Around the Old Town - Following the former fortifications on the Old Town Promenade

Our walking tour may take up to 5 hours, and we have to make a distance of almost 5 kilometres. We begin in Świdnicka Street at the place where the Świdnicka Gate was still standing in the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, not much is left of its former grandeur – a rather small, square guardhouse and, closing the perspective from the north, the former church of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, built during the fifteenth century in the Gothic style.

When, in 1807, the Napoleonic army, under the command of prince Jerome Bonaparte, occupied Wrocław, the first decree issued was an order to demolish the city walls. Naturally, the walls weren’t pulled down right away- it took more than 20 years. There were discussions concerning the moat – whether to fill it up or retain it, and further discussions about what to do with the grounds after demolishing the fortifications. At last it was decided that the moat would stay, and along it a green belt would be arranged, as a place for walking and rest for the public. Thus the Old Town Promenade came into being.
We propose to start our walk going east. On the left hand appears the ornate building of the Puppet Theatre which was constructed in the second half of the nineteenth century. Next to it is a fountain - a remanent of the former entrepreneurs’ club garden. Today this area of greenery, originated in the second half of the nineteenth century, abounds in old beeches, oaks, chestnuts and plane-trees. The Old Town Park is a popular destination for the walks of mothers and children.
We then pass the statue of Cupid on Pegasus, 1914, according to the design of Theodor von Gosen, a professor the Academy of Art in Wrocław. The eyes of Pegasus were made of topaz, and Cupid’s eyes of marble. Cupid holds a bow, but has no arrows – in this way the sculptor took revenge on the god of love for the heartbreaks he blamed him for.
Next we walk along the moat to the monument of Nicholas Copernicus. The monument was placed here in 1974 (just after the celebration of the great astronomer’s 500th birthday) thanks to the efforts of the Association of Astronomy Lovers. It is a reminder of Copernicus’ ties with Wrocław - he was a canon-scholastic at the collegiate church of the Holy Cross.

Crossing Piotra Skargi Street, we are at the foot of Partisan’s Hill (Wzgórze Partyzantów) - a remanent of the sixteenth century fortifications. The hill, also called Saddlebag Bastion, is worthy of interest not only for its historic past, but also for the architecture which, in spite of the neglect of the present owner, merits attention. Numerous garden sheds, romantic recesses, water holes and rich, especially well-chosen greenery are just tailored for strolling lovers. In the spring of 1945 the military command of Festung Breslau was located in the casemates of the bastion. Air raids and artillery fire caused serious damage and, in spite of reconstruction, the old splendour of this place did not come back. However, a walk among the old trees and greenery makes everybody feel better and is an aid to recuperation.

Across the hillside or along the bank of the moat, turning north, we head towards the former Gate of Oława. On the right side, across the moat in Podwale street, is a view of a row of late nineteenth century buildings in the Vienna Secession style and the German Consulate General.

At the Gate of Oława we take the underpass and see the remnants of city walls from the fifteenth century and a scale model of this section of the city fortifications. Emerging from the underground passage we pause at the entrance to Galeria Dominikańska. To the left (west), viewed in the distance is the small St. Christopher church belonging to the Augsburg-Evangelical commune.

The eastern panorama is closed by of the church of St Mauritius, a former parish church of the Oławskie suburb dwellers. This church played an important role during the siege of Breslau in spring 1945. Paul Paikert, the parish priest, carried great spiritual aid to the people, gave confession to the soldiers, distributed Communion, visited labour camps, and wrote a daily chronicle of the siege documenting the fate of the population and the terror of the SS and Wehrmacht command.

Now we walk next to the moat, near the Galeria Dominikańska shopping center. Across the water towers the enormous edifice of the Main Post Office, built in 1927, and today housing the only Museum of Post and Telecommunication in the country. Visiting it, one may learn about history of telegraph, telephone and Polish stamps.

