UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Poland

UNESCO's Description

The Historic Centre of Kraków, the former capital of Poland, is situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The 13th-century merchants' town has Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with their magnificent interiors. Further evidence of the town's fascinating history is provided by the remnants of the 14th-century fortifications and the medieval site of Kazimierz with its ancient synagogues in the southern part of town, Jagellonian University and the Gothic cathedral where the kings of Poland were buried.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The first mention of Kraków dates back to the second half of the ninth century. By the end of tenth century the city was incorporated into the Polish state under the rule of Piast dynasty. The episcopal bishopric was awarded to Kraków in 1000 and around that time, it became the residence of Polish kings for centuries to come. The history of the old city of Kraków revolves mainly around its Old Town District of today. Here, the regalia were stored and, back in early Middle Ages, a cathedral school was erected.

Around 700 A.D., local tribes initiated the process of forming the Vistulan State by uniting with each other. Numerous remains of a once massive earth embankment encircling Wawel Hill survived till this day.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q652634 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The fortified walls, barbed wire, platforms, barracks, gallows, gas chambers and cremation ovens show the conditions within which the Nazi genocide took place in the former concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest in the Third Reich. According to historical investigations, 1.5 million people, among them a great number of Jews, were systematically starved, tortured and murdered in this camp, the symbol of humanity's cruelty to its fellow human beings in the 20th century.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Background

The ideology of Nazism combined elements of "racial hygiene", eugenics, antisemitism, pan-Germanism, and territorial expansionism, Richard J. Evans writes. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party became obsessed by the "Jewish question". Both during and immediately after the Nazi seizure of power in Germany in 1933, acts of violence against German Jews became ubiquitous, and legislation was passed excluding them from certain professions, including the civil service and the law.

Harassment and economic pressure encouraged Jews to leave Germany; their businesses were denied access to markets, forbidden from advertising in newspapers, and deprived of government contracts. On 15 September 1935, the Reichstag passed the Nuremberg Laws.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q7341 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85% of Warsaw's historic centre was destroyed by Nazi troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign by its citizens resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces and market-place. It is an outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering the 13th to the 20th century.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The Old Town was established in the 13th century. Initially surrounded by an earthwork rampart, prior to 1339 it was fortified with brick city walls. The town originally grew up around the castle of the Dukes of Mazovia that later became the Royal Castle. The Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta) was laid out sometime in the late 13th or early 14th century, along the main road linking the castle with the New Town to the north.

Until 1817, the Old Town's most notable feature was the Town Hall which was built before 1429. In 1701 the square was rebuilt by Tylman Gamerski, and in 1817 the Town Hall was demolished.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q1139084 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Zamosc was founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on Italian theories of the 'ideal city' and built by the architect Bernando Morando, a native of Padua, Zamosc is a perfect example of a late-16th-century Renaissance town. It has retained its original layout and fortifications and a large number of buildings that combine Italian and central European architectural traditions.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography and monuments

Morando designed the town as on a hexagonal plan with two distinct sections: on the west the noble residences, and on the east the town proper, developed around three squares (the Grand Market Square, the Salt Market Square and the Water Market Square).

Key monuments of Zamość include about 200 monuments, including the Grand Market Square surrounded by numerous tenament houses and Zamość City Hall. The Old Town also sports the Zamość Cathedral, the Zamość Synagogue, the Zamojski Academy, and the Zamojski Palace.

History

Zamość was built in the late 16th century in accordance with the Italian theories of the "ideal town." The construction of this new town was sponsored by Jan Zamoyski, and carried out by architect Bernardo Morando. The town shows examples of Renaissance style, mingling "Mannerist taste [...] with certain Central European urban traditions, such as the arcaded galleries that surround the squares and create a sheltered passage in front of the shops".

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q3678597 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

This 13th-century fortified monastery belonging to the Teutonic Order was substantially enlarged and embellished after 1309, when the seat of the Grand Master moved here from Venice. A particularly fine example of a medieval brick castle, it later fell into decay, but was meticulously restored in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the conservation techniques now accepted as standard were evolved here. Following severe damage in the Second World War it was once again restored, using the detailed documentation prepared by earlier conservators.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The Teutonic Order had been created in 1191 in Acre (present-day Israel). When this last major stronghold of the Crusader states in the Levant fell to the Muslims in 1291, the Order moved its headquarters to Venice before arriving in Prussia.

