Tricity (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot

Tricity

Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot

A sea of possibilities Poland’s Tricity is an urban phenomenon. A conurbation with a population of over a million centered around multiple hubs, it is, first and foremost, a unique arrangement of three cities, each with an entirely distinct character. Gdańsk, is the cradle of the freedom movement that overthrew Communism in Europe; Sopot, a thriving, elegant seaside resort town; and Gdynia, a lively port city notable for its modernist buildings from the 1930s.The SKM commuter rail system links these centres and makes it easy for visitors to appreciate the distinct flavour of the three cities.

Here and away

 Gdańsk Airport –11km*  Warsaw – 300 km*

Berlin – 405km*

Vilnius – 430 km*

Stockholm – 555 km*

* Distances from Gdańsk

Gdańsk Overview

�� 1264  462 k  262 km2  4814 pln  79 k

Gdynia Overview

�� 1926  248 k  135 km2  4458 pln  15 k

Sopot Overview

�� 1901  37 k  17 km2  4646 pln  2 k

Combined tourist facilities

Culture & Nature

�� 15  7  5 Food & Stay

 20k  76  8

Gdańsk

City of freedom

AbOVE: The Old Port in Gdańsk, with medieval port crane (Żuraw) •

The first stop is Długi Targ (Long Market) in the Old Town of Gdańsk, with the Renaissance City Hall and the Artus Court where merchants once met. The Old Town, largely rebuilt after World War II, recalls the mercantile power of a port centre with a long history, where Slavic and German influences continually intermingled. Gdańsk was a royal city and a member of the Hanseatic League – a group of Baltic and North Sea ports and mercantile centres operating from the Middle Ages. Gdańsk is also where World War II began, and it is here that the Museum of the Second World War is being built. The legendary Gdańsk Shipyard was the site of strikes led by the charismatic electrician, the Nobel Peace Prize winning former President of Poland, Lech Wałęsa. The strikes which led

Stadion Energa Gdańsk (AbOVE) was built for the UEFA EURO 2012 tournament hosted by Poland and Ukraine. It has a seating capacity of 41,620 •

to the creation of the Solidarity independent trade union, marked the beginning of the end of Communism in this part of Europe. You will want to stop by the old shipyard when visiting the European Solidarity Centre (ToP) and observe how social and artistic initiatives are sprouting in this post-industrial space, such as the Wyspa Institute of Art, as well as a new district known as Młode Miasto (Young City). Gdańsk is home to huge residential block estates, such as Przymorze, which includes Poland’s longest building, ‘Falowiec’ (860m, aboVe lefT). However, it also boasts the bucolic Oliwa district, which is full of old houses, antique shops, and the historic Oliwa Cathedral (the site of the International Organ Music Festival), all surrounded by a lovely park •

Home, not by birth but by choice

Danuta Wałęsa– Poland’s First Lady between 1990–1995. Wife of Lech Wałęsa (LEFT: photo from the 80s), legendary Solidarity leader and first democratically elected President of post-war Poland, and mother to their 8 children. Her bestselling autobiography Dreams and Secrets was published in 2011.

I am a Gdańsk person, not by birth but by choice. It was here in Gdańvsk that I met my husband and started a family, lived through the tragic events of December 1970, the joyous August of 1980 and the birth of the Solidarity movement with its hopes for freedom, the sadness of martial law, and finally the fall of Communism in 1989. After all these years, I think of Gdańsk as the place where I was reborn.

When my husband became the first democratically elected President of post-war Poland, I had the opportunity to visit many, many places around the world. Each of them had its own intriguing history, interesting buildings, and specific character and atmosphere. But Gdańsk is special, and I wouldn’t trade its unique atmosphere for anywhere else on earth.

Let’s begin with the European Solidarity Centre on the old grounds of the Gdańsk Shipyard. With its shape, covered with special sheeting, the building suggests a ship under construction. The rich exhibition presents the history of Solidarity and other freedom movements which led to the fall of Communism in Central & Eastern Europe, the tearing down of the Iron Curtain, and the unification of Europe.

Gdańsk isn’t just about modern history like the fall of Communism or the place where World War II broke out. It’s a city with a history stretching back over a millennium. For centuries it was the biggest and wealthiest city in the Polish Commonwealth. The beauty of the city is apparent as we stroll along the Royal Route from the Golden Gate, along Długa Street and the Long Market, with its Fountain of Neptune, to the Green Gate, touring the interiors of the Main Town Hall and the Artus Court.

But before heading down the Royal Route, it’s worth checking out the Amber Museum (AbOVE), the only one of its kind in the world. For many, Gdańsk is the world capital of amber. Here you can breathe in the scent of an amber forest, learn how the ‘Baltic Gold’ was formed millions of years ago, and examine old and new wonders made from this unique material.

Along Mariacka Street it seems that time stood still hundreds of years ago. St. Mary’s Basilica is the world’s largest brick church, with an 80m tower offering a view of Gdańsk and the bay.

One tip for the ladies: many of the streets are paved with cobblestones, so high heels are a no-no. After wandering around Gdańsk, if you feel like relaxing to music, I recommend an organ concert at the Oliwa Cathedral •

A screening of the film Olter during the Gdańsk Streetwaves festival. Streetwaves is an urban initiative which heralds the start of the summer season by brining art out of the clubs and galleries and into Gdańsk’s various districts. The festival forsakes the city centre to discover new places where art and culture can thrive •

European chic

Prof. Jerzy Limon – literary scholar, director of the Gdańsk Shakespeare Theatre

The National Museum in Gdańsk and its stunning ‘The Last Judgment’ triptych by Hans Memling (RIGhT) is – apart from Leonardo’s ‘Lady with an Ermine’ in Cracow – the finest painting on display in Poland. The museum is worth visiting for this work alone, but also features an excellent exhibition of Dutch and Polish paintings.

