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We would like to invite you to visit north-west Poland (historic Pomerania). Lands with a beautiful and variegated landscape, with long sandy beaches along the Baltic coast, colourful lakes, forests and charming inland rivers, precious relics of architecture, historic places telling of man's long efforts through the centuries to develop this land.
Pomerania is like an open door to the world mounted on strong hinges of the ports - Szczecin in the west and Gdansk in the east. There is a possibility to organise excursions to national parks and nature reservations and also to the most interesting spots of this region visiting Gdansk and Szczecin, arranging for relaxation and treatment in renowned vacation and health centres, suggesting cultural entertainment, inviting you to theatres, organ concerts in the Cathedral in Oliwa and Kamien Pomorski, to folklore and sports events, and providing opportunities to engage in sports of all kinds, horseback-riding, hunting, fishing.
So for anyone who likes holidays vacation at the seashore there are 524 km of coastline, the fisherman will find something for himself, the hunter also will have many opportunities for thrills, for someone who best likes canoeing it would be hard to find better opportunities than those offered by the rapid rivers flowing right into the sea such as the Rega, Parseta, Wieprza, Slupia, Lupawa, Leba or flowing through meadows, forests, ranges to the Notec and Vistula, Drawa, Gwda, Brda, Wda; canoeists' rivers famous among experts.
The summer has its charms, the winter too. So anyone who has not experienced the pleasure of Kashubian sledging cavalcades, who has not watched with bated breath ice boats racing faster than the wind on Vistula Bay, Puck Gulf or Charzykowskie Lake, who has not roamed on skis through immense white spaces and lake district forests and has not experienced the thrills of winter canoeing rallies will find the way to these attractions by consulting one of Polish travel agencies. Each of them have something to offer in the Pomeranian region.
All the hotels in Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia, Kolobrzeg and Szczecin will provide you with excellent and courteous service, comfort, and also delicious Polish and international cuisine.
North-west Poland, includes the Baltic Coast and Pomeranian Lake District. The coast is a belt of seaside lowlands. In the western part they are variegated with moraine elevations - on the island of Wolin rising to a height of 115 m and in the Bukowe Hills near Szczecin to 147 m. The large areas of the Wkrzanska, Goleniowska, and Bukowa Forests, the islands of Uznam (partially) and Wolin with the naturalistically very attractive Wolinski national Park, Szczecin Bay, the great Lake Dabie, around which there are numerous recreational centres, offer many tourist and sightseeing thrills.
Further to the east the coast is mostly flat with the highest dunes and fragments of coastal cliffs on the Baltic in Trzesacz (where on the very edge of the high coast are ruins of a church that was once about 2 km from the sea), near Jaroslawiec, in Orlowo and in Jastrzebia Gora. Sticking out in the coastline is the northernmost part of Poland - Cape Rozewie. There is a Lighthouse Museum in the local lighthouse. The naturalistic oddities of this part of the coast are wandering dunes (vicinity of Leba) in Slowinski National Park (name of an ancient local people - the Slowinians), and the coastal lakes separated by sand-bars, e.g. Jamno, Bukowo, Gardno, Lebsko. The flat coast has broad, sandy beaches. The sand is white and clean.
So in the northern part of this region we have a long belt of coastline with outstanding beaches, and in the southern part the charming Pomeranian Lake District, divided into several smaller regions, the most beautiful of which are: Mysliborskie with the Gorzowska Forest and the Drawska Forest (with remnants of magnificent oak and beech forests), extending to the Drawskie Lake District, with the largest collection of lakes in the Pomeranian Lake District, often arranging themselves in long chains, Waleckie with forest complexes on the Drawa and Gwda rivers, finally the Kashubian Lake District with exceptionally colourful landscapes; with a beautiful water route leading the river Radunia through 10 lakes; with numerous reservations, among which the most noteworthy is "stone circles" in the village Odry (on the Wda), one of the largest collections of Neolithic relics - an agglomeration of regularly arranged boulders that were used to tell time and also as a burial site. The Pomeranian Lake District is a land of a thousand lakes scattered among forests and fields. It is a paradise for fans of sailing, windsurfing, water-skiing and canoeing. The lakes and rivers contain numerous fish: bass, ruff, lavaret, roach, bull-trout, trout, grayling, and others. The forests are rich with all kinds of mushrooms, berries, wild strawberries, blackberries, raspberries.
