LET'S EXPLORE POLAND

Copyright 1998 by the AngloPol Corporation

This series will take us through the cities, towns, villages and countryside of Poland, 
as well as give us insights into the rich history and culture of the nation.

Part 27

MIDWEST--GREAT POLAND

CHODZIEZ

Picturesquely situated among lakes and hills, Chodziez is the most important producer of porcelain and porcelanite in Poland. Tourists will enjoy a visit to the 18th century "Weavers' House" and the 16th century church, or will want to roam the area along numerous paths for hikers. Hunters are excited by the possibilities offered by dense forests teeming with game.

West from Chodziez about 30 km., 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 neighboring Goraj (7 km.) stands a palace from the early 20th century surrounded by woods, now housing a forestry school.

GNIEZNO

The history of Gniezno, considered the first capital of Poland, dates back to the 8th century. Today it is an industrial center.

Gniezno's most impressive sight is the cathedral erected in the 10th century, now a Gothic structure with an exceptionally beautiful and sumptuously decorated interior (alters, sepulchral sculptures, wrought-iron bars, Romanesque sculptures,) its treasury and a 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 historic trail called the Piast Route that leads from Poznan to Inowroclaw. In these towns tourists find monuments dating back to the beginning of the 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 some walls dating back 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 in Europe.

In Kruszwica on Lake Goplo, the visitor should not miss Mysia Wieza [Mouse Tower], which is all that remains of the castle erected by King Casimir the Great of the Piast dynasty. There is also a Romanesque collegiate church built in the mid-12th century.

LESZNO

Situated in the southern part of the region, the capital of the voivod (province), has a well-known gliding center where domestic and international gilding competitions are held. Among other valuable monuments, Leszno possesses an 18th century town hall and market square, an 18th century Baroque parish church, and an interesting museum.

Neighboring little towns also have much to offer tourists. The historical town of Rydzyna was the 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 with writers and other artists using the residence as a workplace.

In Pawlowice there is a palace (18th century), while in Gostyn one can admire a beautiful church with a huge dome (17-18th centuries). In Lubin there is a Romanesque Benedictine Abbey (11th century). In Boszkowo on Lake Dominickie there is a recreation and water sport center.

KALISZ

The second largest city of the region, Kalisz, lies on the River Prosna. It boasts the oldest written record of its origin in the whole country. The 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.

Once an important center of trade, crafts and administration, Kalisz is now an important center of the machine and textile industries. It has a number of interesting monuments of architecture, such as Gothic and Baroque churches, a Classicist bishop's palace and the remains of old city walls. The local museum has an interesting section devoted to the history of the textile industry. Such outstanding Polish writers and poets as Adam Asnyk, Maria Konopnicka and Maria Dabrowska lived and worked in Kalisz.

North from Kalisz (20 km.) is the village of Goluchow with a large landscape park and a beautiful Renaissance castle containing a valuable collection of art, currently a branch of the Poznan National Museum. Sixty kilometers farther, near Zarkow, at the village of Smielow, stands a Classicist palace which houses a museum devoted to the greatest of Polish poets, Adam Mickiewicz.

KONIN

Konin is the capital of the voivod and one of the major centers of mining and electric power in Poland. Both Konin's power station and the huge open pit brown-coal mine were built in the 1960s.

In Lad, 30 km. West of Konin, stands a splendid Post-Cistercian monastery complex erected in the 13th century and remodeled in the 18th century. Southeast of Konin (50 km.) is Uniejow with its magnificent Gothic castle sighted on the Warta bank, now housing a tourist hostel. In Chelmno (40 km. east from Konin) is the site of a former Nazi concentration camp. A mausoleum monument stands on the site of mass graves, where 300,000 people perished in the years 1941-1945.