The Best of Gdansk

the best of

Gdańsk

publisher: The Mayor’s Office for the Promotion of Gdańsk / Gdańsk Tourist Organization email: bppm@gdansk.gda.pl / got@gdansk4u.pl www.facebook.com/MiastoGdansk text: Grażyna Adamska

substantive consultation: Aleksander Masłowski

We thank the following for making photos available: The Hewelianum Centre, the Amber Museum, the Gdańsk History Museum, the National Museum, the Nowy Port Lighthouse, the European Solidarity Centre.

Table of Contents “The Road to Freedom” exhibition

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“Energy, Sky and Sun” exhibition

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Lizard in amber

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“Apotheosis of Gdańsk”

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Neptune’s Fountain

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King of all the furnaces

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The Crane

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Gargoyles

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Astronomical clock

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“The Last Judgement”

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Fort Carré

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Time ball

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Amber megahit

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“Shipyard” wall murals

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Oliwa organs

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“The Road to Freedom” exhibition

Not far from the three enormous crosses commemorating fallen shipyard workers at Solidarity Square, with a SKOT armoured personnel carrier at the entrance, stairs lead to underground rooms of a reconstructed absurd world. The exhibition opens with a display of furnishings typical for the turn of the 1970’s and 1980’s - a period of the collapse of the socialist economic system in Poland - a grocery stores with... bread, vinegar, mustard, chicken eggs, and the curiosity at that time, so-called coupons for meat, soap, washing powder, cigarettes, alcohol and... shoes!

The mannequin next to the shop counter presents a typical street during communist times - a woman tired of life who returns home draped with rolls of toilet paper considered then a great rarity...

Poland’s reality back then: no freedom, terror, censorship, worthless money, but also the lack of vibrant colours, aesthetic objects, poor quality goods and a longing for normality - such a suggestive

atmosphere leads the viewer to the topic of a unique exhibition “Roads to Freedom”. The admission ticket is a copy of the mentioned ration coupon.

The exhibition presents in an attractive multimedia form the subsequent stages of the struggle for civil liberties: the tragedy of December 1970, the strike in August 1980, the socalled carnival of “Solidarity” and also the introduction of martial law by communists in December 1981 as well as unsuccessful uprisings in other countries of the Communist Bloc. Also - the circumstances of granting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for the imprisoned leader of “Solidarity”, Lech Walesa.

The first failure of communist terror in Poland. The first, partly free parliamentary elections in June 1989. And finally: the revolutionary wave that went through Central and Eastern European society, restoring their freedom and led to the breakdown of the Soviet empire. Positioned near the entrance to the exhibition there are two wall fragments from the Berlin wall and the shipyard wall. They allow us to realise that the fall of the first, for many considered to be the start of change in Eastern Europe, was only the consequence of events which started in Gdańsk.

GDAŃSK SHIPYARD In 2010 thirty years have passed since the memorable events of Gdańsk’s August 1980, when due to strikes at the Gdańsk shipyard under the leadership of Lech Walesa and the creation of “Solidarity”, the dismantling of the communist system began, which ultimately led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Autumn of Nations 1989 and finally ended the division of our continent into two blocs, separated by the “Iron Curtain”.

Taking a walk or a ride on the unusual Subjective Bus Line around the former terrain of the shipyard is a unique trip leading from the famous Gate No 2, through the historical Health and Safety Hall, the workshop of Lech Walesa, the Freedom Gate installation and the “Wyspa” Institute of Art. The expedition route takes you to places where freedom was born, because it all started in Gdańsk...