In the middle of the Lake District from the Odra to the Bay of Gdansk runs a belt of moraine elevations rising gradually toward the east, reaching a height of 329 m in the vicinity of Kartuzy - Wiezyca. Flowing to the north and south from these elevations are the already mentioned rivers with deep, colourful valleys.
The Baltic Coast and Pomeranian Lake District is closed from the east by the valley of the lower Vistula, whose greatest pride are the historic towns of Chelmno, Grudziadz, Gniew and Tczew, and its delta region called Zulawy Wislane. This depression - to about 2 m b.s.l. - has fertile soil (slit). The land is used mainly for growing wheat, sugar beet and fodder crops, raising cattle. The landscape is melancholy with a unique atmosphere. Further to the south-west are the Tucholskie Bory with the reservation "L.Wyczolkowski Yew Forest" (Cisy Staropolskie). Among old pines, oaks, lindens, hornbeams, and beeches there are about 4000 yews.
Obviously there are no longer any aurochs or wild ponies in the forests, but there are roe-deer, hares, wild boars, stags and fowl, much fowl. In the Tucholskie Forest and in the region of Szczecinek, Lebork and Bialogard there is even black goose. A hunter is a hunter, but anyone who hunts with a tape recorder may hear the troat of a stag and perhaps the song of the most charming forest singer - the thrush.
More than 300 sunny days and the most fair days in Poland - on the Baltic, in the section between Darlowo and Rozewie; doesn't this sound exciting? Summer on the coast is not too hot, the winter light, the autumn beautiful. The greatest insulation is from May to August. A sunny but not too hot summer, clean and invigorating water and iodised air create excellent conditions for rest, with a beneficial influence on health.
Pomerania is inhabited by about 5 million people. The greatest population density is around Gdansk. Though the Sea Coast and Lake District are mainly agricultural-forestry lands, there are also some large industrial centres here - the Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Szczecinek, Koszalin, Slupsk, Pila, Bydgoszcz, Grudziadz. The marine economy is of particular importance.
Sightseeing tourism is developing in this region both in view of the charms of the landscape as well as the marvellous complexes of architectural relics (Gdansk, Malbork, Szczecin, Stargard Szczecinski, Kamien Pomorski, Slupsk, Pelplin, Pyrzyce, and others). It is worth visiting the ethnographic parks, e.g. in Kluki and Wdzydze Kiszewskie and numerous specialistic or regional museums. In the large urban centres there are dramatical and musical theatres, operas and philharmonic orchestras. Numerous entertainment events are also held here - list in the practical information.
North-west Poland is well-developed, railways and roads as well as air and ferry. Planes fly between Warsaw and Gdansk, Slupsk, Szczecin and Koszalin, and ferry lines connect the coast with Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Denmark. They have brought the Coast and all of Poland closer to foreign tourists, who more and more willingly spend their holidays here.
The history of Pomerania is complicated and diversified. The first Polish rulers of the Piast dynasty, Mieszko I and Boleslaw the Brave, in the 10th century accomplished the political unification of this land that had been divided among local dukes. At the beginning of the second millennium Poland's ties with Western Pomerania loosened, since she was unable to maintain her rule there. The destiny of Eastern Pomerania (Gdansk) followed another path; the local ducal dynasty related to the Piasts stayed in Power in its capitals in Slawno, Swiecie and Gdansk and recognised Polish hegemony. Another attempt to unite all of the Pomeranian lands was made by Boleslaw the Wrymouth at the beginning of the 12th century, making the entire region between the Vistula, Odra and Notec one politically and territorially integrated Pomerania. There were considerable differences in terms of its integration with Poland, however. While Eastern Pomerania became one of the provinces of the Polish state, in Western Pomerania the local dynasty remained in power with Duke Warcislaw residing in Kamien Pomorski. The latter, however, obligated himself to accept baptism and military assistance and recognised Polish hegemony.
