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The mid-western part of Poland as a historical and geographical unit is composed of the Great Poland (Wielkopolska) region and the adjoining Lubusz Country (Ziemia Lubuska). River Warta winds its way trough the central part of the region. On the river is sighted the town of Poznan, the biggest city of Great Poland and the capital of the whole region.
Just here, near Gniezno and Poznan, the state of Polanie was founded in the 10th century, thus starting the one thousand year history of Poland. The traces of that remote epoch can still be seen on the Ostrow Lednicki island near Gniezno, where stone remains of a ducal seat were uncovered; the ruins of old cathedral walls dating from the 10th century were also found in Gniezno and Poznan.
Both regions, that of Great Poland and that of Lubusz Country, are crowded with valuable monuments of ecclesiastical and secular architecture, representing all styles.
Numerous palaces, manors and castles, some of them turned into museums, contain rich collections of furniture, pictures, products of artistic handicrafts, porcelain, arms and armour, old medals and coins. In the countryside one can often come across fine examples of timber structures, such as shapely old-style wind-mills, churches and belfries.
Farmers of the region are reputed for their skills in land cultivation. Industry does not lag behind and develops fast, especially around such towns as Poznan, Gorzow Wielkopolski, Zielona Gora, Konin, and Kalisz. Near Konin, there is a gigantic open pit brown-coal mine.
Note-worthy is the well-developed system of tourist facilities, a net-work of good roads with a number of parking-lots, fuel-stations, country-inns, and little hotels. Awaiting your visit are the modern ORBIS hotels: "Poznan", "Polonez", "Merkury" and "Novotel" in Poznan, "Prosna" in Kalisz, and "Polan" in Zielona Gora, all assuring a really high standard of accommodation and other services. Many larger towns of the region also offer fairly good services in their recently built hotels and restaurants. In season, the majority of holiday centres situated near lakes offer sojourns in comfortable, well equipped cottages. Enthusiasts of horse-riding can mount at will or visit anyone of the many stud farms in the region: Sierakow, Czerniejewo, Pasadowo, Racot, Drzonkow, or others.
Restaurants will treat you to the Polish cuisine delicacies, also those of the old Polish tradition, which may satisfy even the most refined palate.
The Great Poland and Lubusz Country region lies on the plain. However, in places it abounds in post-glacial hills, lakes and forests. Larger forest complexes are situated in the western and northern part of the region, especially near Zagan, Zielona Gora, and Miedzychod (the Notecka Forest). Clusters of lakes are found near Wolsztyn, Swiebodzin, Sierakow, Chodziez, Poznan and Gniezno. Some of the morainic hills reach the altitude of 50-100 metres above sea level, the highest of them is Bukowiec Hill (227 m.) near Lagow in the Lubusz Country region. The southern boundary of the region bordering upon Silesia is lined with the Ostrzeszewskie Hills, the highest of which is Mount Kobyla Gora (282 m.).
The climate is mild. February is the coldest month with the average temperature of -2o Cent., the warmest month is July with the average temperature of +18o Cent.
Great Poland is the oldest part of the country from the historical point of view, sometimes it is called the "cradle of the Polish state". The independent Polish state came into existence in the 10th century, during the reign of Prince Mieszko I. But the unification process bringing together the Slav tribes inhabiting the area started already in the 8th century. Polish recorded history began in 966 AD, when the pagan Slavs were converted to Christianity. This event was important not only from the religious but also from the political view-point. The country was governed by two principal strongholds of Poznan and Gniezno. In 1000 AD an archbishopric was founded in Gniezno, and the Gniezno cathedral became a traditional place of coronation for the first kings of Poland.
