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 31

Pomerania - Northwest Poland

Northwest Poland (historic Pomerania) has a beautiful and varied landscape, with long sandy beaches along the Baltic coast, colorful lakes, forests and charming inland rivers, precious relics of architecture and historic places telling of man's efforts through the centuries to develop this land.

Pomerania is like an open door to the world mounted on strong hinges of the ports--Szczecin in the west and Gdansk in the east. It is possible to organize excursions to national parks and nature reservations and the most interesting spots of the region while visiting Gdansk and Szczecin, arrange for relaxation and treatment in renowned vacation and health centers, enjoy cultural entertainment, attend plays, organ concerts in the Cathedral in Oliwa and Kamien Pomorski, attend folklore and sports events, and engage in sports of all kinds, including horseback riding, hunting and fishing.

GEOGRAPHY

Northwest Poland includes the Baltic Coast and Pomeranian Lake District. The coast is a belt of seaside lowlands. In the western part they are variegated with moraine elevations-rising on the island of Wolin to a height of 115 meters and in the Bukowe Hills near Szczecin to 147 meters. There are numerous recreational centers, such as the large areas of the Wkrzanska, Goleniowska and Bukowa Forests, the islands of Uznam and Wolin with very attractive Wolinski national Park, Szczecin Baya and the great Lake Dabie.

Further to the east the coast is mostly flat with the highest dunes and fragments of coastal cliffs on the Baltic in Trzesacz (where on the very edge of the high coast are ruins of a church that was once about 2 km. from the sea), near Jaroslawiec, in Orlowo and in Jastrzebia Gora. Sticking out in the coastline is the northernmost part of Poland, Cape Rozewie. There is even a Lighthouse Museum in an actual lighthouse. The natural oddities of this part of the coast are wandering dunes (in the vicinity of Leba) in Slowinski National Park (named for an ancient local people, the Slowinians), and the coastal lakes separated by sandbars, e.g., Jamno, Bukowo, Gardno and Lebsko. The flat coast has broad with clean, sandy, white beaches.

In the northern part of this region is a long belt of coastline with outstanding beaches; and in the southern part is the charming Pomeranian Lake District, divided into several smaller regions. Of these regions, the most beautiful are: Mysliborskie with the Gorzowska Forest and the Drawska Forest (with remnants of magnificent oak and beech forests), extending to the Drawskie Lake District, with the largest collection of lakes in the Pomeranian Lake District, often arranging themselves in long chains; Waleckie with forest complexes on the Drawa and Gwda rivers; and, finally, the Kashubian Lake District with exceptionally colorful landscapes and a beautiful water route leading the river Radunia through 10 lakes. There are numerous preservation areas, among which the most noteworthy is "stone circles" in the village Odry (on the Wda), one of the largest collections of Neolithic relics, an agglomeration of regularly arranged boulders that were used to tell time and also as a burial site.

The Pomeranian Lake District is a land of a thousand lakes scattered among forests and fields. It is a paradise for fans of sailing, windsurfing, water-skiing and canoeing. The lakes and rivers contain numerous fish: bass, ruff, lavaret, roach, bull-trout, trout, grayling, and others. The forests are rich with all kinds of mushrooms, berries, wild strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.

In the middle of the Lake District from the Odra to the Bay of Gdansk runs a belt of moraine elevations rising gradually toward the east, reaching a height of 329 meters in the vicinity of Kartuzy-Wiezyca. Flowing to the north and south from these elevations are the previously mentioned rivers with deep, colorful valleys.

The Baltic Coast and Pomeranian Lake District is closed from the east by the valley of the lower Vistula with the historic towns of Chelmno, Grudziadz, Gniew and Tczew, as well as its delta region called Zulawy Wislane. The land is used mainly for growing wheat, sugar beet and fodder crops, or raising cattle. The landscape is melancholy with a unique atmosphere. Further to the southwest are the Tucholskie Bory with the "L. Wyczolkowski Yew Forest" [Cisy Staropolskie], a preserve area. Among old pines, oaks, lindens, hornbeams and beeches there are about 4000 yews.

Obviously there are no longer any aurochs or wild ponies in the forests, but there are roe-deer, hares, wild boars, stags and a much fowl. In the Tucholskie Forest and in the region of Szczecinek, Lebork and Bialogard there is even the black goose. A hunter is a hunter, but anyone who hunts with a tape recorder may hear the call of a stag and perhaps the song of the forest's most charming singer, the thrush.

There are more than 300 sunny days on the Baltic and residents claim they have the most fair days in Poland in the section between Darlowo and Rozewie. Summer on the coast is not too hot, the winter light, the autumn beautiful. There is a sunny, but not overwhelmingly hot summer. Clean water and iodized air create excellent conditions for rest, with a beneficial influence on health.

Pomerania is inhabited by about 5 million people. The greatest population density is around Gdansk. Though the Sea Coast and Lake District are mainly agricultural-forestry lands, there are also some large industrial centers: Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Szczecinek, Koszalin, Slupsk, Pila, Bydgoszcz and Grudziadz. The marine economy is particularly important.

Tourism is developing in the region, both in view of the charms of the landscape and the complexes of architectural relics (Gdansk, Malbork, Szczecin, Stargard Szczecinski, Kamien Pomorski, Slupsk, Pelplin, Pyrzyce, and others). It is worth visiting the ethnographic parks, e.g., in Kluki and Wdzydze Kiszewskie and numerous specialized or regional museums. In the large urban centers there are dramatic and musical theaters, operas, and concerts philharmonic orchestras.

Northwest Poland is well-developed with railways and good roads, as well as air and ferry transportation. Planes fly between Warsaw and Gdansk, Slupsk, Szczecin and Koszalin, and ferry lines connect the coast with Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Denmark. They have brought the coast and all of Poland closer to foreign tourists.