From the times of the testament of Boleslaw the Wrymouth (1138) Poland entered into a two-century period of feudal disintegration, which resulted in painful territorial losses mainly to the German feudal lords. The margraves of Brandenburg launched a frontal attack on Pomerania, destroying the former territorial and political, administrative and church structures and leading to the formation of the predatory New March, while in the eastern part of Pomerania a similar role began to be played by the Order of the Teutonic Knights, which had unfortunately been brought here by Konrad Mazowiecki.
As a result of consistent colonisation of Western Pomerania and the germanization of the ducal dynasties, Brandenburg established strong influences over this region. The expansion towards linking up the Teutonic areas with those occupied by Brandenburg was halted by the great battle at Grunwald (1410) and later by the 13-year war that ended with the peace of Torun (1466), in which Kazimierz the Jagiellon regained Gdansk Pomerania and subordinated the rest of the lands taken by the Teutonic Knights as a fief.
In Western Pomerania the local dukes continued to rule until 1637, when the last duke, Boguslaw XIV, died. Still during his reign, the district of Szczecin was taken by the Swedes. As a result of the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which ended the Thirty Years War, Western Pomerania was divided between Sweden and Brandenburg, which at the beginning of the 18th century transformed itself into the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1720 the Prussians occupied all of Western Pomerania. A period of intensive germanization of these lands began, which lasted until the end of World War II.
Gdansk Pomerania and Gdansk found themselves within the boundaries of Prussia as a result of the partitions of Poland in the years 1772 and 1793. This situation lasted until the end of World War I and the rise of Reborn Poland (1918). The 20-year Polish rule of this part of Pomerania was interrupted by a new German attack on September 1, 1939. After Germany's defeat in 1945, Poland returned to the Piast trails, taking over as a result of historical justice the entire region of Pomerania from Gdansk to Szczecin. A new period began of reconstruction and expansion of agriculture and industry, towns and villages.Through great translocations of population after World War II, a new society began to form in all of Pomerania, recovering the trails of its ancestors of more than a thousand years ago. This society, through heavy industry, developed agriculture, fishing and forestry, has been able to transform its land and raise it to a level that meets its high aspirations. Visiting Pomerania today, a land with a stormy history, irresistible charms of nature and a variety of tourist and recreation attractions, we hear the present-day voice of this land that more and more drowns out the tumult of the former wars brought here by the Danes and Brandenburgians, Teutonic Knights and Swedes, Prussians and French. This is the voice of sons who have returned to a peaceful home.
Now we'll try to give you a picture of this land, being completely straightforward and also trying to stimulate the imagination. To tell about the beauty of Polish islands at the mouth of the Odra and the bewitching lakes by which castle ruins whisper about the past. Wolin, an island separating the Bay of Szczecin from the Gulf of Pomerania, separated from the island of Uznam by the Swina straits. On it the town of Wolin, which developed from an ancient Slavic settlement. This place is said to have been the site of the legendary town of Wineta, which was drowned by the gods for its licentiousness. Legend beside history, for this place is also the seat of a Polish bishopric of 1140 and historic ruins of churches and remnants of defensive walls and an archaeological museum. Ancient Drawsko - Drahim - ruins of a castle by a lake, a former defensive point on the lake isthmus, alongside the beautiful road from Czaplinek to Polczyn Zdroj (130 curves amid wooded hills).
And here is Bialy Bor - a horse-riding centre and developing recreation spot between Miastko and Szczecinek. Here skimming through the vistas of the Szymbarskie Hills at the base of Wiezyca Hill a sledging cavalcade scatters snow from bearded spruces and lights the trail to a skiing inn.
In Kolobrzeg the Festival of Soldiers' Songs. In Wdzydze Kiszewskie we hear a different song, one with a regional strain, Kashubian, and see a folk dance their to the sounds of a Kashubian instrument (burczybas). The Kashubian Ethnographic Park and in the vicinity the charming lakes of the Kashubian Lake District.