The region lies at the crossing of important trading routes leading from the North to the South and from the West to the East. Therefore, trade and crafts played an important role in the region's economic development. The larger towns such as Gniezno, Poznan and Kalisz started to obtain their municipal right already in the 13th century. The town of Poznan soon became the centre of the region, and it has preserved that function ever since. The wars in the 17th-18th centuries hindered the development of the town, the number of its inhabitants dropped considerably. By the end of the 18th century, as a result of the Partitions of the Polish state, this territory fell under the Prussian rule and soon the Germanisation of the Polish population started. The Poles stood fast against the Germans on both economic and cultural fields: numerous Polish banks and rural organisations were established. Polish language was cultivated by a great number of singing groups, Polish Theatre and the Poznan Scientific Association were founded in Poznan. There were strikes at schools organised by the youth in protest against the removal of the Polish language from schools. The larger part of Great Poland returned to the mother-country in 1919, as a result of the Great Poland Uprising which began in Poznan on 27 December 1918. Lubusz Country got under the domination of the ever growing in power German state already in the second half of the 13th century to be returned to Poland only after World War II.
The post-war period witnessed the reconstruction and later the development of the whole region: numerous towns, especially in Lubusz Country, and also in the western part of Great Poland have undergone considerable changes in the recent years.
Poznan, one of the oldest cities in Poland, lies upon River Warta, and on the crossing of two international routes: E8 and E83.
In the 9th century Poznan was a fortified settlement. In the late 10th century, Prince Mieszko I raised the stronghold to the rank of the state's capital. In 1253 Prince Przemysl I granted the city its municipal rights. Now it is the fifth largest city in Poland and one of the largest industrial centres of the country.
Pride of the place goes to the Cegielski Works which manufacture ship and railway engines, rolling stock and modern machine tools. Other goods known for their excellent quality are also produced in Poznan; among others, harvesters, rolling bearings, sophisticated machine tools, car tyres, batteries, cars for farmers, cosmetics, concentrated food, confectionery, and clothes. Poznan has 10 institutions of higher education covering 32,000 students, a branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, numerous scientific institutes, and schools of different type. There are also modern housing estates, commercial centres, new high roads leading out of the city, new hotels, restaurants, sports halls and stadiums, all of them being evidence of the dynamic development of the town.
Every year, since 1925, Poznan receives a great number of businessmen from all continents during the traditional Poznan International Fair. The exhibition area of 18 ha is often used for the organisation of many international salons, exhibitions and domestic fairs. In July is organised the annual St. John's Fair, the tradition of which goes back as far the Middle Ages. Cultural life of the city thrives thanks to its numerous cultural establishments such as the opera, operetta, philharmonic hall, Polish Theatre of Dance, repertory theatres, three famous male voice choirs under Stefan Stuligrosz, Jerzy Kurczewski and Zdzislaw Bernat, and the Great Poland Song and Dance Ensemble. Every five years the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition is held and prizes are granted to the best composers, violin makers and violinists.
In Poznan there are 15 museums which contain interesting archaeological collections, paintings of European and Polish masters, products of artistic handicrafts, masterpieces of ecclesiastical art, arms and armour from the 10th-20th centuries, and also an invaluable and unique set of musical instruments from all over the world.
Really worth a visit, among other outstanding monuments, is the oldest part of Poznan, Ostrow Tumski. Here stands the Gothic Cathedral with tombs of the first Polish rulers, Mieszko I and Boleslaus the Brave; it also contains the Golden Chapel which is the mausoleum devoted to them both. Within the Ostrow Tumski area, we also find the late-Gothic Psaltery where the cathedral choristers lived, the Renaissance building of the former Lubranski Academy, now the home of the Archidiocesan Museum, and the little Gothic Church of Our Lady from 1444.
Poznan's old town is one of the most remarkable architectural complexes in Poland. Very captivating is the Renaissance Town Hall, designed by an Italian architect, Giovanni Batista Quadro of Lugano. There are many charming old houses and religious structures such as e.g. the Baroque Parish and Franciscan Churches.
Poznan has many parks, the largest botanical garden in Poland, and magnificent monuments of architecture. There are a number of recreation spots in the vicinity of Poznan, most of them comfortably situated amidst forests and lakes: Rusalka, Strzeszynek, Malta, and Kierskie. In the south the city borders upon the Great Poland National Park, the area of which is dotted with lakes and hills.
