GDANSK
GDANSK
Think of Gdansk and think of the house of Solidarity: the union that hit a construction site and started with a movement that ultimately led to the fall of communism in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.
Over the years, Gdansk was dominated by the Prussians and the Hanseatics and was one of the most important ports in the Baltic. During the Second World War the Nazis were here for five years and the battles to liberate the city in 1945 led to almost total destruction. Miraculously, the historic center, known as the main city, was rebuilt during the Soviet era after the war with great attention and today is a beautiful city. Entering the historic district is like walking through history - in this case, a medieval merchant settlement. Gdansk was once Europe's main center for the grain trade.
The large stone towers are located at the entrances to the city. The offices of Leach Walesa, leader of Solidarność, are in the tower known as the Green Gate (there is a plaque in front of it) and the main square is full of colorful Dutch Renaissance style buildings. The church of Santa Maria in the main city is considered to be the largest brick church in the world and can accommodate 25,000 people. The seven-story Grand Mill on the waterfront (on the Motlawa River) was once the largest mill in medieval Europe. It's amazing to stand on Long Street (ul Dluga) and imagine that what you see now was all ground up after the war. More recently, after the shipyard sailed in the 1970s and 1980s and a 1980 agreement, 10 million Poles (about 36 million at the moment) joined Solidarity and Walesa became the first democratically elected president of modern Poland. .