Here are Kartuzy, surrounded by lakes, a centre of regional culture, famous for its 14th century monastery; nearby is Kashubian Koscierzyna in Bedomin the Museum of the National Anthem, in the birthplace of its author, gen. Jozef Wybicki. Bytow with the Teutonic Knights' castle and a regional song and dance group. There is Cedynia, a former Piast town in the Odra valley, with ruins of a Cistercian monastery, a soldiers' monument, a battle site where the warriors of Mieszko I and Czcibor, Polish dukes, defeated the Margrave of Brandenburg Hodon in 972. In Czaplinek the historic relics seem to be an integral part of a large tourist and recreation centre. Gniew is associated with the victor at Vienna, John Sobieski, worth visiting are defensive walls, a castle, a palace, a charming market square with arcaded burghers' houses. On the sandy Hel Peninsula there are seaside resorts - Kuznica, Jurata, Jastarnia and Hel, a well-know fishing port, seat of a fishing museum as well as a reminder of the last Polish bastion in the September, 1939 fight with the Nazi invader.
Kluki - a Skansen of Slovenian architecture. Rowokol, the "holy mountain of Pomeranians", towers over the former land of the Slowinians, full of legends and the mysteries that seen to envelop it. Nearby is the Smoldzino and Slowinski National Park, covering more than 18 thousand ha of dune, forest, water and peat environment and sand-bars separating lakes Lebsko and Gardno from the sea. Here wandering dunes (up to 50 m high) leave wilderness behind them, here one can feel as though on a real desert, with sand all the way to the horizon.
Naklo, here is the beginning of the Bydgoszcz Canal that links the Odra (through the Warta, Notec, Brda) with the Vistula. Pila, an ancient forest settlement, today an important node of transportation. Within the limits of the town is a landscape reservation "Kuznik". And Miedwie, a large lake with recreational centres all around it, the source of drinking water for the city of Szczecin. Puck - associated with the beginnings of the Polish fleet after World War I.
Wherever one looks on the map of north-west Poland - there is something tempting. For how can one omit Szczecinek with its numerous relics, which from an old fishing settlement developed into an important town? How can one leave out a pilgrimage to Sztutowo, where in the gloomy seaside landscape a Nazi concentration camp was concealed, the place of execution of 65 thousand people? How can one skip Swidwin and Swiecie, the health resort of Swinoujscie with ferry connections to Sweden, how can one fail to visit Tuchola which gave its name to famous forests? How can one by-pass the Pomeranian Bulwark, fragment of the famous Pommernstellung, where in 1945 hard battles were fought for the road to Berlin? Wiele, with an interesting Way of the Cross, an embroidery and lace-making centre, rings out with the speech and song of famous Kashubians who were born here - the poet and publicist H. Derdowski (1852-1902) and the story-teller and song-writer W. Rogala (1871-1958). And lost in the forests in Polczyn Zdroj with its sources of mineral waters. A vast diversity of landscapes.
And how many famous people have linked their destiny with this land! Michal Mostnik (Pontanus) of Smoldzino, guardian of the speech of the Slovenians in the 18th century. The Pomeranian Erik, who in the first half of the 15th century held in one hand the sceptres of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and later as the "last Viking of the Baltic" drank from the bitter cup of an exile on the island of Gotland to finally settle toward the end of his life in Darlowo and there rest for ever. Here also duke Boguslaw X the Great, husband of Anna the Jagiellon, daughter of the Polish King Kazimierz the Jagiellon, transferred the ducal seat from Kamien Pomorski to the flourishing 15th century Szczecin. Here also in 1729 in Szczecin was born duchess Sophia Augusta Anhalt-Zerbst, later Empress Catherine the Great.
And at the other end of the coast in Gdansk, Constancia Kershenstein nee Czirenberg, who for her singing and painting talent was admired by 17th century Italian and French poets. There lived Joanna Schopenhauer nee Trosiner, mother of the famous philosopher Arthur, authoress of the charming "Recollections of Gdansk" and friend of the great Goethe.
This list of famous people from Gdansk could be long extended. It would include the 17th century engraver Jeremiah Falck, who was famous in Paris, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, the great astronomer, creator of modern selenography, Jan Heweliusz (also 17th century), the Baroque sculptor and architect Andreas Schluter, the famous physicist Daniel Fahrenheit who lived on the turn of the 17th century, and the famous painter and illustrator Daniel Chodowiecki.