Now we are reaching Juliusza Słowackiego Avenue, on the left is a partly reconstructed fragment of the fifteenth century city fortifications with a round tower. Crossing the street, we enter Juliusza Słowackiego Park. On the left is the late fifteenth century St. Bernard Friars cloister complex - today it houses the only Museum of Architecture in the country. In front of the Museum is a fragment of the “Monument of the Shot” by Władysław Hasior, displayed here since 1971. From here we may go straight to Polish Hill (Wzgórze Polskie) and the Gulf of the Gondola or follow the avenue to the east, passing two eclectic stone garden vases from the second half of the nineteenth century. After a while we stop at the Julisz Słowacki monument (the work of Wacław Szymanowski – the sculptor of the famous Frederic Chopin monument in Warsaw’s Łazienki Park).

Along the broad boulevard lined with hundred year-old plane trees, we approach the edifice of the National Museum. In the place where the park walkways meet there are four garden sandstone statues from the eighteenth century: Pallas Athene, Rea, Ceres and another Athene. Right next to them are two contemporary (1980) outdoor figures creating the composition “Expectation” by Anna and Ryszard Zamorski.

We are on J.E. Purkyniego Street at the Neo-Renaissance edifice of the National Museum, housing rich collections of painting, graphic art, Silesian sculpture, art handicraft and Polish contemporary art. At the foot of the building there are three cast-bronze monuments: figures of Michelangelo and Albrecht Dürer – the works of Robert Haertl of 1831–1832 - and the “Allegory of Fishery” designed by Christian Behrens and Albrecht Dürer.

We return to the Park on a wide avenue going in a western direction to a clearing where, placed among the trees, is the monument to the Victims of the Katyń Massacre – the design of Tadeusz Tchórzewski unveiled in October 2000. It commemorates the 22 thousand Polish army officers and policemen murdered in Kozielsk, Ostaszków, Starobielsk, Katyń, Miednoje and Kharkov during World War II.

Following the avenue among trees and shrubs we arrive at the rotunda of the “Panorama Racławicka”. In front of the building is an obelisk of the Third of May Constitution (M. Dziekoński’s work of 1993). “Panorama Racławicka” – a section of the National Museum – is a place particularly worth seeing. The unique canvas of 120 metres x 15 metres is the work of a team of painters led by Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak. The painting was produced in Lwów in 1894. After a 38-year odyssey it has again been available to the public since June 14, 1985.

Now our walk leads on to Polish Hill (Wzgórze Polskie). After crossing Purkyniego Street we stroll uphill along the asphalt path. On the right side is a portion of the city moat called the “Gulf of Gondolas". From the top of the hill spreads the splendid right-bank panorama of Wrocław with Cathedral Island (Ostrów Tumski) and Sand Island. Along the riverbank we progress west, leaving the Old Town Promenade along wide Xawerego Dunikowskiego Boulevard and enter Polski Square.

On the left of the square are the buildings of the Academy of Fine Arts. The sculpture “The Head of Worker" was placed on the square in 1982 but was actually made by Dunikowski in 1948 to grace the Exhibition of the Recovered Territories. Very near, unveiled in 1999, the monument to Poles murdered on prewar eastern border lands commemorates the victims of the Ukrainian nationalists in the years 1939–1947.

Next we reach the Sand Bridge, cross the Odra and turn left to Sand Island. We are walking along the Boulevard of Stanisław Kulczyński – the first rector of the Polish University of Wrocław and the last rector of the University of Jan Kazimierz in Lwów.

At present we are strolling across the islands of the Odra where, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries Wrocław was first shaped.

So, we are going through Malt Island and the foot-bridge to Drobnera Street. One can also choose the longer variant – along Old Mill (Staromłyńska) Street to Mill Island, then onto Malt Island and across St. Clara Bridge to Bleaching Island. Next, across the Bleaching foot-bridge to Drobnera Street.

Later, passing the nearby Hotel Park Plaza and across the University Bridge, we will land back on the left bank of the Odra. Walking pretty close to the main edifice of the University of Wrocław – which treasures such jewels as the splendid Baroque interiors of Aula Leopoldina and Oratorium Marianum plus the collections of the University Museum, we arrive at New World (Nowy Świat) Street. We pass the hydroelectric power station, the southern one, and we arrive at the municipal Museum in the former arsenal. This Renaissance building is among the oldest of this type in our part of Europe. The beginnings of the arsenal reach back to the year 1459. It houses military items and archaeological exhibits.

