If St
Petersburg was ‘the jewel in the crown’ of last summer’s cruise, then Gdańsk was
this year’s ultimate destination. It is
an extremely interesting and beautiful city – much of it rebuilt following war
damage – perhaps not quite as exciting and romantic as St Petersburg, but a
great place to visit and a real contrast to Scandinavia.
And it’s
really hot and humid here – summer has definitely arrived for us at last!!
It was a
glorious sunny day as we motored up the Vistula River, the lengthy entrance
channel to the city of Gdańsk. As we arrived
in the old city, we passed the famous medieval wooden port crane, almost
dwarfed by a massive racing catamaran moored at the entrance to the harbour …
We got a
nice comfortable berth alongside the new pontoon in the recently refurbished
harbour, with brand new shower facilities, etc – but on the left hand side of
the harbour, there’s the empty shell of a building and it still looks as if the
war has only just ended! We saw this
contrast all over the city – much of it is now beautifully restored, but in
between are still signs of the devastation.
We enjoyed
4 days in Gdańsk, and the first thing we had to get used to was how crowded and
busy it was compared to Sweden and Finland and some of the islands we’ve
visited. The pedestrianised main street,
Długi Targ, was constantly bustling, with market stalls, pavement cafés, street
performers, stilt-walkers, musicians and so on.
There are lots of tourists here and it’s lively until late at night.
One of the
street acts we saw – apparent levitation …
We had just
a ten minute walk over this bridge into the city …
Several of
the gates to the city are still in existence.
This is the Green Gate through which we entered the city from the
marina…
Here are some of the elaborately detailed rooflines
that adorn the main thoroughfare through Gdańsk
…
Intricate
carvings …
… and
detailed wall paintings …
…
differently-coloured and patterned facades …
… and a beautiful
doorway …
The white building in the picture below is Artus Court,
which has a history dating back to the 1300s and was a meeting place for rulers
and knights in the Middle Ages. It was
the seat of Gdańsk’s merchant guilds and the commercial centre of Gdańsk life in the 15th century, but was used as a corn
exchange from 1742 until 1920.
I rather
liked this steel tree sculpture in one of the squares we wandered through …
An unusual view of the Great Armoury, an imposing and ornate example of Dutch
Mannerist architecture in Gdańsk …
The first
evening we managed to catch an organ recital in the massive St Mary’s Basilica. Apparently it’s the largest church in Europe
and can hold up to 25,000 people.
The
basilica is huge inside, with 27 soaring white columns up to its impressive
crystal vaults. It’s also very cool,
which was a definite ‘plus’ on such a humid evening. It was just the right venue for a Baroque
organ recital with great acoustics.
We enjoyed
supper afterwards at a nice little family-run restaurant in one of the back
streets, including an unusual – but actually delicious! – dessert of vanilla
icecream with olive oil, salt and pepper!
The next
day was still hot, but there was a faint breeze, so after a leisurely breakfast
in the cockpit we set off to visit the famous medieval wooden crane.
A nice view
looking down the waterfront with the crane in the distance …
Dating from
the 14th century, the crane was badly damaged during World War II,
but rebuilt in the late 1950s.
The
building is brick and was also used as a residence and a city gate. The crane itself is wooden.
It contains
4 large treadmills, which were propelled by labourers walking on the steps
within the huge wheels.
These
wheels winched massive hemp ropes to hoist goods up from the river below, and
the crane was also used to install masts on sailing ships …
After that
it was time to sample some of Poland’s famous beer – very tasty, especially
after the weak stuff you find in Swedish supermarkets – and a fraction of the
price – about £1.20 a half-litre in bars.
Everything seems cheap here compared to Sweden and UK, even though we’re
paying tourist prices!
We wandered
through the town to attend another concert on our second evening, passing these
tall buildings, completely covered with rather delicately painted intricate
patterns …
This is a
modern development which has tried to incorporate some of the style of the old
Gdańsk buildings, with turrets and similar roof lines …
… and quite
a nice mixture of old and new …
This is the
Church of St Petri and St Pawel …
… another
church with a very lofty white interior and enormously tall pillars. The concert was slightly odd because,
although they welcomed us in English as well as Polish, there was a 20 minute
musical lecture in Polish only between each piece! When the music did start, it was a very
pleasant woodwind trio – a bassoon, and two clarinets – the Gdańskie Trio
Stroikowe. The musicians and lecturer
were all given single sunflowers at the end of the concert, rather than
bouquets.
We followed
the concert with dinner at a traditional Polish restaurant – cabbage leaves
stuffed with mincemeat and rice; and a glass of Goldwasser, the clear liqueur
with little gold flakes floating in it – very tasty, quite sweet.
We spent
Sunday morning at the Maritime Museum following the history of seafaring in Gdańsk
since the Bronze Age. Apparently, the
museum was the brainchild of a group of city residents, who founded it before
they really had any exhibits, then had to find artefacts to put in it! They approached local diving clubs to search
for items on the sea bed, and have actually found quite a lot!