Anyone who collects interesting bits of information and looks for exceptional moods may recall a prince of Gdansk (given this title after taking the city in 1807), Napoleon's marshal Joseph Leferve, who with his career brought glory to his carpenter father and his wife, the most famous washerwoman in the world - Madame Sans-Gene.
North-west Poland, on whose landscape Man has written a rich and stormy history, therefore has something attractive for everyone throughout the entire year. For connoisseurs of architecture it is a rich treasure-house. For lovers of seaside beaches and vacations by the sea is has long belts of white sands. For seekers of fishing and canoeing thrills there are rivers and rivers and lakes and lakes. For hunting enthusiasts - forests and forests. For lovers of folklore there is the bewitching beauty of Kashubian customs. Besides this, the region pulsates with the modernity of agricultural, industrial, and maritime activity, colouring its daily life with famous cultural events - from organ concerts in Kamien Pomorski and Oliwa to the piano competition in Slupsk and the song festival in Sopot.
Of course, everyone will discover the charms and qualities of the Pomeranian land for himself.
And here are the most important places not only with respect to the wealth of relics that have collected in them throughout the centuries, but also with respect to their location, convenient for making excursions into interesting and beautiful surroundings.
Bydgoszcz. A provincial capital, an important node of transportation (railway and bus branch-off, Bydgoszcz Canal between the Notec and Brda that links the Vistula with the Odra), a large industrial centre (chemical, machine, rubber, paper, radio, bicycle industries), cultural and scientific centre (Technical and Agricultural Academy, Higher Pedagogical School, National Music College, Medical Academy, scientific institutes, a philharmonic orchestra, opera, operetta, 2 theatres). Annual Festivals of Polish Music, every 3 years the international congresses Musica Antiqua Europae Orientalis. In the 13th century a fortified town and castellan's seat, town charter in 1346. Among the relics are a late-Gothic 15th century parish church, church of the Clarists of the end of the 16th century, remnants of defensive walls, river-side granaries. The Leon Wyczolkowski Museum with the richest collection of the works of the great graphic artist and painter. In the Old Market Square is a huge monument to the victims of Nazism. An artificial ice-skating rink, a rowing race course.
Chojnice. A town near the large Lake Charzykowskie, sailing centre, starting point for excursions to the Tucholskie Forests and the Krajenskie Lakeland Belt. A steel construction and sporting equipment works (racing boats). A regional museum, folk band. A former frontier town of the Pomeranian dukes, captured in 1310 by the Teutonic Knights, regained in 1466. A 14th century Gothic parish church, a late 18th century Baroque church in the Jesuit college complex; fragments of 14th century defensive walls with the Czluchowska Gate.
Darlowo. A town at the mouth of the Wieprza River, a fishing port, seaside resort, tourist centre. An ancient Slavic fishing settlement. From 1361 it belonged to the Hansa. A Pomeranian Dukes castle from the end of the 14th century. Town walls with a 14th century defensive gate. In the 14th century Gothic Marian church the sarcophagus of duke Erik (d. 1459), great grandson of the Polish King Kazimierz the Great. The Church of St. George (15th-16th century), late Gothic chapel of St. Gertrude. Seaside resort of the district of Darlowko.
