Polish Learning Community and Resources

Polish Cities – Toruń 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Time to travel again! Today I’d like to take you to the charming city of Toruń – one of the oldest in Poland. Toruń is located in north-central Poland, precisely halfway between Gdańsk and Łódź (it’s around 165km away from both these cities). It’s small enough (the historical centre is easily navigable on foot) but there’s so much to do and see that it makes a perfect destination for a weekend trip (or even a longer one). 

Toruń is commonly associated with two things – Copernicus and gingerbread. The city is the birthplace of the famous astronomer and it is also known for its almost 1000-year-old tradition of baking gingerbread. Moreover, both words sound quite similar in Polish – Kopernik and piernik and there’s a popular cheeky children’s rhyme involving these two words, just ask any Pole, I’m sure everybody knows it! But there’s so much more to Toruń that I’m afraid I won’t be able to cram it all into one blog post... 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The city used to be a member of the Hanseatic League and it is reflected in its beautiful Brick Gothic and Baroque architecture – a short walk in the city centre is enough to take your breath away. In the very heart of the city, in the market square, you’ll find the stunning Old Town Hall (Ratusz Staromiejski). It’s not only impressive because of its size and its Gothic architecture but it’s also a building packed with symbols, in fact, it’s a giant... calendar. Its main tower signifies a year, the building’s four corners with their small towers remind us of the four seasons. There are 12 big halls, for the 12 months and 52 smaller rooms to symbolise the weeks of the year, and finally, 365 doors and windows – one for every day of the year. There is even a legend that every four years – on the leap year an extra window would be made (and later bricked up). After admiring the Town Hall (you can even climb the tower for better views of the city) you can take a stroll around the market square and enjoy the beautiful architecture around. You will find many famous buildings, such as baroque kamienica pod gwiazdą (‘tenement house under the star’, just look for a golden star over a building), and Artus Manor (dwór Artusa) – a building that has served multiple functions – governmental and cultural, across the centuries. Right under the Town Hall’s tower, there’s a statue of the most famous inhabitant of Toruń – Mikołaj Kopernik, or as he is more commonly known abroad – Copernicus. As it is written on the base of the sculpture, he’s the one who has ‘stopped the Sun and put the Earth in motion’, referring to the fact that he discovered that it was the Earth that revolves around the Sun, contrary to the common belief during his times. Today you can still visit the house where he was born – yet another beautiful example of Brick Gothic architecture, that hosts a museum dedicated to this house’s famous inhabitant. 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Wikimedia Commons

After enjoying the narrow streets of the old town, you may go a little bit out of the centre and visit the Teutonic castle, or you can take a walk along the old city walls, admire the granaries by the Vistula river and see another famous landmark – the leaning tower (krzywa wieża). Over the centuries the tower served various purposes but nowadays it’s open to tourists – go in and try to walk up the stairs without losing your balance, it’s a truly unique experience! There are also some legends associated with this building but I’ll leave it for one of the future posts...  

If all this sightseeing has made you already tired, you need to know that no visit to Toruń can be complete without trying its famous gingerbread! You can find it in almost every shop and it comes in all possible shapes and flavours – you can even find gingerbread in the shape of Nicolaus Copernicus (remember the Kopernik-piernik rhyme?). A popular souvenir is gingerbread packed in boxes that resemble some of the famous buildings of Toruń – this way you can satisfy your sweet tooth and still bring a little piece of Toruń home. However, if you’re not tired yet and would like to further explore the secrets of gingerbread making, there’s a famous museum (Muzeum Piernika) waiting for you, where you can learn about the whole process and try it yourself! Every visitor can prepare their own dough and decorate their own piernik. This way your trip will be really complete.