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“Energy, Sky and Sun” exhibition the spirit of explorers and experimenters. The permanent exhibition “Energy, Sky and Sun” consists of two equally interesting parts: The Energy Laboratory and the Heavens Laboratory. The first presents different kinds of energy, their source, transformation from one form into another. In two large aquariums one can personally produce the effect of a tsunami and discover what exactly determines the energy of sea waves and how it can be used. “Newton’s Cradle” and “Energy in the Kitchen” are other places where you can learn interesting phenomena where physics ceases to be a school terror! Equally interesting is a meeting with astronomy at The darkness of the long tunthe Heavens Laboratory. The nel, a play of lights, mysterious construction of the Solar Syssounds and exploding colours, tem or the entire universe and expressive photographs show- how they were imagined over ing the most amazing phenom- history. A model of the sun ena and cosmic spaces, excitcontrolled by hand gestures ing walk through the galaxies, allows for learning the secrets constellations, nebulae - a of the stars. Caponiere journey to the most distant cor- conceals many secrets. For ners of the universe. So starts example, from the exposition an interesting adventure with in the tunnel leads a narrow science in the Southern Castaircase to the cellar where... poniere on Góra Gradowa: an - well, let’s allow the visitors adventure, because the exhibi- to discover it themselves. It is tion is interactive, awakening worth it!

5 HEWELIANUM CENTRE It is worth visiting the entire Hewelianum Centre, located next to the Gdańsk Main Railway Station, on the terrain of the Cultural Park of City Fortifications “Gdańsk Fortress”. Not only in South Caponiere can you spend an interesting time. The education and learning centre at the Góra Gradowa fort is full of surprises. You can learn about the turbulent history from this part of the city in the historic, restored buildings of the former fort, situated at the summit of Majdan fortifications and barracks as well as the complex of the former ammunition laboratory. The few dozen suggestive exhibits from the “Time Machine - Man and Missile” exhibition will bring us closer to the past. In the shelters and artillery are presented episodes from the Góra Gradowa fort, trivia related to the art of war, such as the history of black gun powder and a fortification workshop. Who played and lived in the fort during the period of the Free City of Gdańsk? How did the Radio Free Europe jammer work? Models of selected fort structures, biographies of fortification constructors, aerial photographs, both contemporary photos as well as from the 1920’s, a radio play in which famous Polish actors play the roles of historic persons and narrators. The sightseeing route, running between earth embankments restored in accordance with the ancient art of building fortifications, provides memorable experiences. This truly is a time machine... In the future is planned the creation of a planetarium on Góra Gradowa and using a cable car to connect its slopes to the city.

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AMBER MUSEUM

Lizard in amber A long, veeeery long time ago, in the eocene epoch, about 40 million years ago. The mythical land of Fenno - Skandia (now Scandinavia) and growing on its lush, humming, subtropical forest with plenty of amber resinous pines.

What did creatures look like who lived there? Not all of them have become irrecoverably extinct.

Some have passed on to history because they were imprisoned in a sticky drop of resin and so survived to this day. Scientifically it is known as amber inclusion.

The most frequent animal inclusions are insects which are less than one centimetre in size. It was the most difficult for them to escape resin traps. Most inclusion specimens are very rare. One of them is the “Gierłowska lizard”, a unique specimen named after its finder, Gdańsk amber hunter Gabriela Gierłowska. There are only a few lizard inclusions in the world. This one, in the collection of the Amber Museum (purchase financed by the L. Kronenberg Bank Foundation) is the first found in Poland, in Gdańsk, and at the same time the second one in the world.

The branch of the Gdańsk History Museum not only boasts of this curiosity. The Amber Museum in the Fore Gate Complex of Długa Street - Gdańsk’s popular barbican - continues its pre-war tradition, alluding to the Gdańsk inclusion collection located in the Green Gate which was lost during World War II. The latest unique specimen in the nature collection of the museum (purchase financed by the L. Kronenberg Bank Foundation) is the second, known in the world, inclusion of Solifugae in amber (these modern relatives of spiders are found in the tropics, they can run at a speed of 15km/hour and jump 1 metre high). In the collections of world museums you will not find such a specimen. In the recesses of the museum you can learn the history of the formation of “Northern Gold” and inclusion, the medicinal use of amber, see a display of how it is crafted and finally beautiful collections, including the most precious - objects from the collection of Georg Laue - which were made in Gdańsk in the 17th and 18th century.