Gdansk. A provincial capital at the mouth of the Stagnant Vistula and Motlawa to the Baltic. A great commercial and ferry port (ferry connections to the FRG, Sweden, and Finland), an industrial (petrochemicals, chemicals, shipbuilding, metallurgy, electrotechnics, textiles), cultural (opera, philharmonic orchestra, theatres, numerous museums with the Central Marine Museum and National Museum), and scientific centre (university and 5 higher schools, scientific institutes, library of the Polish Academy of Sciences, scientific and cultural societies, seat of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association), a large tourist centre. The origins of Gdansk go back to the 10th century. The port of Gdansk is mentioned in 1148. It was deceitfully captured by the Teutonic Knights in 1308. Regained in 1454, it was seized by Prussia in the second partition of Poland (1793), a free city during the Napoleonic period (1807-1815). After the Congress of Vienna it was again taken by Prussia, in the years 1919-1939 a free city, liberated in 1945 in battles that resulted in great destruction. The historic part of the town was rebuilt with great reverence. One of the richest and most lavish complexes of architectonic relics in Poland. The largest Gothic church (brick) in Poland of the Holy Virgin Mary (15th-16th century), Church of St. Nicholas (14th century), Baroque royal chapel (1678), complex of defensive walls and towers, Town Hall of the Main Town (rebuilt 15th century late Gothic), Armoury (1602-05), Artus' Court (late Gothic interior with vaults on the columns), Church of St. Catherine (14th century), Preachers' House (15th-17th century), Church of St. Brigida (14th-15th century), Church of St. James (1432), St. Elizabeth (c. 1400), Old Town Hall (1586-95), Home of the Pelplin Abbots (1612), Franciscan monastery complex (15th-16th century), now the National Museum, complex of defensive earthworks with towers. On the peninsula of Westerplatte, where the first shots of World War II were fired, there is a monument to the Defenders of the Coast; before the Gdansk Shipyard, a monument to the dockyard workers who fell in 1970. In the district of Oliwa a late 13th century church (rebuilt many times), with the famous organ (annual Festival of Organ Music); palace of the Cistercian abbots (15th and 18th centuries), landscape park that once belonged to the Cistercians.
Gdynia. A town on the Bay of Gdansk, together with Gdansk and Sopot makes up an urban-port complex, the so-called Tri-City. A centre of the shipbuilding industry. Seat of the Higher Maritime School, Naval Academy, Marine Fishing Institute, Institute of Marine and Tropical Medicine. Worth visiting are the Oceanographic Museum and Marine Acquarium. The Museum-Sailing Ship "Dar Pomorza" and the Museum-Ship "Blyskawica". A port for yachts. Food, electrotechnical, machine, metallurgical industries. Till the 20th century a village. In 1922 the Parliament passed a law to build a port. Town charter in 1926. Famous for its heroic defence in September, 1939.
Grudziadz. A town on the high, right bank of the Vistula; rubber, metal, wood, clothing industries; a node of transportation. In the 10th century a fortified town of the Chelminska Land, from 1776 a fortress. Famous for its great complex of granaries colourfully located on the Vistula. The mid-14th century Church of St. Nicholas, abbey of the Benedictine nuns (now holds a regional museum, Gallery of Modern Pomeranian Painting), Jesuit college (now the town hall), church and monastery of the Order of the Reformati; fragments of defensive walls, the Water Gate, Klimek castle hilltop with an observation point.
Kamien Pomorski. A town on Kamienski Bay. A health resort, spa, sanatorium. In the summer season weekly organ concerts in the cathedral, annual festivals of organ and chamber music. From the 12th century the seat of Polish bishops; former capital of Pomeranian dukes, earlier (9th-10th century) a port town of the Wolinianie. An historic urban complex; late Romanesque-late Gothic basilica (12th-13th century), late Gothic bishops' palace, fragments of defensive walls with the Wolin Gate, town hall of the 15th century. Attractive surroundings for tourists and anglers.
Kolobrzeg. A commercial and fishing port at the mouth of the Parseta River; seaside resort and health spa, numerous sanatorium, a physical therapy clinic that treats respiratory, circulatory, rheumatic, internal secretion and metabolic disorders. A fortified town in the 9th century, in 1000 the seat of a Polish bishopric; in the 14th century a member of Hansa; town charter from duke Warcislaw III in 1255. The Prussians transformed the town into a fortress, which also desperately defended itself in World War II; after fierce fighting, causing great destruction, the town was liberated by units of the First Polish Army. During the military actions it was 90% destroyed, then rebuilt and expanded. A 14th century Gothic collegiate church, a 15th century burgher's house, and the Gun Powder Tower are among the few historic relics that have been preserved. In the immediate vicinity are seaside resorts in Ustronie Morskie and Dzwirzyno.
