An enjoyable weekend in Gdańsk

During our stay in Tychy, Upper Silesia, at the apartment of our good friends Matt and Urszula, we decided to use one weekend in May and to travel to Gdańsk using our privilege of a free train ride as Ukrainian war refugees, even though the trip was eight hours long one way. We stayed three nights in Gdańsk, and enjoyed every minute of our stay there.

The monument to Swietopelk the Great, Gdansk

Gdańsk used to be a great Hanseatic City. Its eventful history goes back a thousand years. Around 1224, the merchant settlement was granted city rights by the Pomeranian Duke Swantopolk II. We saw the monument to Duke Swantopolk II in Swantopolk Square.
Gdańsk is a port city in northern Poland, more than 1,300 years old. Together with the adjacent Sopot and Gdynia, it is part of the "Three Towns" agglomeration.

Virgin Mary’s Church is known as the largest brick building in Europe. It was built when this Hanseatic city flourished. The church has breathtaking interior with a great variety of altars with exquisite sculptures, memorial plaques, and other old artefacts. The main altar belongs to the masterpieces of medieval and baroque art. It was created by Michael Schwarz, a sculptor from Augsburg.

We were told that we should not miss visiting the Church of Virgin Mary. This incredible Gothic temple of the 15th century was under construction for more than one hundred and fifty years (1343-1496). Its considerable size is 105 x 66 m.
Virgin Mary's Church is considered the largest brick church in Europe. According to the official data, more than a million bricks were used for its construction. The church could hold 25,000 people. The 82-meter tower of the church is the highest observation deck of the city.
The church building was partially damaged during World War II, some fragments were destroyed, but later restored. After restoration work, in 1955, the church was consecrated. It is currently a basilica. The entrance is free. During her visit, it is worth taking the time to visit the unique altar (author Michel Schwartz) and a copy of the triptych "The Last Judgment" by G. Memling.

There is much else to see in Virgin Mary’s Church. The entire number of altars is 13. You can see 32 epitaphs on the church walls, and the great organ dating to 1629. The biggest epitaph is dedicated to Constantin Ferber III (1580 - 1654), the beloved Mayor of Gdansk (1632-1654), who was buried inside the cathedral.

The entire floor surface of the church is covered with tombstones. In fact, we walked on the great people’s graves – those people who were honored to be buried inside the church.

I remembered visiting (and walking over) the tombstone of an outstanding local poet. His fans club (his fellow countrymen) refurbished his tombstone and installed his image with his life story on the wall.
You can also climb to the main tower of the church. There are 409 steep steps to the top. If that number of steps does not deter you, enjoy the views from the top! The ascend is worth it: from the height of 82 meters, views of the city and the Gulf of Gdańsk, are even more beautiful than those on a postcard.
We saw a replica of Hans Memling’s tryptic “The Last judgement” (the original is at the Gdańsk National Museum) and the amazing astronomical clock. The tryptic is one of the most valuable paintings in Gdansk and in Poland.

Astronomical clock (1464-1470)
The clock was made with the use of oak wood, pine wood, linden wood, and copper sheet. It consists of three levels: a calendar, a planetarium and a theater of figures. Its height is 14.5 m. The calendar’s diameter is 4.1 m, and the planetarium’s diameter is 4.5 m. The clock was made by Hans Düringer from Torun in 1464-1470.
The calendar consists of three dials. The largest is radially divided into 365 sections, which corresponds to the days, and concentrically into 22 circles. In total, there are 3005 details for years 1463-1538. The individual circles include: days of the week, dates of permanent holidays, liturgical calendar with the names of saints with the indication of Christmas Eve and octaves of selected holidays. Two smaller dials made it possible to calculate the data needed to construct the liturgical calendar, updated the large dial for 76 years, and allowed to determine the dates of movable holidays.
The figure of Virgin Mary with the Child in radiant glory is in the center of the calendar. The entire calendar is surrounded with a frame with four figures symbolizing the passage of time. In the upper left corner, there is a carved face that is considered a portrait of Hans Düringer, the creator of the clock.
The planetarium has three clock hands: one for the hour, one for the sun and one for the moon. The outer circle contains 24 digits corresponding to hours. The noon is up, the midnight is down. In the next circle there are zodiac signs. You can see a dragon in the center. Under the dragon there are phases of the Moon. In the corners on both side of the planetarium during the clock performance the scenes of the Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi appear.
On the top there is a theater of figures, built of two stages and consisting of 23 sculptures. In the bottom part there are twelve apostles and the death with a scythe, in the upper part there are Evangelists. On both sides Angels and Deacons are placed.