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“Apotheosis of Gdańsk”

One of the most beautiful European town hall interiors, the stately Great Council Chamber. Intense red fabrics and rich decorations. The culmination of painting expression is the ceiling, 25 paintings by Isaac van den Blocke. The central, most important with a multidimensional message, simultaneously telling many stories about the powerful city is the “Apotheosis of Gdańsk”. Among the multitude of paintings from Gdańsk of that time is one showing the announcement of a famous building, a favourite today by tourists and locals alike, which at the moment of finishing the painting still did not exist. Maybe the brother’s artist, Abraham, who had a significant influence on the shape of Neptune’s Fountain and Peter Husen - the author of the statue presenting the god of the seas, betrayed their thoughts...

A major contribution to the culture of the city was made by the van den Blocke family who arrived from Flanders to settle in Gdańsk. Both sculptor Wilhelm van den Blocke, as well as his three outstanding sons: architect and sculptor Abraham, painter Isaac and Jacob, left behind exceptional works of art that the city is proud of even today. Isaac became famous as the author of paintings showing the size and wealth of the city that have been placed on the most important ceiling - the Red Hall of the Main Town Hall. He presented in them the specific programme of the City Council and its duty to Gdańsk referring to ancient history and biblical events. The “Apotheosis of Gdańsk” - the centre of its story, presents Gdańsk as an ideal and chosen city, found under the special protection of God.

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MAIN TOWN HALL Built for over a century in the Middle Ages, the original Gothic town hall, after a fire in the mid sixteenth century, was rebuilt in Renaissance style. It was coped with a natural size statue of King Zygmunt August. The full, lavish interior in the style of Dutch mannerism: The Great Council Chamber, the Small Council Hall called the Winter Hall as well as the Great Hall of Court called the White Hall testify to the power of Gdańsk at that time and its role in Europe. The characteristic sundial located in one of the corners calls to mind the relentless passage of time with the Latin maxim “The shadows are our days”. This is the most impressive secular building in sixteenth century Gdańsk enriched with a wonderful chime.

Today, the Main Town Hall is famous for its replica of a set of 37 wonderful concert bells. Gdańsk is the only city in Poland boasting the possession of chimes, not just one, but two (the second is located on the tower of St. Catherine’s Church.

Entrance to the observation gallery lets you enjoy a beautiful view of the city with music ringing from the bells every hour.

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Neptune’s Fountain

Obvious ruler of the coastal city: His Majesty Neptune.

Worthy place for the god: the representative market. Fame: legendary. One of legends from Gdańsk says that when the expected Neptune’s Fountain was erected at the place of the city’s well on Długi Targ Street, the admiration of cheering residents throwing gold ducats into the water tickled the vanity of the deity.

His Majesty showed his mercy and power, and churning up the water with his trident broke the gold into small flakes adorning the wonderful herbal liqueur Goldwasser.

Probably it was not by chance that later the fountain was fenced with an iron railing...

Apparently once every hundred years, at midnight, when the chime sounded, the royal happening repeated. Whoever does not happen to make it on the appropriate night can always try the liquor from one of the restaurants in Gdańsk.

The seventeenth century Neptune’s Fountain is a symbol of Gdańsk connection with the sea and charming decoration

of the market. It stood on the Royal Route in front of Artus Court thanks to the efforts of the mayor of that time, Bartholomew Schachmann, enchanted by the fountain in Bologna. A century later, it was richly decorated in Rococo style. Since then it has become the favourite background for tourists to pose for a souvenir photo from Gdańsk and is an inspiration for painters and photographers often sitting on Długi Targ Street.

ROYAL ROUTE The wonderful triumphal arch, richly ornamented with stones that are allegories of virtues - the Golden Gate - leads to a representative Gdańsk promenade. Royal processions paraded through it, greeted by cheering crowds. The Royal Route was the longest urban axis of European Middle Ages.