We walk onto Mikołaja Street passing the former church of St Barbara, today the Orthodox Church of the Birth of the Holy Mother of God – the cathedral of the Wrocław-Szczecin diocese. At the back on the right is the former All Saints Hospital established in the first half of the sixteenth century, now the regional J. Babiński hospital.

Through the underground passage at John Paul II (Jana Pawła II) Square (formerly 1st of May (1 Maja) Square on the place of the medieval Mikołajska City Gate) we return to the Old Town Promenade. Behind the monumental fountain “Fight and Victory", built in 1905, we enter a park area abundant with old trees. On the left we pass the Palace of Weddings, on the right, across Podwale Street we see the edifice of the Musical Academy of Wrocław.

We are going south, passing the wooden St Anthony footbridge and along a wide avenue lined with limes, chestnuts and planes and arrive at a place where the city moat turns east.

Across the water we have Orląt Lwowskich Square and Świebodzki Railway Station built in 1843.

Between rows of old trees we walk to Krupnicza Street. On the right, across the moat, are the Neo-Baroque barracks of the Prussian cuirassiers of 1835, now the abode of Wrocław county authorities. On the left hand, at Krupnicza Street stands the Neo-Gothic edifice of the new exchange, at present the sport-club “Gwardia”. We cross Krupnicza Street and, on the right across the moat, stands the complex of Neo-Gothic buildings serving as courts of law, built in the years 1844-1887.

We reach Wolności Square on a bank of the moat surrounded by greenery. It used to be called Castle Square because the royal castle, corner-stoned in 1750, stood here. Only the oldest Baroque wing of the royal castle remains to our time. It is placed close to Kazimierza Wielkiego Street and now houses part of the Municipal Museum. The wing of the castle touching Wolności Square was demolished in the 1960’s. What is left consists only of a servants’ and court house with an arcaded gallery. In front of the palace was an Exercise Field where, in Prussian times, drills of infantry and cavalry units were performed. On May 27, 1945 a march past of the units of the 10th Sudeten Infantry Division of the 2nd Polish Army took place here. Today Wolności Square is the venue of numerous events and fairs.

On the right side we pass the court foot-bridge leading to the regional police headquarters across the moat. Next to it, at Łąkowa Street used to be the functioning synagogue “On the Pasture” annihilated during Crystal Night, November 9, 1938. Passing the monument to the “Victims of Stalinism”, unveiled in September 1989, we reach Świdnicka Street once again and our walk is at an end.

Author: Bronisław Zathey

English translation: Andrzej Milcarz

www.wroclaw.pl

Sightseeing the oldest parts of Wrocław

Our tour of Wrocław begins at the monument of Pope John XXIII,one of the city’s landmarks, placed here in 1968. John XXIII was the first pope who recognized the Polish church administration in postwar western and northern territories of the country.

The route of our tour leads near the St. Martin chapel, whose history reaches back to the twelfth century. Situated in close proximity to the castle of the Wrocław dukes, it went through many reconstructions. In the second decade of the twentieth century the members of the Poles’ Union in Germany ”Sign of the Vistula” used to meet here for Polish language services.

The magnificent Holy Cross collegiate church, constructed at the end of the fourteenth century, appears along the route of our walk. The unique two-storey temple of St. Bartholomew and the Holy Cross was called a Polish church in the nineteenth century. The statue of Jan of Nepomuk, sculptured by Jan Jerzy Urbański in 1732, stands in front of the church.

Cathedral Street leads us to St John the Baptist Cathedral. On the way we pass Renaissance houses. At number 11 is the former Suffragans’ Palace (now the residence of the archbishop of Wroclaw), next door is the former Bishop’s Palace (now the Papal Faculty of the Seminary).
Worth visiting are the reconstructed Bishop Gardens on the bank of the Odra. We enter the cathedral through an exquisite portico composed of Romanesque and Renaissance architectural details. The beginnings of this edifice are from the mid-tenth century. The outstanding present shape of the cathedral comes from fourteenth century. The spring of 1945 brought destruction to the church, but the efforts of architects and the clergy have returned its old glory. Today we may admire the great pulpit, bas-reliefs done by Urbański, a winged altar from the Wit Stwosz school, a miraculous painting of God’s Mother, and superb stained-glass windows designed by Krystyna and Stanisław Pękalski. The baroque chapels of Saint Elisabeth, Corpus Christi, and the gothic Saint Mary’s chapel with the sarcophagus of Bishop Przecław from Pogorzela are situated on the cathedral’s eastern side. From the cathedral tower one can admire the splendid panorama of Wrocław.

