The existence of a prehistoric fortress, 70 km from the German border, was taken to show that the prehistoric "Poles" had held their own against foreign invaders and plunderers as early as the Iron Age. Biskupin came to feature in paintings and popular novels.

When the Germans occupied parts of Poland in the autumn of 1939, Biskupin became part of the Warthegau, an area that German Nationalists claimed to have been "Germanic" since at least the Iron Age (Gustaf Kossinna, Das Weichselland, ein uralter Heimatboden der Germanen, Leipzig, Kabitzsch 1919).

Biskupin was renamed "Urstädt". In 1940, excavations were resumed under the patronage of Heinrich Himmler by the SS-Ahnenerbe under the supervision of Hauptsturmführer Hans Schleiff, a classical archaeologist who was to excavate in Olympia, Greece as well. Schleiff published only two short popular accounts that describe how Germanic tribes overran the 'small Lusatian settlement'. The excavations were continued till 1942. When the Germans retreated, the site was flooded, which ironically led to the good preservation of the ancient timbers. Excavations were resumed by Polish archaeologists after the war and lasted till 1974.

There are two settlement periods at Biskupin that follow each other without hiatus. Both settlements were laid out on a rectangular grid with eleven streets that are three meters wide. The older settlement consisted of ca. 100 oak and pine log-houses that are of similar layout and measure ca. 8 x 10 m each. They consisted of two chambers and an open entrance-area. An open hearth was located in the centre of the biggest room. There are no larger houses that could indicate social stratification.

The settlement was surrounded by a fortification that is 3,5 m wide. It is made up of oak trunks that form boxes filled with earth. The rampart is more than 450 m long and accompanied by a wooden breakwater in the lake. 6000-8000 m³ of wood have been used in the construction of the rampart.

There is a migration period (200-400 AD) settlement and a medieval stronghold on the peninsula as well.

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