Its start at the Upland Gate; further it runs alongside the Fore Gate Complex of Długa Street, leading through the Golden Gate on Długa Street along the patrician houses with impressive facades of surpassing richness in form and originality of design, typical of Hanseatic cities. In one of them - the Uphagen House, is located the Museum of Middle-class Interiors, in

another one the Theatre in the Window presents their performances attracting passing tourists. The route goes through the most beautiful market of Gdańsk, Długi Targ Street, closed by the Green Gate on the side of the Motława River.

Further, the route leads to the Żuławska Gate, where on Nowe Ogrody Street the monarch’s procession finished.

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ARTUS COURT

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King of all furnaces

The biggest tile furnace in Europe. The work of an outstanding, sixteenth century potter, Georg Stelzner. More than 10 metres high. Five storeys. 520 hand-made tiles. Rich colours and images. A peculiar document of the epoch: images of European Renaissance rulers, Polish kings. Seriousness and dignity.

With one exception... In the middle of the pedestal of this great achievement of European tile art and at the same time proof of the multiculturalism of Gdańsk, at a height of about a metre above the floor, is a tile with the characteristic form of the legendary trickster among the medieval “posers” - Till Eulenspiegel. Witty residents of Gdańsk showing guests around the wonderful Artus Court propose for them to measure the width of the large furnace at its base with their arms stretched wide. The measurements could not be made without... unintentionally kissing Till’s bare buttocks! Only guests with a large sense of humour were welcome by the hosts of Artus Court. One of the legends of Till Eulenspiegel tells about a stay in Gdańsk and... the sharp tongues of arrogant patricians, but the guides will tell about that for those interested.

The tradition of Artus Court reaches back to the Middle Ages and derives from the ethos of the European knighthood.

Buildings used for meetings of urban patricians and rulers emerged especially in Hanseatic cities, among which Gdańsk has enjoyed a special position. The Gdańsk manor is not only proof of fascination with knights’ culture, but also the wealth of the city. Its history dates back to the fourteenth century.

At the end of the fifteenth century it was the seat of Gdańsk’s merchant brotherhood, the commercial centre of Gdańsk life, a social lounge where the elite met, visited by Polish dignitaries and important visitors from all over Europe. In Artus Court took place feasts, concerts, theatre presentations and also court proceedings. In the mid eighteenth century it was transformed into a grain exchange. In the nineteenth century it served as a place for big events and accepting distinguished guests.

The Artus Court complex includes the ground floors of two connected tenement houses called the Old House of the Court, Artus Court and the New House of the Court. The Old and New House of the Court are tenement houses with narrow facades characteristic for Gdańsk. The facade rebuilt by Abraham van den Blocke differs from the others in its unique splendour and wealth. The building’s interior - a huge, three nave hall supported by four slender stone columns, one of the most beautiful interiors in the world, is filled with hundreds of works constituting a review of arts and crafts over several centuries.

Particular attention is drawn to a gem of carved art, a late Gothic sculpture of “St George fighting the dragon”, a sixteenth century tin beer counter - the oldest bar in Poland and a unique collection of historic ship models on a world scale.

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The Crane

A thick hemp rope, a system of blocks and two wooden turnstiles moved by... walking workers. The crane’s medieval mechanism lifting 4-ton loads to a height of 11 metres was also used to install masts. Located on the Motława River, Gdańsk’s most characteristic monument is the largest medieval port crane in Europe and at the same time a fortified water gate with two huge brick towers, once protecting the city from the side of the harbour. Now the majestic Crane, as a great example of historic port buildings, a witness of the powerful Hanseatic Gdańsk, called the granary of Europe, is the perfect setting for exhibitions of the Polish Maritime Museum. Its headquarters are also situated on the other side of the Motława River on Ołowianka Island.