Koszalin. A provincial capital. Metal, machine, electrotechnical, wood, building materials industries. An airport. A cultural and scientific centre: Engineering College, theatres. Festival of Polonia Choirs every three years. Rebuilt and expanded after wartime destruction. Town charter in 1266. Competed with Kolobrzeg in maritime commerce. A 14th century Gothic cathedral, a 17th century presbytery, fragments of defensive walls, old burghers' houses. In the vicinity is Lake Jamno, cut off from the Baltic by a sandy spit on which there are the seaside resorts of Mielno and Uniescie.
Leba. A town by the mouth of the Leba River to the sea, between lakes Lebsko and Sarbsko. A large seaside resort with a magnificent sandy beach. The River Leba links several lakes into a convenient route for canoe races. A fishing port, passenger landing-stage. A large camping-site "Intercamp '84", where in 1984 the International Camping and Caravaning Jamboree was held.
Malbork. A town on the eastern arm of the Vistula - Nogat delta. Food, textile, and machine industries. A river port A large tourist centre. In 1274 the Teutonic Knights began construction of a castle here (Marienburg). In 1276 the settlement beside the castle received a town charter. After its incorporation into Poland in 1466 it became a vivodeship capital. From 1772 under Prussian occupation In the years 1940-45 there was a camp for war prisoners here (Stalag XX B), in which there were more than 30 thousand prisoners of various nationalities. Captured as a fortress in fierce fighting and with tremendous destruction, today it has been rebuilt. The large castle complex is one of the largest medieval defensive systems in Europe. The High Castle is surrounded by a wall, with an arcaded courtyard refectory, capitulatory and chapel of the Holy Virgin Mary and Golden Gate, the Middle Castle with the Great Fefectory, palace of the Great Master and chapel of St. Bartholomew. The Low Castle with an armoury and Church of St. Lawrence, gates, towers. The Castle Museum with archaeological collections concerning the history of the castle, a collection of amber. In the town a Gothic town hall, Gothic mill, parish church of St. John (15th century), Hospital of Jerusalem (16th-17th centuries).
Miedzyzdroje. A town on the island of Wolin on the Baltic. A seaside resort. First mentioned in the 12th century, once the settlement was called Zelazo and belonged to the bishops of Kamien. In the 16th century a customs-house. The Natural History Museum of the Wolin National Park. Form the pier there are excursions in pleasure boats. In the vicinity "mount" Gosan (alt 95m), the highest point on the Polish coast.
Pelpin. A town on the Wierzyca River. From 1274 the seat of a Cistercian abbey. In the years 1308-1466 in the hands of the Teutonic Knights, from 1772 under Prussian occupation. From 1824 the seat of the bishopric of Chelmno. A centre of the Polish national movement. Town charter in 1931. A Gothic Cistercian monastery complex; a church (from 1824 a cathedral) from the turn of the 13th century, with a rich interior; a Gothic parish church, historic houses of the 19th century. In the Diocesan Museum a unique copy of the Gutenberg Bible. Discovered in 1957 in the library of the theological seminary was the Pelplin Tabulatur for organ, one of the most voluminous hand-written musical relics of the 17th century in Europe.
Pyrzyce. A town lying on the most fertile region of Western Pomerania. During World War II 80% destroyed. An old Slavic town, probably a centre of the Prisani tribe, mentioned by a chronicler in the 9th century. In 1124 Otto of Bamberg performed the first mass baptism of Pomeranians here. The preserved defensive walls are a magnificent example of medieval fortifications, the Szczecin Gate, Owl's Tower, Ice Tower, Gun Powder Tower; the centre of the medieval district is in the shape of a heart; the church of St. Maurice of the 13th-15th centuries; half-timbered houses of the 18th-19th centuries; Banska Gate, Monk's Tower, Drunk's Tower; Chramowe Hill, where legend places the pagan temple of the Prisani; the catch basin where the baptism took place.
