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Gdansk is the sixth-largest city in Poland, and also its principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. The city lies on the southern coast of the Gdansk Bay (of the Baltic Sea), in a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city ... more »
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Airports Gdansk is the sixth-largest city in Poland, and also its principal seaport and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The city lies on the southern coast of the Gdansk Bay (of the Baltic Sea), in a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdynia and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the greater Gdansk or the Tricity (Trójmiasto) with a population of over a million people. Gdansk is, with a population of 460,524 (mid 2004), the largest city in the historical province of Eastern Pomerania. North lies the Kashubian Tricity: Rumia, Reda, and Wejherowo.
Gdansk is situated at the mouth of the Motlawa river, connected to the Leniwka, a branch in the delta of the Vistula, whose waterway system connects 60% of the area of Poland, giving the city a unique advantage as the center of Poland's sea trade.
Historically an important seaport since medieval times and subsequently a principal ship-building centre, Gdansk was a member of the Hanseatic League. Today the city remains an important industrial centre, together with the nearby port of Gdynia, and is world famous as the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of Lech Walesa, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist rule in the Eastern Bloc.
The city's industrial landscape is dominated by shipbuilding, petrochemical and chemical industries, and food processing. The share of high-tech sectors such as electronics, telecommunications, IT engineering, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals is on the rise. Amber processing for the local economy is also important.
Things to do The city boasts many fine buildings from the time of the Hanseatic League. Most tourist attractions are along or near Ulica Dluga (Long Street) and Dlugi Targ (Long Market), a pedestrian thoroughfare lined by buildings reconstructed in historical (primarily 17th century) style and capped on either end by elaborate city gates. This part of the city is sometimes referred to as the Royal Way because it was the procession route of visiting kings.
Walking from end to end, sites encountered on or near the Royal Way include:
* Upland Gate * Torture House * Prison Tower * Golden Gate * Long Street (Ulica Dluga) o Uphagen House o Main Town Hall * Long Market (Dlugi Targ) o Arthur's Court (Artus) o Neptune Fountain * Green Gate
Gdansk has a number of historical churches:
* St. Bridget * St. Catherine * St. John * St Mary (Bazylika Mariacka), a municipal church built during the 15th century, is one of the largest brick churches in the world. * St Nicholas' Church * Church of the Holy Trinity
On the Motlawa river the museum ship SS Soldek is anchored.
According to archeologists, the Gdansk stronghold was built in the 980s by Mieszko I of Poland. The year 997 was celebrated as the date of the foundation of the city, this being the year when Saint Adalbert of Prague (sent by the Polish king Boleslaus the Brave) baptized the inhabitants of Gdansk (urbs Gyddanyzc).
As a result of the Versailles treaty after World War I, Danzig became a free city under the control of the League of Nations. Its predominantly German population had no right of self-determination in a referendum as in other disputed parts of the former German Empire. When Poland regained its independence after World War I, the Poles hoped to regain the city to provide the free access to the sea which they had been promised by the Allies on the basis of Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points". However, since the population of the city was predominantly German, it was not placed under Polish sovereignty, but became the Free City of Danzig, an independent quasi-state under the auspices of the League of Nations, governed by its predominantly German residents but with its external affairs largely under Polish control. The Free City issued its own stamps and currency, bearing the legend "Freie Stadt Danzig" and symbols of the city's maritime orientation and history.
Poles came to the city from throughout Poland, especially from the regions of eastern Poland annexed by the Soviet Union. The Old City was rebuilt during the 1950s and 1960s. Because of the development of its port and three major shipyards, Gdansk was a major shipping and industrial center of the Communist People's Republic of Poland.
In the course of German-Polish reconciliation policies driven by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik, German territorial claims on Gdansk (and all other formerly German territories now under Polish administration) were renounced, and its full incorporation into Poland was recognized in the Treaty of Warsaw in 1970.
In 1970 Gdansk was the scene of anti-government demonstrations which led to the downfall of Poland's communist leader Wladyslaw Gomulka. Ten years later the Gdansk Shipyard was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union movement, whose opposition to the government led to the end of communist party rule (1989). Solidarity's leader Lech Walesa became President of Poland in 1990. Today Gdansk is a major industrial city and shipping port.
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Distances are calculated as the crow flies, and are provided as an aid in planning only.
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