The castle was built by the Order after the conquest of Old Prussia (c. 1222–1274). Its main purpose was to strengthen their own control of the area following the Order's 1274 suppression of the Great Prussian Uprising of the Baltic tribes. No contemporary documents survive relating to its construction, so instead the castle's phases have been worked out through the study of architecture and the Order's administrative records and later histories. The work lasted until around 1300, under the auspices of Commander Heinrich von Wilnowe.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q71279 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Torun owes its origins to the Teutonic Order, which built a castle there in the mid-13th century as a base for the conquest and evangelization of Prussia. It soon developed a commercial role as part of the Hanseatic League. In the Old and New Town, the many imposing public and private buildings from the 14th and 15th centuries (among them the house of Copernicus) are striking evidence of Torun's importance.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography and monuments

The Medieval Town of Toruń is composed of three parts: the Toruń Old Town in the west, Toruń New Town in the east, and the Toruń Castle in the south-east.

The Old Town is laid out around the Old Town Market Place. Major buildings and monuments there include the Old Town Hall, Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the remains of the old town wall.

The Toruń Castle is located between the Old and New Towns at their southern boundary.

History

The Medieval Town was established on the site of a former Slavic trading town that had existed for around 500 years and dates to the 13th century, when the city of Toruń (Thorn) was granted a town charter by the Teutonic Knights Hermann von Salza and Hermann Balk in 1233. The town, initially composed primarily of the district now known as the Toruń Old Town and the Toruń Castle, developed as a major commercial center, and was one of the key members of the Hanseatic League. As the town quickly grew, the Toruń New Town developed from 1264 east of the Old Town and north of the castle.

The Medieval Town is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated September 16, 1994. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q9390606 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a breathtaking cultural landscape of great spiritual significance. Its natural setting – in which a series of symbolic places of worship relating to the Passion of Jesus Christ and the life of the Virgin Mary was laid out at the beginning of the 17th century – has remained virtually unchanged. It is still today a place of pilgrimage.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska was established in 1600 by Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, voivode of Kraków for Franciscan friars (custodians of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem). It was modelled on the 1584 map of Jerusalem by Christian Kruik van Adrichem.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q1280433 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica, the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe, were built in the former Silesia in the mid-17th century, amid the religious strife that followed the Peace of Westphalia. Constrained by the physical and political conditions, the Churches of Peace bear testimony to the quest for religious freedom and are a rare expression of Lutheran ideology in an idiom generally associated with the Catholic Church.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

Despite the physical and political constraints, three of the churches became the biggest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe due to pioneering construction and architectural solutions.

The church in Jawor, dedicated to the Holy Ghost is 43.5-metre (143 ft) long, 14-metre (46 ft) wide and 15.7-metre (52 ft) high and has capacity of 5,500. It was constructed by architect Albrecht von Saebisch (1610–1688) from Wroclaw (then German Breslau) and was finished a year later in 1655. The 200 paintings inside by were created by Georg Flegel in 1671–1681. The ornately decorated altar, by Martin Schneider, dates to 1672, the original organ of J. Hoferichter from Legnica (then German Liegnitz) of 1664 was replaced in 1855–1856 by Adolf Alexander Lummert.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q589634 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

The wooden churches of southern Little Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. Built using the horizontal log technique, common in eastern and northern Europe since the Middle Ages, these churches were sponsored by noble families and became status symbols. They offered an alternative to the stone structures erected in urban centres.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

UNESCO's Description

The Centennial Hall, a landmark in the history of reinforced concrete architecture, was erected in 1911-1913 by the architect Max Berg as a multi-purpose recreational building, situated in the Exhibition Grounds. In form it is a symmetrical quatrefoil with a vast circular central space that can seat some 6,000 persons. The 23m-high dome is topped with a lantern in steel and glass. The Centennial Hall is a pioneering work of modern engineering and architecture, which exhibits an important interchange of influences in the early 20th century, becoming a key reference in the later development of reinforced concrete structures.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

It was in the Silesian capital of Breslau where, on 10 March 1813, King Frederick William III of Prussia called upon the Prussian people his proclamation An Mein Volk ("To My People") to rise up against Napoleon's occupation. In this proclamation king Frederick created also the Iron Cross award, which later became the most famous German military honor and symbol. In October of that year, Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig.

The opening of the hall was part of the celebration commemorating the 100th anniversary of the battle in the German Empire, hence the name Jahrhunderthalle. Breslau's municipal authorities had vainly awaited state funding and ultimately had to defray the enormous costs out of their own pockets.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q155743 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Situated in the eastern fringe of Central Europe, the transnational property numbers a selection of sixteen tserkvas (churches). They were built of horizontal wooden logs between the 16 th and 19 th centuries by communities of Orthodox and Greek Catholic faiths. The tserkvas bear testimony to a distinct building tradition rooted in Orthodox ecclesiastic design interwoven with elements of local tradition, and symbolic references to their communities’ cosmogony. The tserkva s are built on a tri-partite plan surmounted by open quadrilateral or octagonal domes and cupolas. Integral to tserkvas are iconostasis screens, interior polychrome decorations, and other historic furnishings. Important elements of some tserkvas include wooden bell towers, churchyards, gatehouses and graveyards.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q8032604 (CC0).