The heart of the province of Wielkopolska
Poznan is one of the oldest, largest and most dynamically developing cities in the country. Numerous monuments and tourist attractions illustrate the rich, thousand-year tradition of the city. Thanks to this history, we know that in the beginning of the Polish country, Poznan was one of the largest and most important centers of economy and worship. Here on the island of Warta river, Mieszko I set up his palace, a fortified settlement with the first cathedral in Poland, in which he, his son and other six of the first rulers of Poland were buried. And even though, at the beginning of the 11th century, Poznan lost its dominant political significance, it remained an important economic and cultural center forever.
Today, Poznań is the fifth largest city in the country with more than half a million inhabitants and at the same time the heart of over a million of agglomerations. In addition to permanent residents, there are over 130,000 students in Poznan attending dozens of universities. They come to Poznan not only from the whole country, but also from abroad. They choose Poznan because of the prestige of the city's universities, but also with the hope of finding a well-paid job in Poznan easily.
A modern city that grew out of the 1000-year tradition, skilfully blended into the modern metropolitan atmosphere. Here history constantly intertwines with the present. The walls of the oldest Polish cathedral are looked at by a modern office building on the other side of the Warta river, the 12th century Romanesque church of St. John is adjacent to the most modern regatta course in Europe for rowers and canoeists, and the former Hugger brewery has been transformed into the best shopping center in the world - Stary Browar.
Contemporary tourist will travel to the past, visiting the modern Poznan Gate (Brama Poznania) - the multimedia center of the origins history city and state. You will be able to visit the graves of the First Piasts exposed in the vaults of the first Polish cathedral, while watching a film about the history of the cathedral. You will spend your free time surrounded by magnificent architecture with the pearls of the Polish Renaissance - Town Hall and Baroque - a parish church and a magnificent Art Nouveau complex in Jezyce and Lazarus. In the Poznan Croissant Museum, you will not only try the traditional delicacy of Wielkopolanie, but will take part in its baking.
The many green areas constitute about 30% of the city's area. In the center there are several smaller and larger parks, including the one-hectare Citadel. Thanks to the unique on the European scale solution of urban greenery on the wedge-ring plan, each district has its green lungs - north Zurawiniec and Morasko reserves, east Malta and the second largest Polish ZOO, famous for its elephant plant, tigers, butterflies or pavilion of nocturnal animals, south Legi Debinskie, which through the Warta riverbed merge with the Wielkopolski National Park, west of Lasek Marceliński, Botanical Garden, Rusalka and Wola.
If you want to learn more about our city, feel free to visit the website - the groups of licensed Poznań guides. We highly recommend!
The above text was translated by us and comes from VisitPoznan.info