Hot spots and hidden gems
Apart from the well-known Warsaw and Kraków Old Towns, UNESCO has found a number of "hidden gems" across Poland that could make any country proud. Ranging from World War II sites to wonders of nature they should become "must sees" both for Polish as well as foreign tourists.
Auschwitz Concentration Camp
The former Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp is the largest the Nazis built. During its period of activity between 1940 and 1944, it swallowed up more than a million victims of various nationalities. It consisted of three main camps - Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau and Auschwitz III-Monowitz - and over forty sub-camps.
On the premises of the former camps there are many objects which testify to the Nazi atrocities, such as: gas chamber and crematorium I, ruins of gas chambers and crematoria II, III, IV and V, the Wall of Executions, a selection ramp, mass graves, barracks made of timber and of bricks, prisoner blocks, barbed wire fences and watchtowers. On the location of the two remaining camps, the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau was established. In 1979 these places were recorded in UNESCO's List of Objects of World Heritage.
Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork
The Malbork castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress, and the largest Gothic fortress in Europe. Together with a system of multiple defense walls with gates and towers, covering over 80 acres, it is one of the largest such strongholds in the world. From 1309 it was the seat of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and the Order's capital. Malbork Castle has been called "the largest mountain of bricks north of the Alps". It was restored after substantial damage in the Second World War.
Białowieski Forest
The only Polish area of natural beauty to be listed as a UNESCO Heritage site, the Białowieski Park protects a part of the last and one of the largest surviving areas of European primeval lowland mixed forest (pine, beech, oak, alder and spruce). It dates back to 8,000 BC and is the only remaining example of the original forests which once covered much of Europe. The park's main attraction are the European bison, over 300 of which live in the forest. It is also home to elk, deer, wolves, lynxes as well as trees that are as old as 400 years.
Wieliczka salt mine
This deposit of rock salt in Wieliczka-Bochnia in the vicinity of Kraków has been mined since the 13th century. Spread over nine levels, the salt mine has nearly 300 kilometers of galleries with works of art, altars and statues all sculpted in the salt. The tourist route starts 64 meters deep and ends 135 meters below the earth's surface, where the world's biggest museum of mining is located with centuries-old equipment among its exhibits. At nearly 200 meters below the surface there is a sanatorium. The mine also boasts Europe's deepest located post office.
Warsaw's Historic Center
During and following the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85 percent of Warsaw's historic center was destroyed by Nazi troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces and market square. The reconstruction led to a near-total restoration of architectural heritage covering the 13th to the 20th century.
It was a unique effort on a global scale to restore a whole district to its previous appearance following complete annihilation.
Kraków's Historic Center
The historic center of Kraków, the former capital of Poland, is situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The city can boast Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with their magnificent interiors. There are remnants of the 14th-century fortifications and the medieval site of the Kazimierz district with its ancient synagogues in the southern part of town. Jagiellonian University, Poland's oldest, and the Gothic cathedral where the kings of Poland were crowned and buried, can also be found in the area.
Medieval Town of Toruń
Home of the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, Toruń 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) make the city a primary example of a medieval town.
Zamość's old town
Zamość was founded in the 16th century by (and named after) the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Designed on Italian theories of the 'ideal city' and built by Italian architects, Zamość is a perfect example of a 16th-century Renaissance town. It has retained its original layout and fortifications. A large number of buildings combine Italian and central European architectural traditions.
Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica
The mid-17th century Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica in Silesia are the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe. Constrained by physical and political conditions (they were Lutheran churches built in a Catholic empire), UNESCO claims "the Churches of Peace are an expression of Lutheran ideology in an idiom generally associated with the Catholic Church."
Kalwaria Zebrzydowska Park Complex
Built at the beginning of the 17th century as a "little Jerusalem of the North" Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a cultural landscape of great spiritual significance as it is a place of pilgrimige. It consists of 41 churches and chapels, joined by the famous "Kalwarian paths" in the middle of the woody hills, constituting an open-air sanctuary dedicated to the Passion of Christ and the life of Mary.
Wooden Churches of Małopolska
The wooden churches of southern Małopolska represent examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in Roman Catholic culture. These churches were sponsored by noble families, and were built using the horizontal log technique, common in this part of Europe since the Middle Ages. They offered an alternative to the stone structures erected in urban centers. They can be found in Dębno, Binarowa, Sękowa and Lipnica Murowana.