Exiting the cathedral we come across St Giles church – the oldest in Wrocław, and the superb collections of the Archdiocesan Museum - the oldest temple of muses in Wrocław with an Egyptian mummy, amphorae of the Etruscans, and multiple Silesian works of art.
Now we may take a rest among the flowers and greenery of the University of Wrocław botanical gardens established in 1811. Here the Nature Museum tempts nature lovers with its collections including the original skeleton of a whale.

Next we stroll toward Sand Island, passing The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul and walking over the Tumski Bridge. In front of us stands the huge edifice of the gothic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our path takes us along the riverbank now, along Piotr Włostowic and Stanisław Kulczyński boulevards. We are getting familiar with the Odra islands, on which Wrocław has its 1000 year-old origins. Through walks and footbridges we cross Malt Island and reach Mill Island with the oldest mill, “Maria”, built more than 600 years ago. Crossing the Mill Bridge we return to Sand Island and visit the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It houses a votive picture of the Victorious Mother of God. The painting has come a long way- from Marianpol on the Volhynia in Ukraine to Wrocław. Located in the adjoining chapels are the church center for the handicapped and the only Nativity crib in town that is open all-year-round.

Now we turn south and walk along the University Library on the Sand and the Saints Cyril, Methodius, and Anne’s Orthodox church. On the other side of the Sand Bridge we go to the east with the X and proceed along Dunikowskiego Boulevard, on which stands the monument to the Poles murdered in the prewar eastern border lands. Near the buildings of the Academy of Fine Arts we climb up to the vantage point on top of the old defensive bastion called today Polish Hill (Wzgórze Polskie). The superb panorama of Cathedral Island (Ostrów Tumski) and Sand Island stretches out from here. At the foot of the hill is the Gulf of Gondolas, a remnant of the former municipal moat and right next to it the National Museum and the Rotunda of the Panorama Racławicka, transferred to Wrocław from Lvov in 1946 and opened to the public in 1985. The Third of May Constitution monument and the Katyń Crime monument are situated nearby. A stroll through J. Słowacki Park brings us to the poet’s monument and two cultural institutions unique in the country and well worth visiting: the Museum of Architecture and the Museum of Postal Service and Telecommunication.

Along J. Słowackiego Avenue we head to the west. In front of us appears the massive block of St Adalbert Church with the baroque chapel of blessed Czesław – the founder of the Silesian Dominican friars, regarded as the city’s defender against the Mongolian incursion of 1241, and the patron saint of Wrocław.

Our walk now follows Piaskowa Street, along Nowy Targ – one of the oldest market squares in Wrocław. We take Purkyniego Street and then Kraińskiego Street. Passing the remnants of the city fortifications and the only preserved bastion, we arrive at the Market Hall. This edifice of the year 1907 has an interesting construction of reinforced concrete supporting parabolic arcs. Through Holy Spirit Street we enter “Prince Promontory" – a small area situated on the left bank of Odra, once the property of the dukes of Wrocław who, in thirteenth century, founded numerous cloisters and a new ducal castle here.

Here, at present-day Bishop Nankier Square, one can visit St. James (formerly St Vincent) Church. It was meant to be the necropolis of the Piasts of Wrocław, but only the body of Prince Henry II the Pious was buried here after his defeat at Legnica. Now the church serves as the Greek Catholic cathedral. Located right next to the cathedral is the former Clarisses (at present Ursuline nuns) cloister- the foundation of the duchess Anne, Henry’s II the Pious’ widow. It houses the Silesian Piasts Mausoleum with the magnificent tombstone of Duke Henry IV - the last Piast ruler of the Wrocław principality. It is a place worth seeing.