Ołowianka Island next to Granaries Island was an important part of the historical port during its greatest period of prosperity. Seven granaries were located there. Currently within the granaries “Panna”, “Miedź” and “Oliwski” as well as “Mała” and “Duża Dąbrowa” that were built later is located the headquarters and exhibition halls of the Polish Maritime Museum, considered to be one of the finest of its kind in Europe. Among the exhibits presented one can see: port navigation, techniques of reloading goods, what a merchant trading office and middle-class salon looked like, as well as the workshops of sailmakers, ship carpenters and ropemakers. The historic walls also hide Poland’s only permanent exhibition of maritime paintings. The exhibition shows the history of diving and the most interesting archaeological sites in Poland and the world. It includes diving equipment: suits, devices and different types of diving bells that were used to explore the seabed. Some of the world’s most famous archaeological sites presented in the exhibition are shipwrecks from Homer’s epoch found off the coast of Turkey.

The section devoted to underwater archaeology in Poland presents the largest achievements of the Polish Maritime Museum’s research team - “Miedziowca” a merchant ship from the fifteenth century, exploration of the Swedish warship “Solena” from the seventeenth century and the English wreck from the eighteenth century “General Carlton of Withby”. The youngest branch of the museum - the Maritime Culture Centre located next to the Crane is the only educational facility in Poland and one of the most modern facilities in Europe, which in an interactive and multimedia way presents maritime issues (60 interactive stations presenting matters relating to shipbuilding, navigation, maritime technology, life at sea and underwater archaeology). It is an exciting adventure in science.

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Gargoyles

More or less terrifying stone creatures. The names are also not so pretty: gargoyles, gurgoyles, spitters, brrr...

The ornamental end gutters with fantasy shapes known back in antiquity, coming to Europe in the Middle Ages.

Hundreds of them have prevailed in Gdańsk’s Main and Old Town. They were unusually placed: preceded by a stone trough, on the terraces instead of at the base of the roof. They are a characteristic element of Gdańsk architecture. The stone mouths of lions, dragons and sea monsters rarely spurt out rain water, for they lost their functions when storm drains arose. Such gargoyles adorn the streets of Gdańsk, especially Mariacka Street, where they are the most numerous, because almost all houses were preceded by rich terraces.

MARIACKA STREET This secluded lane for centuries has attracted artists and charms a romantic atmosphere. The alley, leading from St. Mary’s Church to the Long Embankment closed with the medieval Mariacka Gate, is a wonderful example of old Gdańsk construction with characteristic narrow terraces of richly decorated tenement houses once belonging to wealthy merchants and artisans. The terrace - a decorated stone carved porch between the street and the entrance to the building - when the weather was good, was the place of social life and a children’s playground for the residents. The lane recalls the wealth and splendour of the city during the Golden Age. It is also a testimony of Gdańsk’s taste and love of ancient art.

Mariacka Street was often a film set location. Today it is dominated by jewellery workshops and galleries with unique amber jewellery, touring musicians, photographing tourists and here... lovers kiss!

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Astronomical clock

Theatre of figures: apostles hurrying to heaven being chased by death, the sun and moon wandering on the background of zodiac signs, thousands of handwritten figures and numbers incomprehensible to the layman. A dark legend.

The fifteenth century work of Hans Düringer: an unusual, reconstructed monument, hidden within the walls of St. Mary’s Basilica. The famous astronomical clock consists of three parts. The peak, the most eye-catching for visitors, is a theatre of figures: the apostles, death as well as Adam and Eve striking the hours and quarter hours on the bell.

The central part of the clock is a planetarium with the proper clock, zodiac signs and a disc with the phases of the moon. The lower part is a liturgical timeline: a disc filled with lots of marks understandable only for the initiated,

partly overshadowed by a second - with the image of the Madonna. The history linked with the building of the clock, a blood chilling legend, is just as interesting as the work of the master Düringer...

ST. MARY’S BASILICA Erected for more than one and a half centuries St. Mary’s Church is the city’s most commanding Gothic building.