Kornik (pop. 5,000) is a small town situated 20 km. south-east from Poznan. A 14th century castle built by the Gorka family owns its present English Neo-Gothic shape (arch. Karol Schinkel) to Tytus Dzialynski, a great patriot fighting for the independence of Poland in the 18th-19th centuries. He was the one who much enlarged the collection of art known as the Kornik collections. In 1924 Wladyslaw Zamoyski, descendent of the Dzialynski family, donated the Kornik lands to the Polish state, thus creating the so-called Kornik Foundation. At present the Kornik castle is considered to be a very interesting museum with valuable collections of historical and national mementoes, Polish and foreign arms and armour, precious paintings by Grottger, Norblin, Bacciarelli, copies of Rubens' works, period furniture representing different epochs and styles. The famous Kornik library contains over 350,000 volumes, books, old prints, manuscripts, among them one by Napoleon Bonaparte. The castle's large park-arboretum comprises over 2,500 species and varieties of trees and shrubs, the largest collection of that kind in Poland. Another place in Kornik which is worth a visit is the 15th century three-nave Gothic church in the market square.
The village of Rogalin on River Warta, 20 km south from Poznan, has a magnificent park with ancient oaks and a Rococo-Neo-Classical palace which houses a large exhibition of 18th and 19th century interiors. In the palace rooms you will find lovely 17th and 18th century tapestries, French and Flemish arrases, and Meissen porcelain. In a separate building is a gallery of Polish and foreign painting from the 19th and 20th centuries. The palace is a branch of the National Museum in Poznan.
Voivodeship town on the river Warta with a population of 105,000. Well-developed machine and synthetic fibre industries.
A Slav settlement in the 10th century, it fell into the hands of the Brandenburg dukes in the 13th century to stay under their domination for a few next centuries. It was returned to Poland in 1945. There is a Gothic cathedral raised in the city in the late 13th century. A huge 18th century granary stands on the bank of the River Warta. 25 km. north-east from Gorzow Wielkopolski lies the town of Strzelce Krajenskie (po. 7,000) which boasts almost intact medieval defence walls from the 14th century, with gates, towers and a Gothic church from the same period. East from Strzelce Krajenskie stretches the vast Drawska Forest with many lakes and a beautiful valley of one of the cleanest rivers in Poland: Drawa. 30 km. south from Gorzow Wielkopolski lies the charming village of Lubniewice, one of the most captivating holiday spots in Western Poland. In the large park there is a 19th century palace, now turned into a holiday centre. In the neighbourhood there are other holiday centres, a large bathing place, and stables where one can hire horses.
A little town on the Warta's tributary Obra, pop. 20,000, with a long history going back to the 10th century. The town has old ruins of a 14th century castle which have been carefully preserved as evidence of the 1,000 year old tradition of Polish Statehood. There is also an 18th century house of the Miedzyrzecz starosts, now housing an interesting museum with a rich ethnographic section and a rare collection of coffin portraits from the 17th-18th centuries. A Gothic church from the 16th century has ultra-modern interior decorations.
West from Miedzyrzecz stretches a line of powerful fortifications built by the Nazis about 1935. Sometimes they are compared to the famous Maginot Line; the total length of the underground corridors is 50 km., their most interesting part can be visited near the village of Kalawa, 12 km. south-west from Miedzyrzecz. In the village of Goscikowo, 15 km. south from the town, there is a splendid complex of the former Cistercian Abbey: a church from the 13th century, remodelled in the 18th century, and a monastery from the 17th century. The church has very rich Baroque interior decorations.
A little town situated amidst hills and lakes of the Lagow Lake District, and near the crossing of the international routes E8 and E14. In the 13th century it was an important Piast stronghold and a well-developed centre of trade and crafts. To the most valuable monuments belongs a 15th century church with sumptuous 15th-18th century interiors, a Renaissance town hall from the 16th century housing a museum and a stylish cafe, remnants of defence walls from the 14th-16th centuries.