Along the very narrow Ossolińskich Lane going between the buildings of the Ursuline cloister and the Ossolińskich National Institution Library, we now approach Grodzka Street. The collections of the Ossoliński Library arrived in Wrocław from Lvov in 1946 and were placed in the former cloister of the Red Star Crusaders. Since 1811 the monastery was the abode of the St. Matthew secondary school. Among its students were Jan Dzierżoń and Józef Elsner. Today the collections of the Ossolineum Library are among the greatest and richest in the country and contain old prints, manuscripts of Polish literature, graphic arts, miniatures, ex libris, maps, and old coins.

Across the small square by the Pharmaceutical Department of the Medical Academy, we walk toward the former Jesuit college - now the main edifice of the University of Wrocław. On our way we pass the baroque Most Holy Name of Jesus Church with the sumptuous frescoes of F.A. Scheffler, and pieta – the copy of Michelangelo’s Vatican sculpture. Next to the church is the entrance building of the old college leading to offices and the former chemist’s shop – now a snug university cafeteria with a splendid ceiling fresco. We pass the Emperor's Gate and come to the statue of the Fencer, created in 1904 by H. Lederer. Next is the main entrance - the richly adorned portal crowned with a balcony. Entering, we see the roomy central staircase of the main university edifice which is also generously decorated with excellent frescoes of F. A. Scheffler painted in 1734 and constituting an apotheosis of the land of Silesia. On the first floor is the most representative university hall – the baroque Aula Leopoldina. Admiration is inspired by impressively lavish sculptures (F. J. Mangholdt), stucco works (I. A. Provisore) and illusionist frescos (J. Ch. Handke). From Aula Leopoldina we can climb to the Mathematical Tower and enjoy the magnificent panorama of Wrocław from there.

Before leaving the University one should walk along the so called rector corridor, where plaques commemorate the names of the Nobel prize winners coming from Wrocław, professors of the University of Lwów murdered in 1941, and the former rectors and professors of Slavonic languages - Wojciech Cybulski and Władysław Nehring.

On the ground floor one should look into the Oratorium Marianum, originally a chapel in the nineteenth century and turned into the Musical Room where concerts were given by F. Liszt, H. Wieniawski among many others.

One cannot also overlook Longshamps Hall – across the vestibule – with an exhibit illustrating the three hundred-year (1702–2002) history of the Jesuit college and the university.
Leaving the university building we cross a square with statues of the four seasons and continue along Więzienna (means prison) Street until we see the fourteenth century city prison with an interesting rectangular yard (today the Institute of Ethnology of Polish Academy of Sciences).
Then, following Kuźnicza Street and Malarska Street we enter Kiełbaśnicza Street, turn left and find ourselves in Jatki lane – an impressive complex of butcher stalls from the fourteenth century. The inferior sorts of meat, most often goat and poultry used to be sold here. At the gate to this bystreet we see a monument to the slaughter – the result of a City Council initiative in the nineties of the last century. Gathered are: a goat, a piglet, a duck, a goose, and a cock standing a little higher and supervising all the farm. Today in Jatki are small galleries of the artists of Wrocław and shops with artistic articles. From here we follow Odrzańska Street south. On the right side stands the great basilica of St Elisabeth. It is one of the parish churches of the mediaeval city. Rebuilt after fires in the sixties and seventies of the past century, it contains a superb Gothic interior with tombstones and epitaphs of the Wrocław patriciate. You have to climb 365 steps to reach the top of the church tower which is 91 metres high. It is another excellent vantage point to enjoy the panorama of the city. Next to the church is the monument to D. Bonhoeffer – the evangelical theologian and antifascist, executed in a concentration camp in 1945. The area of the former churchyard sided by Odrzańska Street and Św. Mikołaja Street was enclosed by the houses of the members of the laic brotherhood of guardians of altars at the Church of St Elisabeth. Only two buildings remain to our time: the smaller one, “Jaś", also called the Little House of the Copper-engraver, houses the studio of the artist Eugeniusz Get Stankiewicz; the bigger one, “Małgosia” – is the abode of the Association of the Lovers of Wrocław. The two houses are linked by an arch with the Latin inscription Mors Ianua Vitae (Death is the Gate to Life).