It is the largest European church (it can hold even 25 thousand people!) and has no equal among all the brick churches around the world. Its interior with an exceptionally beautiful crystal ceiling supported by 27 massive pillars hides many excellent medieval and baroque works of art, including the exquisite, main altar, the work of master Michał Schwarz from Augsburg, a touching stone Pieta from around the year 1410, a copy of Hans Memling’s triptych “The Last Judgement”, the Beautiful Madonna sculpture, a basket chandelier from the year 1490 and the famous mentioned astronomical clock. The excellent acoustics of the raw, ascetic church walls are stressed by the beautiful sound of baroque organs.

A magnificent panorama view of the city can be enjoyed from the galleries of the impressive, 82 metre high tower, with the characteristic silhouette of a flat roof proudly rising over Gdańsk. Close to 400 stairs lead you to the top. Next to it, in the shadow of the Basilica, stands the beautiful baroque Royal Chapel with its original facade and three characteristic domes.

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THE NATIONAL MUSEUM

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“The Last Judgement” The Archangel Michael weighing good and evil, the saved ascending to heaven on crystal stairs, devils throwing sinners into the fires of hell. The bothersome vision of judgement day by the brush of the great Dutch artist was obtained accidentally, captured as the spoils of war by Gdańsk’s famous privateer Paweł Benecke. Hans Memling’s triptych “The Last Judgement” is the most valuable exhibit of the National Museum in Gdańsk and his only work in Polish collections. The painting, considered to be Memling’s crowning point (his authorship was not determined until the mid nineteenth century!), is of an impressive size (height 242 cm, width 360 cm), with technical perfection and artistic beauty, and its dramatic fate intrigues both with its message and its rich symbolism, understandable only to insiders. You can admire a copy of the work at St. Mary’s Basilica, where the original was first donated to the church.

You can meditate on the message of the famous triptych in one of the Dutch paintings gallery rooms of the Museum’s Department of Old Art, located in the historic building of the former Franciscan monastery. The stunning architecture of the late Gothic interior is a beautiful setting for many valuable collections: Gdańsk, Dutch and Flemish paintings, old ceramics, sculptures, famous Gdańsk furniture and works of Gdańsk goldsmiths. The collection of the Department of Modern Art containing about 400 works of outstanding Polish artists from the nineteenth and twentieth century, presenting the most important trends in Polish art is located at the Abbot’s Palace is Oliwa. Near the Abbot’s Granary is the Department of Ethnography. At the Mannerist Green Gate, the most impressive of the City’s gates on the Royal Route, is a representative art gallery with temporary exhibitions of ancient and contemporary art, both Polish and foreign.

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Fort Carré

A typical sixteenth century defensive structure. From French: square. A four-bastion fort designed by the famous Flemish fortification builder working for Gdańsk, Antoni van Obberghen.

Constructed in accordance with the principles of new Italian fortifications, it was to protect the entrance to Gdańsk port with its bricked defence tower (the core of the future Wisłoujście Fortress, majestically guarding the city from the side of the sea) surrounded only by a three-storey brick ring. The fort has brick walls reinforced in the corners with cut stones, casemates and cannon stations. It is surrounded by a water moat and entrance was once guarded with a drawbridge. In the early seventeenth century a five-bastion Eastern Entrenchment surrounded the fort, also preceded by a moat. The fortification builders of Gdańsk watched over the safety of the city. Today the deadly Wisłoujście Fortress rising over the Martwa Wisła River is a great occasion not only for fortification fans. From time to time battles are fought here as in the old times...

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WISŁOUJŚCIE FORTRESS The name Wisłoujście comes from the times when the Vistula River estuary was located directly to the west of the fortress. The former port in Gdańsk was located on the Motława River, a few kilometres from the seacoast.

Wisłoujście therefore was a strategic militarily area.

Most likely during the reign of Pomeranian Princes a watchtower was located here.

It is known that in the middle of the fourteenth century a wooden building was erected here. At the end of the fifteenth century there was a stone, cylindrical tower that was also a lighthouse. The fires burning at night from its peak showed ships the way to the port. Enclosed by successive fortifications over the centuries, surrounded by moats,

modernized several times according to the evolving art of war, it was a strategic component of the extended defence system of Gdańsk.