The entire calendar is crowned with the figures of Adam and Eve standing on the sides of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is entwined by a snake with a female head. The sculptures of Adam and Eve strike hours and quarters of an hour.
The clock operated until 1553. In 1944, the monument was dismantled and taken outside of Gdansk. The dials and 70% of the housing, the sculptures of the lower level, the Scorpio's pliers and the Weight survived the war. On the initiative of Andrzej Januszajtis, a Polish physicist from the Technical University of Gdansk, an expert and a promoter of the history of Gdańsk, the clock has been reconstructed since 1987.

It is the largest astronomical clock that was constructed in medieval Europe. This clock is an excellent witness to the high level of astronomy in medieval Gdańsk. In addition to the hours, the clock indicates the positions of the Sun and Moon in the Zodiac and the phases of the Moon. The dates of New Moon can be read on the large calendar dial, as calculated in the 15th century with an error not exceeding a few minutes. The learned priests of St. Mary’s Church assumed (following Ptolemy’s Almagest) that there are 235 lunar cycles in 19 years, which led to a synodic month of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, and 3 seconds, that is, one that is only 0.11 second too short.

The Neptune Fountain (Fontanna Neptuna in Polish) – one of the oldest symbols of Gdansk - stands right in the heart of the city, in front of its façade of the City Hall. It was erected in 1633. There is a statue of Neptune in the middle of the fountain. This statue is a tribute the city residents made to the sea god for their affluence that was built on the sea trade. The merchants from Gdańsk bought wares from the Polis hinterland and sold them at a higher price to captains and crews of foreign ships.

Walking along Długa Street, Gdańsk

We strolled down the historical pedestrian thoroughfare – Długa Street (Long Street) and Długi Targ (Long Market) all the way to the Motlava River. That was where we saw the famous Crane (Żuraw) that was the largest cargo handling crane in medieval Europe. It was used to reload goods from ships and to put up ship masts. The crane mechanism was powered by human legs. The people who walked inside two giant tread wheels that had the diameter of 6 and 6.5 meters served as the “engine” of the crane. When the treadwheels were turning, the rope of the crane rolled up onto a cylinder between them (or unrolled, if the “treaders” walked the other direction. Only four workers, who serviced the mechanism, could use it to lift the necessary items to a height of 27 meters.

Żuraw (the Crane) was built in the 14th century and got its modern look after the reconstruction in the 15th century. Completed in 1444, this lifting crane could move loads weighing up to four tons up to a height of 27 meters! In addition, it was used to put masts on ships. A “pirate ship” departs near Zhurav at 2 p.m. - it is used for boat trips. The Crane also served as a city gate.

The crane gate can be seen on the five-zloty coin issued in 2021. The building now houses the National Maritime Museum.

In fact, we saw several gates of Gdańsk, among them St.John’s Gate (Brama Świętojańska) and Green Gate (Brama Zilona), the Golden Gate (Zlota Brama).

The Green Gate was the first building in Gdańsk to be built in the style of Flemish Mannerism. The date of completion is considered to be 1568. The Green Gate was built as a residence for Polish kings, but none of them stopped in this building, except Maria Louise, the bride of Wladyslaw IV, in 1646. In appearance, this monument of Gdańsk resembles a castle, the building has four passages. For the first time, a small Dutch brick was brought from Amsterdam was used for construction. Today, the Green Gate is a branch of the city's national museum.

Golden Gate, Gdansk

Golden Gate, Gdansk

Golden Gate, Gdansk

Golden Gate, Gdansk_5

Golden Gate, Gdansk

Most of the streets of the Old Town start from the square near the Golden Gate. Next to them you can see many beautiful medieval buildings. Attics on both sides of the building are decorated with figures representing Happiness, Peace, Freedom and Glory, as well as Justice, Piety, Caution and Consent.

Długa Street is a historically significant and famous street in Gdańsk, stretching from the Golden Gate to the Green Gate. In the 13th century it was a lively trade route. Houses of wealthy citizens and important city officials stood on both sides of the street. During the holidays, under Casimir IV Jagiello, parades and numerous processions were held here, fireworks were set off. That is why the street was sometimes called Royal Street. At the end of the 19th century, Długa Street was paved with cobblestones brought from Scandinavia. The street was also equipped with tram tracks, which were completely dismantled after 1945.
This street led us to the river embankment, from where we saw a massive tower - Swan Tower.

