LET'S EXPLORE POLAND

Copyright 1996 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 7

POLISH "AMBER" (Continued)

Elements of regional architecture and folklore can also be found in Rowy, an old fishing village with numerous private rooms to let for vacationers, located at the western edge of the National Park, between the Baltic and Lake Gardno. While Rowy has preserved an unspoiled character, Ustka, a little further on down the coast, is quite different, despite its similar origins. Ustka has been a major holiday resort since the last century, and is also a fishing port, with a boat yard producing fishing vessel sand lifeboats.

In contrast to most maritime countries, where motorways generally tend to follow the coastline, the principal highway linking Gdansk and Szczecin is a good distance removed from the sea, with secondary roads branching off to the Baltic. Thus, to reach Wladyslawowo from this highway we go by way of Wejherowo, which is the site of the Regional Museum of Kashubian and Pomeranian Letters and Music, and which counts 26 Baroque Stations of the Cross on the neighboring hills. To get to Leba we take the road through Lebork, an industrial town which has only scant remains of its 1,000 years of history. The road to Ustka, on the other hand, is via the voivodship [provincial] town of Slupsk, where we can find fragments of the 15th century town walls, the Witches' Tower and a castle built by the Dukes of Pomerania (today the Museum of Central Pomerania.)

A separate road, leading through the old town of Slawno--notable for its 14th century Church of St. Mary's, the Slupsk and Koszalin Gates and the historical houses fringing its market place--takes us to Darlowo, whose town charter was granted in the 13th century. The town's past is recalled by the medieval checkerboard street pattern, fragments of fortifications dating from the 14th to 16th centuries, a castle (subject to repeated alterations,) several Gothic churches, a Baroque town hall on the market square, and numerous burghers' houses from the 17th-19th centuries.

While tourists enjoy visiting the busy fishing and commercial port here, their main destination is the northern district of the town, Darlowko, a bathing resort at the mouth of the River Wieprza which sports a pleasant beach, a picturesque canal drawbridge, a lighthouse and a promenade pier.

From Koszalin, whose population of over 100,000 makes it the largest town on Poland'scentral Baltic coast--a town totally destroyed by successive wars and fires, with the only remnants of history extant being fragments of the town walls, a few burghers' houses and the 14th century Church of St. Mary's--another road leads us to Mielno, a large seaside resort attractively situated on a sand bar that separates the elongated Lake Jamno from the Baltic.

From here to Poland's western border we find an increasing number of seaside health and holiday resorts: the miniature hamlet of Mielenko, with its old thatched fishermen's cottages; Sarbinowo, a popular bathing resort for over two hundred years now; Ustronie Morskie, developed greatly over the last decades, featuring a pleasant--although narrow--beach at the foot of cliffs, spa gardens and a swimming pool complex; Bagicz, located between the beach and the forest, the site of numerous children's holiday camps. And finally, we arrive in Kolobrzeg, one of the oldest towns in Pomerania, where Boleslaus the Brave established a bishopric in the year 1000. For hundreds of years, the towns people here earned their living through fishing, salt extraction and trade. At the beginning of this century, a salt graduation tower was erected, which led to the town's development as a salt spring spa.

Almost completely destroyed during World War II, Kolobrzeg is now a modern town with only a few examples of restored architecture, such as the Gothic collegiate Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Sacred Virgin Mary, the Neo-Gothic Town Hall, and portions of the town walls, with the Powder and Prison Bastions. The late Gothic building of the Knights' Academy only partially rebuilt, currently houses the Museum of Polish Military Arms. Making full use of its salt springs, therapeutic mud baths and natural sea ozone to become the largest spa on Poland's Baltic coast, Kolobrzeg has expanded along the shoreline. The spa is separated from the town proper, with its industry and port, by the Zeromski seafront park, which includes a promenade, an 18th century lighthouse and the Monument to Poland's Union with the Sea.

West of Kolobrzeg, the map is again dotted with the names of seaside resorts: Dzwirzyno, a small fishing and holiday village; Mrzezyno, a fishing port and marina at the mouth of the River Rega, which boasts a beautiful beach and coastal dunes; Niechorze, situated between the sea and Lake Liwia Luza (a bird sanctuary which includes nesting grounds of the wild swan), a resort where the charm of old fishermen's cottages is juxtaposed with the modernity of contemporary holiday facilities; Rewal, an old fishing village and holiday center atop a high cliff--the ruins of a 15th century church in neighboring Trze Sacz, once in the very center of the village, now located at the edge of the steep shoreline, perfectly illustrate the erosion effected here by the Baltic.

A natural urban center serving these resorts is Trzebiatow, once an important Hanseatic town, with its own port and commercial fleet; the town still retains its historical street pattern, within which the observant tourist will find fragments of the town walls dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, an old Town Hall surrounded by burghers' houses, and the Gothic Church of St. Mary' s, with a 16th century seven-tone church bell itself named Mary, one of the largest in Poland.

Further westward, the bathing resorts of Dziwnow and Miedzywodzie have beautiful beaches bordered by forest, and both frequently play host to children's summer camps; they both also have good transportation links--including by sea--to Kamien Pomorski. The latter is an old Slav seaport on the Bay of Kamien, once the capital of all Western Pomerania and the seat of a bishopric, which has much to interest the tourist: large segments of the medieval town walls including the Wolin Gate, a reconstructed late Gothic Town Hall, "Fishermen's Alley," and also--above all--the 12th-13th century Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, with its chapter houses and bishop's palace. The pride of the Cathedral is its 17th century organ.

In making the journey from Dziwnow to Miedzywodzie we come onto the island of Wolin, which separates the Bay of Szczecin from the Baltic's Bay of Pomerania. On the island's northern shore we find the village of Wiseika, hidden away in a pine forest and further west--Miedzyzdroje, a bathing resort with a fine, broad beach that has been popular with vacationers for over 150 years, today incorporated within the administrative boundaries of Swinoujscie. Miedzyzdroje is home to the Natural History Museum of the Wolin National Park. The park itself, scenically beautiful, encompasses the central part of the island and contains many attractions for nature lovers: beech and oak/pine forest, alder groves, salt meadows, dune vegetation and various local geological rarities. It can also claim one of the few European nesting grounds of the golden eagle.

The western most tip of the island of Wolin is occupied by part of the town of Swinoujscie. The other part of the town lies on the island of Uznam, which is divided into two halves by the Polish-German border; it is this part of the town that contains its commercial seaport, which operates to a large extent as an extension of the port facilities of Szczecin, its ferry and pleasure boat terminals, and also the harbor of the deep sea fishing fleet, the largest in all Poland. The major leisure and health resort of Swinoujscie is also on this island, spread out along the extensive beach, regarded as one of the finest on the Baltic, and separated from the seaport by spa gardens. This is also the site of the Museum of Deep-Sea Fisheries, whose exhibits include specimens of exotic fish caught by Polish fishermen in faraway seas and oceans, and a presentation of fishing equipment.

The island of Wolin should appeal to the tourist with an interest in history. The town of Wolin, situated at its southern tip, was one of the most ancient trading centers in all the Slav lands; one piece of evidence for this is furnished by the statue of the pagan Slav god Swiatowid, dug up by archaeologists and now on display in the Wolin Regional Museum.

The tourist wishing to travel from the island of Wolin to Szczecin, the largest city and port of Western Pomerania, can make the trip by land or, in the summer season, by water.