It was from here in the year 1627 that the Poland fleet sailed to the victorious battle with the Swedes at Oliwa. The fortress lost its military importance after World War I, in connection with the demilitarization of Gdańsk. Now, as a priceless reminder of Polish marine history it is one of the departments of the Gdańsk History Museum and a great tourist attraction. It even has its own... ghost!

The ghost of the brave royal captain, Hans Kizero, commander of the first Polish unit intended for service at sea, a pinnace called the “Yellow Lion”, even has his own... blog!

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LIGHTHOUSE IN NOWY PORT

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An unusual instrument. Exceptional precision: time with an accuracy of one second per... 200,000 years! A time ball. The first ball functioning till today was installed in 1833 in the observatory in Greenwich. The city of Kiel in 1875 was the first on the Baltic Sea to have, the second, a year later, was Gdańsk.

From 1894 it has been located at the top of a modern lighthouse in the Nowy Port district of Gdańsk. The rise and drop each afternoon allowed ship captains to precisely adjust their chronometers, necessary for determining longitude at sea. The signalling system was similar to that in Greenwich. Every day at 11.55 the ball was pulled to the top of the tower mast. At twelve o’clock an electric impulse interrupted the circuit holding it with an electromagnet and the 75 kilo openwork steel ball slid down the mast. In 2008 the famous time ball was restored and today daily shows the time at 12:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00.

Outside Gdańsk the only city with such a ball on the Baltic Sea is the maritime museum in Karlskrona.

One of the most beautiful lighthouses on the Baltic Sea. The modern Gdańsk lighthouse was built on the so-called Pilots Mount, where at least from 1849 their station was located. It was designed based on the lighthouse in Cleveland (Ohio), considered the most beautiful in America. The new lighthouse was put into operation in mid 1894. The elegant tower is 27 metres high. The light source then was an electric lamp with a current of 20 to 28 A. The initial coverage of 13 nautical miles was later increased to 20 mm. The lighthouse was a pioneer on a world scale: for the first time the lamp shining at night was powered by batteries, which were charged during the day by a steam-powered generator. In case of an emergency, a gas light was turned on. Today, the lighthouse is owned by Commander Jacek Michalak, who arranged a very interesting museum inside it. Here you can see old lamps, historical optical equipment, an exhibition of lighthouses, you can see how the ball time works and from the peak - an extensive panorama of Gdańsk Bay and the port as well as the Westerplatte peninsula, which is very important for history of the city. Arising from the green mound at the entrance to the port the stone monument was erected in honour of the defenders of the Polish coast in 1939.

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PGE ARENA GDAŃSK

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Amber megahit

236 m long, 203 m wide and 45 m high. Shining like amber in the sun, the dome illuminated at night is covered with 18,000 polycarbonate tiles in 6 shades, with a total surface of 4.5 hectares. 44 thousand seats, 40 glass lounges. 4 simulcast screens 70 m2 each, 308 speakers and 40 km of cables, 555 rolls of grass... The PGE Arena Gdańsk football stadium is one of the most modern and most beautiful sports facilities in Europe. And the largest “amber”! It is the modern symbol of the city, just as characteristic as Neptune’s Fountain and the Crane.

Gdańsk is the World Capital of Amber, that is why the stadium built especially for the occasion of the UEFA EURO 2012™, considered to be most beautiful football arena, resembles a piece of amber and the structural elements of the stadium modelled after a ship’s frame emphasize the maritime traditions of the city. The stadium is located in the Gdańsk Letnica district at Pokoleń Lechii Gdańsk 1. The stadium was designed by architects from the Rhode-Kellermann-Wawrowsky company from Düsseldorf, who earlier created stadium concepts for the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen and the AWD-Arena in Hanover. The construction of the amber facility began in May 2009 and it was commissioned on July 19, 2011.