Along Św. Mikołaja Street we walk to the so-called small ring thoroughfare – Nowy Świat Street. We turn right and reach the old arsenal. The beginnings of this renaissance edifice reach as far into the past as 1459, making it the oldest armoury in this part of Europe. Now it houses two sections of the Municipal Museum: the Armoury Museum and the Archaeological Museum. Stopping here to see the interiors, the collections, and the splendid yard is worthwhile.
Then we continue the walk along Św. Mikołaja Street to the west. On our right hand we have the Orthodox Church of the Birth of the Holy Mother of God, formerly the Church of St. Barbara, today the Wrocław-Szczecin Orthodox diocese cathedral.

We arrive at Jana Pawła II Square (former 1 Maja Square) and through the underpass (at the sight of the medieval Mikołajska City Gate) we approach the monumental fountain “Fight and Victory". The monument was designed by Schring and Seger in 1905. It marks the beginning of the Old Town Promenade, following the run of the municipal moat. After a short stroll among old trees we leave the Promenade and turn left into Św. Antoniego Street. On the right side, in high-density housing, stands the baroque church of St Anthony (now run by Paulites) with an altar (its central figure is Juda Thadeus) made by Jan Jerzy Urbański in 1725.
A gate from Św. Antoniego Street opens to a yard, where, in the years 1827–28 the synagogue “Under the white Stork” was constructed and still stands.

After crossing Bohaterów Getta Square and Krupnicza Street we go along Kazimierza Wielkiego Street to the east and pass the Neo-Gothic building of the University Library on the left. On the right side we have the Divine Providence Church, a former court-church and today the See of the Bishop of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church.

Then we pass the former so-called Frederician Royal Palace, today the exhibition halls of the Municipal Museum. After turning into narrow Św. Doroty Street going south we arrive at the church of Saints Stanislaus, Dorothy and Wenceslas. This splendid Gothic edifice fascinates with its sheer size and also with the baroque furnishings from the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is worth seeing.

We are now on Świdnicka Street and pass, to the right, “Monopol", the oldest department store in Wrocław, built in 1891-92. In front of us stands the edifice of the Wrocław opera-house which has its beginnings in the first half of the nineteenth century. This work of architect Karl Ferdinand Langhans was rebuilt many times. On September 8, 1945 the first post war opera performance was staged here – Halka of Stanisław Moniuszko.

Strolling along the opera-house we reach again the Old Town Promenade. Deep in the greenery stands the monument to the Victims of Stalinism unveiled in September 1989. Across the street the top of the Gothic Corpus-Christi church is visible. This is the only building which remains of the cloister of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem who ran a hospital here. Close by the church is the small neoclassical “odwach’ – the guardhouse, built at the beginning of the eighteenth century.

Along Świdnicka Street we arrive at the crossing with Podwale. In front of us looms the “Renoma” department store. When built, prior to 1930, it had unheard of shopping space for that time. On the opposite corner is another department store – “Podwale”, built in 1897.
Going back across the intersection we head to the east passing “the weather" – a little meteorological station showing current weather conditions - and through Copernicus park to arrive at the building of the Puppet Theatre (formerly the entrepreneurs’ club) constructed at the end of nineteenth century. We turn left and pass through Teatralny Square, returning to Świdnicka Street.

Through the underground passage under Kazimierza Wielkiego Street we go toward the Market Square (Rynek). Just emerging from the underpass we meet the monument of the Gnome (Krasnal), placed here for the commemoration of the Orange Alternative movement. With the promenade of the Świdnicka Street we arrive at the Market Square.

What we see first is the splendid east facade of the City Hall with a unique ribbed top and Renaissance bay windows on the south wall. In front of the City Hall a symbol of mediaeval law is on display - a reconstruction (1942) of a stone pillory. This side of the Market Square bears the name of the Green Reed. Here court sentences were announced and often executed.
At the department store “Feniks” we turn into Kurzy Targ Street and reach Szewska Street where the seriously war damaged, but still splendid, Gothic cathedral of St Mary Magdalene stands. It is presently the see of the bishop of the Polish Catholic denomination and the regular venue of superb concerts of the Oratorio-Cantata Festival Wratislavia Cantans. It is worth entering the cathedral to view the remains of the old embellishments and walk around the walls to see some very interesting epitaphs and commemorative sculptures. In the southern wall facing the “Maria Magdalena” hotel one can admire the Romanesque portal, placed here in 1526. Now we take Łaciarska Street, turn left into Wita Stwosza Street and after 200 metres we find ourselves again on the Market Square. Immediately on the left the tenement house “Under the Golden Hound" greets us, where the Consulate of the Czech Republic is located. We return now to the pillory and walk into the south part the Square.