The Red Hall at the Main Town Hall, with significant works by the Flemish painter Isaak van den Blocke. The impressive plafond made up of more than a dozen paintings depicts the allegory of trade between Gdańsk and Poland. Numerous Biblical motifs, genre scenes, and a panorama of the city completed the masterpiece •

Art livens up the city

Aneta Szyłak – curator and art critic, artistic director of the Alternativa festival. architect Renato Rizzi. Sometimes referred to as the Coffin because of its elongated shape and dark ceramic covering, the building alludes to the architecture of Gdańsk but also poses a challenge to the city’s ageless red brick. The open roof enables performances under the stars, appropriate for the Elizabethan theatre. The Shakespeare Festival is held here every year.

The Museum of Contemporary Art is being built at the Gdańsk Shipyard, in a complex of landmark spaces where the Alternativa International Festival of Visual Arts has been held for the past 5 years. Alternativa also offers the Open Garden community initiviative (LEFT). Located on the Drewnica peninsula, on the banks of Martwa Wisła with a view of shipping cranes and the industrial island of Ostrów, the museum will be easy to find between the European Solidarity Centre and the Museum of the Second World War.

Dwie Zmiany Social Cooperative was founded by artists in the legendary restaurant called Złoty Ul in Sopot’s Monciak area. The rebirth of the cooperative movement is particularly exciting because it helps artists in financial straits. Meetings,

Gdańsk Sopot Gdynia

Discover for yourself

Magdalena Grzebałkowska – writer, reporter, author of the controversial volume of historical reportage 1945: War and Peace. Lives in Sopot.

In Gdańsk, I always take visitors to Biskupia Górka, a district a little ways from the Main Town and its landmarks. The buildings here are not in the best repair, but they retain their original architecture, and old German inscriptions emerge under the crumbling stucco.

Żabi Kruk in the Lower Town, on a branch of the Motława River, offers kayak rentals. You get a map and paddle around the Old Town, not unlike the canals of Amsterdam. You can navigate through water gates, paddle into the port, and view the city from an entirely new perspective!

I’ve lived in Sopot for a long time, but I only recently discovered for myself the Forest Opera by hiking along the routes covered in Paweł Huelle’s latest novel Sing Gardens. During the Communist era, this amphitheatre in the woods was the site of popular music festivals. I avoid the noisy entertainment strip of Monciak, but love visiting Upper Sopot, with its villas, gardens, and magic nooksperfect for a walk. I recommend the delightful Juncke Villa at 3 Goyki Street, with its rectangular tower and surrounding park, built for a Gdańsk wine merchant. I also love the impressive Berger House at 24 Obrońców Westerplatte Street, one of the most beautiful examples of Sopot villa architecture. The heart of Sopot is the pier, crowded but still enchanting. The domesticated seagull Kasia lives down at the very end of the pier.

In Gdynia the modernist apartment buildings along Świętojańska Street are a must! And obviously the Port of Gdynia: along Nabrzeże Francuskie you can reach out and touch the ships for a tangible sense of what a port city is all about. Across the way is the Marine Station from 1931 (AbOVE), where emigrants checked in for their passage to South America, now home to the new Emigration Museum which presents the fate of Polish emigrants. In Gdynia I also love the restaurant Serio (bELOW RIGhT), offering excellent Italian cuisine in an industrial space with striking visual details •

Gdynia Polish Bauhaus

The youngest of the three cities, Gdynia was developed on the site of an old fishing village in the 1920s and 1930s, and is characterised by modernist structures built in the Bauhaus spirit of those times (ToP and RIGhT). The city was built as a huge project by the reborn Polish state, which needed a port free of the German influences that then predominated in Gdańsk. Gdynia was erected in just over a decade as a modern port and industrial complex (oPPoSITe PaGe boTToM), and it continues to function as such to this day. Completed in 2009, the Sea Towers mixeduse skyscrapers overlook the Dar Pomorza museum ship (aboVe). The city also hosts a number of excellent cultural festivals, including the Open’er Festival (oPPoSITe PaGe ToP), among the best in Europe, the Ladies’ Jazz Festival, and the Globaltica World Cultures Festival •

Sopot

Resort with an attitude

Second stop: Sopot. This landmark resort town, the best-known on this side of the Baltic, has retained its atmosphere of parks and villas. The longest pier in Europe (ToP), the marina, and white sandy beaches make Sopot a well-known tourist attraction. Sopot is also known for the carefree café life which thrives during the summer along the city’s main pedestrian zone, Bohaterów Monte Cassino Street, popularly known as 'Monciak' (aboVe). Escape from the crowds of holidaymakers down the side streets, full of Secession-style houses and spas surrounded by green areas. Sopot has cultural life too, including the Artloop festival held each September, which brings art into public spaces, including the city’s less obvious nooks •

Poland’s Baltic seaports are among the fastest growing diverse cargo handling facilities in the Baltic Sea basin and are a significant international transportation hub.

In accordance with European Union’s strategy, the Gdańsk Port is an important link in the Trans-European Transport Corridor No. 4 (Baltic – Adriatic Corridor).

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Gdańsk DCT is the largest and most modern container terminal in Poland. It boasts 650m of quay length, with 13.50m depth along 265m and 16.50m depth along 385m of quay. Total area: 49 hectares •

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Petersburg

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Key

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Longest Pier

The Pope John Paul II Sopot Pier (RIGhT) is the longest pier on the Baltic Sea. Its function has changed throughout its history: from a local marina, to an element of a seaplane terminal, to a passenger bridge for large sea-liners, to today’s role as a promenade with a yacht marina at its end •