10 km. west from Swiebodzin is a large lake Nieslysz (500 ha.) surrounded by forests and offering excellent conditions for water sports lovers. 15 km. north-west, on an isthmus between two lakes, amongst hills and forests lies the charming miniature town of Lagow (pop. 2,000), a very popular holiday spot. The area is dotted with many picturesque post-glacial lakes nicely placed among wooded hills. The town's skyline is dominated by the towers of a magnificent 14th century castle erected for the order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The castle houses a comfortable hotel with period furniture, a restaurant and a cafe. Lagow offers not only a beautiful country-side but also particularly healthy climate and intense solar radiation. Every year, since 1968, the Lubusz Summer Festival of Polish Films is organised here in June.
Voivodeship town and the capital of the Lubusz Country region, pop. 100,000, situated 15 km. south from River Odra, among morainic hills. An important centre of machine and textile industries, cultural centre of the region with two institutions of higher learning. Zielona Gora obtained its municipal rights in 1323. The only centre of wine production in Poland. Since the 16th century, fast development of woollen cloth production.
Majority of buildings in the city centre were raised in the early 20th century, hence their eclectic style. Historical monuments include the Late-Gothic Church (mid-15th century), half-timbered church from the 18th century, remnants of old fortifications. It is worth a while to pay a visit to the Lubusz Country Museum which has an interesting section devoted to wine-making. Near Zielona Gora, in the village of Ochla, there is an open-air ethnographic museum of traditional country architecture.
Historical town on River Bobr, pop. 25,000. with a few industrial plants. Since 1274 it became the capital of an independent Piast duchy. Despite the severe damage it suffered during the second World War the town preserved a number of valuable monuments: old Augustian monastery complex, 14th century church with rich interiors, 18th century monastery which is a tourist hostel at present, a few other 15th-18th century churches, early 18th century palace situated at the edge of a vast park, old town walls.
In Old Zagan there was a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, among others for the RAF pilots. Altogether 200,000 prisoners passed through the camp, tens of thousands perished. In the area of the former camp stands a memorial and a museum has been organised.
In the past a well-known centre of woollen cloth production, the town of Wolsztyn (pop. 11,000) is a popular holiday spot situated amidst lakes and on the river Obra. There is a tourist hostel in the Classicist 19th century palace. Recreation and water sports centre on Lake Wolsztynskie. Besides the 18th century Baroque church, worth a visit is also the local regional museum arranged in the work-shop of an outstanding sculptor, Marcin Rozek. 10 km. south-west from Wolsztyn lies the village of Obra with valuable post-Cistersian church and monastery from the 18th century, while 12 km. east from Wolsztyn, near Poznan road, sits a little town of Rakoniewice which has partly preserved its historical market square with arcaded houses dating back to the 18th century; there is also an interesting museum of fire fighting.
Fans of kayaking should be delighted to use the attractive water-way of River Obra, which is interconnecting a number of the local lakes.
A little town on River Warta and the centre of a tourist region called Miedzychodzko-Sierakowskie Lake District. The Lake District comprises over 100 picturesque lakes and many wooded hills. In the town of Sierakow there is a late-Renaissance parish church with remarkable interior decorations which include a painting made in Rubens' work-shop. The stallion stud farm in Sierakow offers attractive holidays to horse-riding enthusiasts. In the vicinity there are nature reserves, numerous tourist paths for hikers, and a well-equipped holiday resort on Lake Jaroszewskie (100 ha).
Picturesquely situated among lakes and hills, Chodziez is the most important producer of porcelain and porcelanite in Poland. Tourists wool certainly enjoy a visit to the 18th century "weavers' house" and the 16th century church, or roam in the area along numerous paths for hikers. Hunters are excited by possibilities offered by dense forests teeming with game.
30. km west from Chodziez, in the particularly captivating country-side, lies Czarnkow with its 16th century Gothic church and a number of early 20th century houses built in eclectic and secession styles. There is a ski-jump on one of the hills. In the neighbouring Goraj (7 km.) stands a palace from the early 20th century surrounded by woods. Now it houses a forestry school.