The first match was played in it August 14, between Gdańsk Lechia and Cracovia. On September 6, 2011 the Gdańsk stadium hosted its first international match that was played here between Poland and Germany that finished with a 2:2 draw.

In June 2012 Gdańsk was a Host City for the European Football Championships UEFA EURO 2012™. The stadium was an arena of football struggles during three group matches (Spain - Italy, Spain - Ireland and Croatia - Spain) and a fascinating spectacle: quarterfinals played between teams from Germany and Greece. During the championships more than 160,000 fans from all over Europe visited it!

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“Shipyard” wall murals GDAŃSK MURAL GALLERY A brick wall. A witness of great history. Behind it - the place where history unfolded.

On it - blue and black inscriptions on a blue background, landscape of the shipyard: an enormous story, full of emotions... Twenty three spans of a great wall surrounding the Gdańsk Shipyard (250 square meters!) until recently covered by the work of Iwona Zając dedicated to Gdańsk shipyard workers: the original record of conversations between the artist fascinated by the Gdańsk shipyard with its workers – participants of August 1980 - an intimate diary... It is a monumental example of living art in the city, telling about people who influenced the course of history. The fate of the murals is inextricably tied to the place of their creation. The fate of this work is inevitable. In this part of Gdańsk a new centre is being created, joining together history and modernity of the Young City district. With its birth the wall will disappear.

Gdańsk is a city renowned for its murals. You can find them in many places: on buildings, in tunnels. Inspired by August 1980 wall murals are also on the pillars of the automobile overpass on Zielony Trójkąt (next to the shipyard). An interesting collection of murals can be seen on the walls of skyscrapers from Zaspa, one of Gdańsk’s “bedroom” districts.

It is Europe’s largest collection of large-format paintings!

Every year in July during the European Festival of Monumental Painting – Monumental Arts, artists from many countries stand on scaffolding, in order to create huge, moving, intriguing paintings. The wall murals in Zaspa are changing the image of a grey, bedroom estate into an unusual gallery, allowing residents to have daily contact with art. They are also its host: they have been prepared to act as local guides around the Mural Gallery. We invite you to take a walk around this unique exhibition.

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Oliwa organs

Angels, a movable sun, moons and stars, a delicate weaving of ivy and flowers. In the centre - a beautiful stained glass showing the Madonna with Child. A cascade of sounds imitating singing birds, whistling wind, splashing water, buzzing bees and even a thunder storm! The monumental Rococo organ with amazing sound and the exceptionally rich sculpture of the casing is a wonderful decoration of the Oliwa Cathedral. Its creators - master builders Jan Wulf and Friedrich Rudolf Dalitz built it for more than 25 years.

Combined with the other two instruments, the small one in the south transept and contemporary positive organ near the cathedral’s exit together have a total of 7,876 pipes. Those in the large organ measure from several centimetres to almost 11 metres! You can enjoy their amazing sound, with a special echo effect, during short daily concerts as well as the famous International Organ Music Festival and the final concert of the Mozart Festival Mozartiana.

OLIWA CATHEDRAL Oliwa - a quiet and charming district of Gdańsk, picturesquely cuddled in the forest wilderness of the Tricity Landscape Park, was sung by the famous traveller Alexander von Humboldt as the third most beautiful place in the world. It stands out with the former Cistercian park designed by master landscape architect - Andre Le Notre. A walk among the towering old trees and rare plant species leads to the Oliwa Cathedral with its characteristic two slender towers. Erected as a Cistercian church in the thirteenth century as a Gothic, three-nave basilica, it was built on the plan of a Latin cross, measuring 107 metres and is the longest church in Poland. Its beautiful interior conceals many art treasures: numerous altars, a Rococo pulpit, great stalls, Renaissance portraits of numerous benefactors of the Cistercian monastery. In the central part of the monumental presbytery rises the main Baroque altar. Its “earthly sphere” consists of black columns arranged in a semicircle. The “heavenly sphere” is a vision of heaven: stucco clouds and angel heads.

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