Here we view the splendid, richly sculptured facade of the City Hall- entering one of the oldest eateries in Europe, “Piwnica Świdnicka”, is recommended. A short time later we stop at the Aleksander Fredro monument. This monument came to Wrocław from Lvov and in 1956 was placed in front of the City Hall. The interior of the City Hall is very interesting and rich with unique collections from the Municipal Museum. Excellent exhibitions of European art are also organized here. This side of the Market Square is called “The Side of Golden Cups" from its numerous, superb wine-vaults and restaurants. Once fish were sold in this part of the square. In front of the main entrance to the City Hall is a mosaic incorporated into the pavement displaying the coat of arms of Wrocław.

Now we leave the Market Square and walk into Solny (Salt) Square formerly called Polish Square because it was the place where commodities and goods imported from Poland were on sale: salt, leathers, honey. The square is surrounded by superb classicistic buildings, among them the edifice of the old exchange constructed in 1822. Today the square serves as a floral market adorned in 1997 by a fountain with newts made of forged iron. The centre of the square is marked by a needle – the work of sculptor A. Wyspiański.

Our route is leading us to the Gate of Seven Circles. Through it we walk to Psie Budy Street. The alley was reconstructed en bloc but perfectly recreates the climate of the mediaeval town. A short walk along this lane will free us from the turmoil of the city.

We reach Ruska Street, where there were once numerous inns for merchants from the east mainly and later well-known department stores and garment workshops. Today it is a street of banks and expensive shops. The route is leading us now under some arcades and we again reach Solny Square. In this part of the square we are lured by restaurants and pubs. Going two hundred metres along Rzeźnicza Street we reach Mikołaja Street and after turning right we are again on the Market Square.

The north side of the square is in front of us, called in the past vegetable market or sweets market. There are many well maintained burgher tenements and department stores constructed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Now in summer time restaurant street gardens dominate the area. We approach the most elegant part of the Market Square – the Side of the Scale. From the east it is enclosed by the New City Hall - the abode of the City Council of Wrocław and the Mayor’s office. Overlooked by this edifice, a fountain constructed in 2000 offers some coolness on hot days. The western side is the best preserved row of the Market Square - with good restaurants and commercial malls.
Here we finish our hike through the oldest parts of Wrocław.

Author: Bronisław Zathey
English translation: Andrzej Milcarz

www.wroclaw.pl

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Poland is a country located in central Europe. It is situated between Germany, which lies to its west, and Ukraine, Belarus lie towards east. Towards south of Poland is Czech Republic and Slovakia. Lithuania and Russia of erstwhile USSR and Baltic Sea are to the north Poland. Poland has been a member of European Union since 01 May 2004. Most Polish companies have come under the central authority of European Union since then. Old currency of Poland no longer exists and there have been several reforms in trade and commerce.

Poland has a very interesting and turbulent history and is called Polska or Rzeczpospolita Polska in its native language. It all started 1000 years ago, when Piast dynasty took over and reformed Poland. The country witnessed a golden age under the leadership and command of Jagiellonian dynasty by the end of the sixteenth century. This dynasty took Poland to great heights and at one time became the wealthiest and most powerful regions in Europe. On May 3, 1791, the Sejm of Polish and Lithuanian commonwealth adopted the constitution of Poland, making Poland the only country in the entire world to adopt democratic governance apart from United States. Poland thus became the second country in the world to have adopted a constitution along with US.

The perils of World War II had completely demolished Poland had left the Polish absolutely penniless. Until 1989, communist parties from Russia ruled Poland. Poland then had to face a new crisis of Communism. After the cold war, Poland gained partial independence in 1989. It then reverted back to its democratic rule. Today Poland is a far better country then what it used to be after the country lost to German forces during World War II.
With free trade and booming economy under the European Union, Poland has reformed in leaps and bounds. Today's Poland is indeed a new country marching on the route of economic and political freedom.

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