Slupsk. A provincial capital on the Slupia River in the central part of the coast. Wood, machine (beet-harvesting machines factory), metal, food, shoe industries. Higher Pedagogical School, dramatic theatre and doll theatre, as well as a travelling folk theatre. Annual Festival of Young Polish Pianists. An ancient Slavic fortified settlement, in the 14th century seized by Brandenburg. Town charter in 1310, regained by the Western Pomeranian dukes, given over in gage to the Teutonic Knights and repurchased, till 1630 in the possession of the Western Pomeranian dukes. In 1653 passed under the rule of the Hehenzollerns. Despite germanization the vicinity of Slupsk retained its Slavic character to the 19th century. The Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes on the Slupia River (beginning of the 14th century, rebuilt in the 16th century), now a Museum of Central Pomerania - historical and ethnographic collections and also a gallery of modern painting with a rich collection of the works of S. Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy). A castle mill, one of the oldest relics of industrial architecture in Poland The Mill Gate, Witches' Tower, Gothic chapel of St. George. The New Gate and fragments of town walls from the 15th century, Gothic church of the Dominicans (1278), rebuilt in the 14th century to a castle church, with tombs of duchess Anna de Croy (sister of duke Boguslaw XIV) and her son.
Stargard Szczecinski. A town on the right tributary of the Odra - Ina. Food, metal, chemical industries. Mentioned in 1124, town charter in 1253, belonged to the Hansa, competed with Szczecin in the grain trade; till 1720 the capital of Brandenburg Pomeranian. During the last war site of a prisoner of war camp Stalag II D. The town was badly damaged during the fighting, then rebuilt and expanded. Church of the Most Holy Virgin Mary of the end of the 13th century, Church of St. John the Baptist (15th century), organist's residence of the 15th century, remnants of defensive walls with gates and towers from the 13th century, a 16th century armoury, Baroque buildings - a guardhouse and Municipal Weights and Measures, Klatzan House (15th-16th century), "New Exchange" House (16th century).
Sopot. A town lying between Gdynia and Gdansk. A tourist and recreation spot. A health spa, a balneary (salt and mud baths-treatment of motor impairments and rheumatic diseases). An important cultural and scientific centre (small-audience stage of the "Wybrzeze" Theatre of Gdansk, Forest Opera with the annual International Song Festival). A horse-racing course, a spa park, the longest pier on the Baltic (512 m). Developed from a fishing village. From 1772 under Prussian occupation, in the years 1919-39 within the limits of the Free City of Gdansk. Villas in Secessionist style, classical palaces. A centre of water skiing, coastal harbour, marked tourist trails in the belt of wooded hills, a ski lift.
Szczecin. A provincial capital on the Odra, its eastern arm the Regalica River and Lake Dabie; together with Swinoujscie it forms a large port, fishing and shipping complex; can important node of communication, a cultural and scientific centre. An airport, road and rail frontier crossings. Shipbuilding, food, chemical, machine, paper, wood, electrotechnical industries. A diversified location in the Szczecin Hills and Bukowa Forest. A university Medical Academy, engineering college, Agricultural Academy, Higher Maritime School, scientific societies, 4 theatres, a philharmonic orchestra. Originally an ancient Slavic settlement, from the 14th century capital of the West Pomeranian duchy; occupied by the Swedes, Brandenburgians, then by Prussia (1720). In the years 1806-13 under French occupation in the 19th-20th century the town rapidly developed economically, and there was a large influx of Poles from Pomerania and Wielkopolska. Numerous Polish organisations were formed which also were very active during the interwar period. Liberated in 1945. After the destruction of World War II, it was rebuilt and considerably expanded. The Gothic parish church of St. James (14th century), the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (15th century), Castle of the Pomeranian Dukes (14th-16th centuries), square-shaped, with a courtyard, a crypt with the Seven Cloaks, remnants of defensive walls of the 13th and 14th century, an 18th century Baroque palace, 13th century town hall, Loitz banking house (16th century), Small and Large Granary (15th century). Exceptionally rich in greenery. The Goleniowska Forest, Wkrzanska Forest and Bukowa (Spruce) Forest encroach upon the town limits, which together with numerous water sources and hills make it an exceptionally attractive tourist and recreation spot.
Ustka. A town on the mouth of the Slupia to the Baltic. A seaside resort, recreation centre; fishing port, shipbuilding and food industries (fish processing). It developed from a fishing settlement with the original name of Ujsc. First mentioned in 1310. Town charter in 1945. After World War II considerably expanded. Historic 18th and 19th century houses.