Gdansk

About

While Gdańsk’s thousand-year history makes it one of the oldest cities in the country, the Polish consciousness knows it as where World War II started, and where the fall of Communism in Central Europe began. Gdańsk’s unique history has left it with a distinctive cultural identity, and the unusual mixture of architecture and museums to match. In the Old Town, visitors are treated to narrow cobbled streets and historic thoroughfares lined with beautiful Baroque homes, Art Nouveau villas, and plenty of decidedly un-Polish styles made by wealthy merchants. Towering over the city is the 15th century St. Mary’s Church, the largest red-brick church in the world. Along with its beautiful architecture, visitors can learn about the city’s history in its many museums, from the fine art on display at the National Museum, to the lives of citizens over the centuries at to History Museum, to its seafaring tradition at the Maritime Museum.