Sightseeing in Gdansk - what to see. Complete travel guide

Gdansk is a city on the north of Poland. Its population estimates approximately 500 thousand of people.

Gdansk is a large port on Baltic Sea. This is also an industrial center with well-developed machinery building and petrochemistry. Moreover, ships building and food industries are other specialties of this city. Such spheres as electronics, telecommunications, pharmaceutics and cosmetics are yet at the stage of formation. Amber processing is also an important segment of economics because Baltic Sea is the world’s largest source of amber. During summer Gdansk turns into a large center of tourism and its beaches are crowded not only by tourists from Poland, but by people from other countries as well.

Old Town houses are mainly built during XIII-XVIII centuries. One of the main sights of Gdansk is Church of St Maria that is also known as the largest church of Europe made of brick. Travellers also enjoy visiting Royal High Road – the main entrance of the city. Dlugi Targ is a great place to see multiple monuments of the Renaissance period – main city’s town hall, Neptune Fountain, Artus Yard, Green Gates, and Golden House. We also recommend visiting Port Island and Opatovsky Palace.

Gdansk is very rich in museums. The most interesting of them are Archeology Museum and Marine Museum. Zhurav facility is the referred to the last museum. It was built in XV century and it was used for several purposes at the same time – city’s gates, guarding tower and port crane. This is one of the city’s symbols, which was that largest crane in Europe until XX century. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

There is also a zoo in Gdansk suburbs.

The most interesting place for walking is the Maria Street, which today, is entirely at the disposal of pedestrians. Once on this street were the richest houses and mansions, but almost all of them were destroyed during the Second World War. Subsequently, historical houses were completely reconstructed. Today they have interesting shops, handicraft workshops, as well as national restaurants and souvenir shops popular among tourists.

An outstanding architectural monument of the 17th century is the Great Arsenal. This majestic building is built in the Renaissance style. Until the 19th century, this building was used as an armory, and today it is occupied by the Academy of Fine Arts. This historical monument is very popular among tourists because, on its first floor is a very interesting shopping center.

One of the oldest surviving historic buildings in Gdansk is the Great Mill. It was built in the 14th century. Its founders are the Knights of the Teutonic Order. At the time of construction, this mill was the largest in Europe. Until the end of World War II, it was used for its intended purpose. When the war was almost over, the mill received serious damage, but was restored and began to work as soon as possible until the 1990s. Subsequently, the historic building was restored. Today it also houses a shopping center.

In the riverbed of the Vistula River, there is an ancient fortress of Wisloujscie, which is a preserved part of the once large-scale fortifications of the city. This fortress was built in the 15th century, and was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, so today it is a combination of different architectural styles. In the historical building, there is a central tower, which until the middle of the 18th century was used as a beacon. Today the ancient fortress is a historical monument of national importance. The original railway symbol of Gdańsk is a unique historical symbol, built at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. The elegant building of red brick was built in the Renaissance style. Its main distinctive feature is the clock tower, which rises to 50 meters.