Monday, October 1, 2012

POLISH MONUMENTS / CASTLES

POLISH MONUMENTS 
AND CASTLES 

















Frombork Cathedral
Frombork is known as “The Jewel of Warmia” because of its
 many historical sites. The Museum of Copernicus in Frombork
 holds exhibitions related to the astronomer, as well as to 
astronomy in general, and includes a planetarium. 
One of the biggest attractions is also the annual
 International Festival of Organ Music, held every summer. The town was founded as a defensive stronghold on an Old Prussian site. In 1224 at Catania, Emperor
 Frederick II declared Prussia directly subordinate to the church and Holy Roman Empire.Later in the same year the pope assigned Bishop William of Modena as the papal legate to Prussia.














The Castle of the Dukes of Głogów
Głogów is one of the oldest towns in Poland. It was founded as a grad by  a West Slavic tribe called the Dziadoszan.Głogów is the sixth largest town in the voivodeshipThe town was made into a stronghold by the Nazigovernment in 1945 during World War IIGlogau was besieged for six weeks by the Soviet Red Army and was 95% destroyed.After the Yalta Conference, the city, like the majority of Lower Silesia, was given to Poland and German-speaking inhabitants were expelledIn May 1945 the first Polish settlers came to the renamed city of Głogów to find only ruins; the town has not been fully rebuilt to this day.












Gołąb (meaning dove)
is a Polish surname and toponym, it may refer to:
People and Places
















Sandomierz 
Sandomierz is one of the oldest and historically most significant cities in Poland. 
Archeological finds around the city indicate that humans inhabited the area since neolithic times. 
The city came into existence in the early Middle Ages, taking advantage of an excellent location at the junction of Vistula and San rivers, and on the path of important trade routes.
 The first known historical mention of the city comes from the early 12th century, when the chronicler Gallus Anonymusranked it together with Kraków and Wrocław as one of the main cities of Poland.

















The town is well known for its picturesque Renaissance castle / palace built in 1591-1606.It is known as "little Wawel". This castle is a class zero monument. It is believed to be the work of the famous architect, Santi Gucci, the court artist of King Sigismund II Augustus. The castle was built around 1591–1606

















Sopot,
 is a seaside town in Eastern Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000.Sopot is a major health-spa and tourist resort destination.The area of today's Sopot contains the site of a 7th-century Slavonic (Pomeranian) stronghold. Initially it was a commercial trade outpost for commerce extending both up the Vistula river and to cities north across the Baltic Sea.Sopot remained under German occupation until 1945. On March 23, 1945 the Soviet Army took over the city after several days of street battle, in which Sopot lost approximately 10% of its buildingsSopot is currently undergoing a period of intense development, including the building of a number of five star hotels and spa resorts on the waterfront.Sopot, aside from Warsaw has the highest property prices in Poland.

















Jawor 
Church of Peace
Jawor is a town in south-western Poland It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship 
(from 1975–1998 it was in the former Legnica Voivodeship). It is the seat of Jawor County 
It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Sitein 2001.































Jelenia Góra 
Jelenia Góra is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of Jelenia Góra Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city's origins officially date back to the legendary founding of the settlement by Bolesław III Wrymouthin 1108 and in 2008 celebrated its 900th anniversary.
Jelenia Gora (or Hirschberg) is also mentioned as having been used as a base for the Polish ruler Bolesław Krzywousty for his campaigns against the Czechs in 1110.After World War I, the town became part of the Province of Lower Silesia in 1919, and in 1922 became a separate city. During the Nazi era under the regime of Adolf Hitler, a subcamp of KZ Gross- Rosenwas located in Hirschberg.Following the end of World War II in 1945, the town was placed under Polish administration according to the decisions of the Potsdam Conference, and became officially known by its Polish name of Jelenia Góra, 


















Stopnica 
Stopnica It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stopnica. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) east of Busko-Zdrój and 55 km (34 mi) south-east of the regional capital KielceIn 1362 Stopnica was granted the civic rights by King Casimir III the Great. Stopnica lost the rights in 1870. During World War II the village was almost completely destroyed. Before the war Stopnica had a large Jewish community, which perished in the Holocaust.In the Middle Ages, Stopnica used to be one of major urban centers of Lesser Poland’s Sandomierz Voivodeship












Elbląg 
Elbląg is the Polish derivative of the German name Elbing, which was assigned by the Teutonic Knights to the citadel and subsequent town placed by them in 1237 next to the river. The purpose of the citadel was to prevent the Old Prussian settlement of Truso from being reoccupied, as the German crusaders were at war with the pagan Prussians. The citadel was named after the river, itself of uncertain etymology.
  One traditional etymology connects it to the name of the Helveconae, a Germanic tribe mentioned in Ancient Greek and Latin sources, but the etymology or language of thetribal name is not known.
Elblągscity in northern Poland It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship (1975–1998) and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship (1945–1975).The city is a porton the river Elbląg which flows into the Vistula Lagoonabout 10 km to the north, thus giving the city access to the Baltic Sea via the Russian-controlled Strait of Baltiysk  During the Middle Ages, the Old Prussian settlement of Truso was located at Lake Drużno near the current site of Elbląg in historical Pogesania; the settlement burned down in the 10th century.