There were
lots of these little amphibious cars buzzing around the harbour …
… and other
unusual forms of water transport …
A nice view
of the city from the Maritime Museum …
Following
lunch of Polish beer and dumplings, we felt fortified for the afternoon and did
a self-guided walking tour of the Raduna Canal area, a bit off the beaten track
and not so touristy.
The Grand
Mill, with its huge gable roof, was erected in 1350 and was the largest
industrial structure of medieval Europe. The site was operated as a flour mill, granary
and bakery …
An
attractive corner of the Raduna Canal …
The ceiling
decoration in this church is picked out in brickwork …
The Old
Town Hall was surprisingly interesting with its big dark Dutch carved furniture
…
…
blue-tiled walls and a knight in armour …
… carved
frieze and portrait paintings on the ceilings.
From there
we walked down to the Gdańsk Shipyard when Lech Wałęsa started the Solidarity
movement in the 1970s, the Soviet bloc’s first independent trade union. There was an impressive memorial to the three
workers who were killed in the first uprising in December 1970. A huge stainless steel structure, designed by
artists and shipworkers together, it was fabricated in the shipyard itself. The three crosses are 42 metres high and weigh
almost 140 tonnes each.
The
shipyard gates look much as I remember them from TV footage at the time, but
sadly since liberation from Communism the shipyard is no longer economically
viable and has closed down. It did feel
quite moving to be there, though, having grown up watching their struggle on
the news.
The huge
‘European Solidarity Centre’ has been constructed on the shipyard site and looks,
both outside and inside, as if it has been made from rusty steel left over from
shipbuilding days.
Actually,
it’s striking and modern and rather attractive inside – rust-coloured steel
with black, orange and glass décor and plenty of greenery. It’s an exhibition and conference centre as
well as a symbol of the peaceful victory of the Solidarity movement.
On our
final day, I got up relatively early (for me!) and left the boat before 10am
for a leisurely mooch through the main part of the old town – I followed a
walking tour in the guide book, stopping to look at things at my own pace, much
easier when alone!
This is the
Golden Gate, built in the early 17th century, the statues
symbolising the ‘virtues’ of peace, freedom, wealth, fame, concord, justice,
piety and reason …
Being
Monday, there was free entry to some of the museums – both a good and bad
thing! Great to get in free, but more
crowds trying to get in!
I
particularly wanted to see Uphagen House, which has amazing and beautifully
painted interiors, some of which had survived the wartime bombing. This mixed Rococo and Classicist 18th
century townhouse once belonged to Johann Uphagen, a wealthy merchant and
eminent councillor …
The
delicate plasterwork of the entrance hall …
The rich
colours of the drawing room …
The
entrance to the ‘Insect Room’ where the painted panels are decorated with
butterflies and insects …
This is one
of the originals which survived the war …
The door to
the 'Bird Room' …
An original
panel in the 'Wildflower Room' …
An 18th
century pianoforte and harp …
The piano’s
keys are the ‘other way round’ – the main keys are black instead of white and
the sharps and flats are white!
A very fancy mirror …
… and everything
is highly decorated in this room …
By
contrast, this is the maid’s room!
I also
visited the Main Town Hall, with its carved spiral staircase …
This is the
Great Council Room dating from the late Renaissance period, also called the Red
Room since the 16th century when the walls were lined with red
material. The ceiling, fireplace and the
rest of the walls are completely covered in paintings, plasterwork and
gilding. Rather ugly in a way, I
thought, but impressive …
In the
vaults under the Town Hall, some of the original wooden water pipes which
supplied the city are displayed …
Charles and
I met up again at midday and set off on a Spanish galleon (there’s at least one
in every Polish seaside resort we visited!) to visit Westerplatte, a narrow
peninsula at the entrance to the Vistula River.
It was actually quite a pleasant way to travel, if a bit touristy – not
expensive, at least not by UK standards, and we could enjoy a refreshing drink
on the way.
Westerplatte
is the spot where the first shots of World War II were fired.
The
Westerplatte peninsula had become popular as a holiday resort and spa in the
second half of the 19th century, but between the wars a military guard post was
established on the peninsula with a few weapons and several reinforced
buildings and guardhouses hidden in the forest.
The intention was to be able to withstand any attack for 12 hours to
allow time for the Polish Army to arrive.
The sentry
post on Westerplatte, manned by just 182 men, was attacked on 1st September
1939, but they mounted a brave defence and held off the far more powerful enemy
for 7 days. One barracks building has
been left just as it was after the heavy shelling as a sort of memorial …
Their
heroic stand became symbolic of the Polish opposition. A massive memorial which dominates the
landscape has been raised at the end of the Westerplatte peninsula in honour of
those fighters who resisted …
Later we
went on Gdansk’s version of the London Eye, here seen from Astraia with a
derelict building in the foreground …
We had a
brilliant view of the city, as well as a bird’s eye view of the mad
bungee-jumpers leaping from the crane – we could hear their screams as well!
So that was
Gdańsk – the furthest point of our cruise this year – 19° 30’ of longitude east
of Bosham, 745 nautical miles as the crow flies.
Now we
really are on the ‘homeward bound’ bit of our journey – starting tomorrow when
we are going to Hel!
What a beautiful city :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the photos! Keep them coming.......
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