History of the town of Gniezno dates back to the 8th century. It is considered to be the first capital of Poland. At present, it is an industrial centre.
The most impressive is the cathedral erected in the 10th century, now a Gothic structure with exceptionally beautiful and sumptuously decorated interior (alters, sepulchlar sculptures, wrought-iron bars, Romanesque sculptures), treasury, and museum of religious art. A modern school building houses the Archaeological Museum with an exhibition showing the early history of Polish statehood. Gniezno is one of the towns lying on the historical track called the Piast Route which leads from Poznan to Inowroclaw. In these towns tourists find monuments dating back to the beginnings of Polish state, many of them in Romanesque style. From Lake Lednickie emerges the Ostrow Lednicki island with ruins of the 10th century castle. Near the lake stretches a large Great Poland ethnographic park.
In Trzemeszno stands a magnificent Baroque church which has walls dating back-in parts-to the 11th century. In Mogilno the local church contains Romanesque crypts; and in two Romanesque churches in Strzelno there are Romanesque sculptures considered to be the most valuable ones in Europe.
In Kruszwica on Lake Goplo (2,000 ha.) one should not miss Mysia Wieza (Mouse Tower) which is all that remains of the castle erected here by King Casimir the Great of the Piast dynasty, and also a Romanesque collegiate church built in the mid-12th century.
Situated in the southern part of the region, the capital of voivodeship has a well-known gliding centre where domestic and international gilding competitions are held. Among other valuable monuments, the town possesses an 18th century town hall and market square, an 18th century Baroque parish church, and an interesting museum. Neighbouring little towns also have much to offer to tourists: historical town of Rydzyna used to be a seat of the famous Polish noble family of Leszczynski in the 17th-18th centuries. Maria Leszczynska became a wife of King Louis XV of France. Now the Baroque residence of the Leszczynski family comprises a hotel and a restaurant; some writers and other artists use the residence as a working place. In Pawlowice there is a palace (18th cent.), while in Gostyn one can admire a beautiful church with a huge dome (17th-18th centuries). In Lubin there is a Romanesque Benedictine Abbey (11th cent.). In Boszkowo on Lake Dominickie there is a recreation and water sports centre.
The second largest town of the region lies on River Prosna. It boasts the oldest written record of origin in the whole country: Greek geographer, Ptolemy, mentioned it in his Geography 1800 years ago as Calissia, an important trading settlement on the amber route leading to the Baltic Sea. It used to be an important centre of trade, crafts and administration. At present, Kalisz is a large centre of machine and textile industries. It has a number of interesting monuments of architecture such as e.g. Gothic and Baroque churches, Classicist bishop's palace, remains of city walls. The local museum has an interesting section devoted to the history of textile industry. Such outstanding Polish writers and poets as Adam Asnyk, Maria Konopnicka and Maria Dabrowska lived and worked in Kalisz.
20 km. north from Kalisz is the village of Goluchow with a large landscape park and a beautiful Renaissance castle containing a valuable collection of art; at present a branch of the Poznan National Museum. 60 km. farther, near Zarkow, at the village of Smielow stands a Classicist palace which houses a museum devoted to the greatest Polish poet, Adam Mickiewicz.
In Kalisz, comfortable accommodation can be found in the ORBIS "Prosna" hotel. Besides, all tourists are welcome in the nearby Antonin where piano recitals of Chopin music are held in the local palace every Sunday.
Konin is the capital of the voivodeship and one of the major centres of mining and electric power in Poland. Both Konin's power station and the huge open pit brown-coal mine were built in the '60s.
In Lad, 30 km. west from Konin, stands a splendid Post-Cistercian monastery complex raised in the 13th century and remodelled in the 18th century. 50 km. south-east from Konin in Uniejow with its magnificent Gothic castle sighted on the Warta bank; now the castle houses a tourist hostel. In Chelmno, 40 km. east from Konin, there is the site of the former Nazi concentration camp. The mausoleum monument stands on the site of mass graves. About 300,000 people perished here in the years 1941-1945.