The Presidential Palace
For its first 175 years, the palace was the private property of several aristocratic families. In 1791 it hosted the authors and advocates of the Constitution of May 3, 1791. It was in 1818 that the palace began its ongoing career as a governmental structure, when it became the seat of the Viceroy of the Polish (Congress) Kingdom under Russian occupation (Namiestnik of the Kingdom of Poland). Following Poland's resurrection after World War I, in 1918, the building was taken over by the newly reconstituted Polish authorities and became the seat of the Council of Ministers. During World War II, it served the country's German occupiers as a Deutsches Hausand survived intact the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.
After the war, it resumed its function as seat of the Polish Council of Ministers.Construction of the present-day Presidential Palace in Warsaw was begun in 1643 by Crown FieldHetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, owner of the town of Brody (80 km. east of Lwów) and of numerouslatifundia situated in Poland's eastern borderlands; hence the palace's first name was "Pałac Koniecpolskich"—the "Koniecpolski Palace".[1] It was said that he owned so much landed property that he could cross the breadth of the Commonwealth while spending every night in one of his own manors. The palace was not completed in the Hetman's lifetime, as he died unexpectedly in 1646 at his Brody residence, a few weeks after taking a young wife.















.Elbląg
is a city in northern Poland It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship (1975–1998) and a county seat inGdańsk Voivodeship (1945–1975). The city is a porton the river Elbląg which flows into the Vistula Lagoonabout 10 km to the north, thus giving the city access to the Baltic Sea via the Russian-controlled Strait of Baltiysk















 Arkadia
Arkadia in WarsawPoland is the largest shopping complex in Central Europe
TheInternational Council of Shopping Centers awarded it the best shopping mall project in Poland, Shopping Center of the Year in 2004, and the European Shopping Center Award for best mall in Europe in 2006















                                                      
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on theBaltic coast, the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland's principal seaport and the center of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan areaGdańsk is the historical capital of Gdańsk Pomeraniaand the largest city of Kashubia. The city is close to the former late medieval/modern boundary betweenWest Slavic and Germanic lands and it has a complex political history with periods of Polish rule, periods of German rule, and extensive self-rule, with two spells as a free city. It has been part of modern Poland since 1945.















Gliwice
Gliwice is the west district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. The city is located in theSilesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder).Situated in the Silesian Voivodeship since its formation in 1999, Gliwice was previously in Katowice Voivodeship. Gliwice is one of the cities of a 2.7 million conurbation known as the Katowice urban area and is within the larger Silesian metropolitan areaGliwice was first mentioned as a town in 1276 and was ruled during the Middle Ages by the SilesianPiast dukes.[3] During the reign of Mieszko I Tanglefoot, the town was part of a duchy centered onOpole-Racibórz, and became a separate duchy in 1289



















 Pułtusk
Pułtusk is a town in Poland by the riverNarew, 70 km north of Warsaw. It is located in theMasovian VoivodshipThe town has existed since at least the 10th century. In the Middle Ages it was one of the most important castles defending northernMasoviaagainst the attacks ofPrussiansandLithuaniansThe town was also a battleground in the Polish-Soviet War of 1920, at the eve of the Battle of Warsaw. In 1931 the town had some 16,800 inhabitants. As a result of the Invasion of Poland in 1939 it was incorporated into Nazi Germany; from 1941-1945 it was known in German as Ostenburg




















Czerwińsk nad Wisłą 
Czerwińsk nad Wisłą is a village in Płońsk CountyMasovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland.It lies on the Vistula (Wisła) river, approximately 29 kilometres (18 mi) south of Płońskand 52 km (32 mi) west of WarsawHome to a large mediaeval monastery, the village was a major centre of culture and commerce in the Middle Ages. Formally a part of Masovia, it was incorporated into Poland in 1526




















Kamień Pomorski
Kamień Pomorski is a townin the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of northwesternPoland. The capital of Kamień CountyThe town became the seat of a bishopric in 1176 and a Pomeranian diocese. From time to time the Dukes of Pomerania would also reside in the town, as it is located in Farther Pomerania. By 1228 theDominicans were involved in the town's religious affairs, and in 1274 it received Lübeck city rights.
Sweden acquired control of the town at the Peace of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Acquired by Brandenburg-Prussia in 1679, the town was made part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. From then until 1945 it remained part of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later Germany. It was administered as part of the Prussian Province of Pomerania.
















Chełmno 
Chełmno is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river and the historical capital of Chełmno Land. Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, Chełmno was previously inToruń Voivodeship (1975–1998).
Culm was the German name of the town
 The first written mention of Chełmno is known from a document allegedly issued in 1065 by DukeBoleslaus II of Poland for the Benedictine monastery in Mogilno. In 1226 Duke Konrad I of Masovia invited the Teutonic Knights to Chełmno Land. In 1233 Kulm was granted city rights known as "Kulm law" (renewed in 1251), the model system for over 200 Polish towns. The town grew prosperous as a member of the mercantile Hanseatic League. Kulm and Chelmno Land were part of the Teutonic Knights' state until 1466, when after the Thirteen Years' WarChełmno was incorporated into Poland and made the capital of Chełmno Voivodeship

















Gorzów Wielkopolski
The Polish name Gorzów, written as Gorzew, is known from Polish maps and historical books dating back to 18th century or perhaps earlier.
Gorzów Wielkopolski is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river. It is the biggest city in the Lubusz Voivodeship with 125,149 inhabitants (June 2009). and one of its two capitals with a seat of a Voivodeship governor (the other is Zielona Góra); previously it was the capital of the Gorzów Voivodeship (1975–1998).Gorzów is famous for its fine sportsmen including Olympic and world champions and national representatives. In recent years the city has been known for a former Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, who comes from Gorzów Wielkopolski. Around Gorzów there are two large forest areas: Gorzów Woods (Puszcza Gorzowska) to the north, where the Barlinek-Gorzów Landscape Park is situated, and Noteć Woods (Puszcza Notecka) to the southeast. The biggest oil fields in Poland are located near Gorzów.















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