Swan Tower, Gdansk

Swan Tower, Gdansk

Gdańsk National Museum

Art lovers should visit the Gdańsk National Museum - one of the main cultural monuments of the city of Gdańsk. The museum is located in the building of a former Franciscan monastery. The museum collection was based on a collection of several thousand paintings, engravings and pencil drawings, which belonged to Jacob Kabrun (1759-1814), who transferred his collection to the city by his will. Here you can see the famous painting by Hans Memling "The Last Judgment".

The clock of the Old City Hall of Gdansk

The City Hall (Ratusz Głownego Miasta w Gdańsku) was built at the end of the 14th century. It was then extended and embellished during the subsequent centuries. The Gothic City Hall is crowned by its magnificent Renaissance spire of 1561 with a statue of Polish King Zygmunt II August (1520–1572) on its top.
The 80-meter-high impressive tower of the City Hall was built in the 13th century. The bell tower has a clock with fourteen bells. After the fire in the 17th century, the City Hall was rebuilt, and the Gothic style was replaced by the Renaissance. The building is adorned with four sculptures, which symbolize Endeavor, Wisdom, God's blessing and Diligence. Now the City Hall houses the City History Museum, the Cultural Center, as well as a cafe, a pub and a restaurant.
The splendid King Arthur’s (Artus) Court dating to the Middle Ages is in this square. It has richly decorated interior.
Looking upward at the corner of the City Hall, you will see the solar dial, which was erected in 1588 by Alexander Glaser. Under the Gdańsk coat of arms one can read four kinds of hours: astronomical, antique, Babylonian and Italian. You also read an impressive sentence, Umbra sunt dies nostril (Our days are shadows).

The Great Armory, Gdansk

The Great Armory is close, Gdansk

The Armory (or actually the Great Armory) was built at the beginning of the 17th century. It was used for storing weapons and ammunition. Therefore, you can notice many war-related ornaments on the building’s façade: sculptures of soldiers from Gdańsk, cannons and cannonballs. Today the building belongs to the Arts Academy.

St. Brigitte's Church, Gdansk

The Church of St. Brigitte (Kosciol Swiętej Brygidy) was built in the 16th century on the site of the ancient chapel of St. Magdalene. In 1374, the relics of St. Brigitte were brought here on the way from Rome to Sweden; therefore the church was named after her. In the eighties of the 20th century, the church was a stronghold of the Polish Solidarity. Inside there are many icons and paintings, and they are not painted, but forged in a modern style. The church altar is made of amber.
We saw beautiful forms of vaulting: reticulated, stellar and cellular, pointed-arched portals, numerous decorative elements in city churches.

We reached the Amber Sky Ferris Wheel located on the neighboring island of Ołowianka.
We also managed to pay a visit to several other churches and cathedrals in Gdansk: St.Catherine’s Church, St.Barbara’s Church, St.Nickolas Church that is a Dominican church, Holy Trinity Church and St.John’s Church.

St.Barbara's Cathedral, Gdansk

St.Barbara's Cathedral, Gdansk

St.Barbara's Cathedral, Gdansk

St.Joseph's Church, Gdansk

I remember visiting St. Catherine’s church located next to the church of St. Nicholas. We found out later that St.Catherine’s Church was one of the oldest sacral buildings in the city. It was built at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries and rebuilt many times. It was first mentioned in chronicles in 1227. This church used to be a Protestant church from 1545 until 1945, after which it became a Roman Catholic church.

St.Catherine's Church, Gdansk

St. Catherine's Church, Gdańsk

St.Catherine's Church, Gdansk

St.Catherine's Church, Gdansk

We were impressed by the church building and by its interior. We attended St.Charbel’s Liturgy that takes place once a month. St.Charbel (1828-1898) is very much revered here. In 1965, Father Charbel was beatified, and on October 9, 1977, he was canonized in St.Peter’s Cathedral in Rome by Pope Paul VI.

The European Solidarity Center, Gdansk

The European Solidarity Center is a modern interactive museum located in a very unusual building. The museum exhibitions depict the history of the anti-Soviet struggle in Poland. When we saw this building from the bus, we thought it had such a special coloring that made the entire complex look rusty and a bit ugly. Then we decided to approach the building an found out that the entire building was covered with rusty but polished metal sheet that made the exterior decoration so attractive and striking.
There is a Solidarity Memorial in front of the European Solidarity Center.

We also took tram #8 to Jelitkowo Beach and enjoyed a walk along the sea coast.