Social programme
A wide range of tourist attractions both within and outside Warsaw will be offered by the Congress Bureau to the participants and their partners as part of the social programme of the Congress. Taking advantage of the usually warm and enjoyable weather at the turn of August and September you will be able to visit the most beautiful places in Poland, get acquainted with our history, and admire Polish historical monuments of culture and art.
1. City Tour of Warsaw
Warsaw (Warszawa) became the capital of Poland in 1596.
Today the city, a fascinating blend of past and present , is a vibrant
meeting place for politicians, businessmen, and artists of all
nationalities. The city center is dominated by the Palace of Culture and
Science which shares the skyline with numerous office towers. Very
popular with tourists are the Royal Castle and the Old Town Square. The
most prominent sight in the Old Town is the Castle Square (Plac Zamkowy)
that boasts a baroque statue of Zygmunt (Sigismund) III Vasa (the
Sigismund’s Column) honouring the king who moved his royal court from
Cracow to Warsaw. The Castle Square is the starting point of the former
Royal Route which, through the streets Krakowskie Przedmieście, Nowy
Świat and Aleje Ujazdowskie, runs south to the Wilanów Palace - the
royal residence of John III Sobieski. All along the Royal Route visitors
can admire many old churches and palaces, do the shopping or rest in one
of the numerous restaurants or cafés. Apart from the Royal Castle and
the Wilanów Palace sitting by the Royal Route is a beautiful Łazienki
Park (The Royal Baths) with a classical Palace on the Water and a
monument to Fryderyk Chopin. Here, every Sunday in summer, Chopin’s
music is played by renowned artists. The Royal Łazienki Park and the
nearby Botanical Garden create a true oasis of green right in the midst
of the city.
2. In the Footsteps of Fryderyk Chopin
It was the genius of Fryderyk Chopin that made Poland famous in the
music world. During your stay in Warsaw you have a greet occasion to get
acquainted with the Chopin’s music and visit the headquarters of the
Fryderyk Chopin Society. See the last original piano of the great
composer and visit the Chopin’s family apartment, which became the
headquarters of the Academy of Fine Arts. Nearby you can also see the
Baroque Church where Chopin used to play and visit the Holy Cross Church
where the urn with Frederick Chopin’s heart reposes.
Fryderyk
Chopin was born in 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, a village about 52 kilometers
(about 33 mi) west of Warsaw. Presently it is a museum surrounded by a
large garden in which concerts of Chopin’s music are held on Sundays.
All the rooms of the composer’s family house have been restored to
period perfection and contain a collection of the family portraits and
other Chopin’s memorabilia including music manuscripts as well as a cast
of his left hand. Not far from Żelazowa Wola lies Brochów, a typical
Mazovian village with a Gothic-Renaissance basilica, the place of
Chopin’s parents wedding and the baptism of Fryderyk.
3. Cracow - Wieliczka
Cracow
(Kraków) is one of the most attractive cities in Europe built by many
generations of artists living in the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and
Modern Art times. This is a place where legends, history, and modernity
co-create an unusual atmosphere. In the Old Town area there are over 300
historical buildings including sixty churches and palaces which form a
surprisingly coherent architectural complex. The scenery is further
complemented by many stylish restaurants, clubs, and pubs. The central
part of the Cracow Old Town is occupied by the Main Market Square – the
largest European society salon. In the centre of the Market is the Cloth
Hall (Sukiennice), the oldest commercial centre in Poland. During your
visit to Cracow you musn’t miss the Wawel Royal Castle – the seat of
kings and bishops, complete with the Wawel Royal Cathedral Church. A
different climate can be found in Cracow’s Kazimierz, a district which
used to be a separate town where Christians and Jews coexisted for
nearly five centuries.
Only 10 kilometers (about 6 mi) away from Cracow, in Wieliczka, there is a thousand-year-old salt mine, the only such historical monument in the world. At each of the twenty underground levels interconnected by 2 km of corridors you can admire chapels and sculptures carved in salt. The Wieliczka Salt Mine also houses a unique museum of the mining technology and a sanatorium offering recreational and therapeutic services.
4. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp
Some 50 kilometers (31 mi) west of Cracow is Oświęcim (German: Auschwitz) where the largest German Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration and Extermination Camp was located (now it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a state museum). From its establishment in 1940 until 1945 more than two million people from 28 countries were murdered in the Camp (among them nearly a million Jews). The museum which opened in 1955 to honour the victims of Nazism contains a huge number of men's, women's and children's shoes taken from their victims; there are also suitcases which the deportees were encouraged to bring with them and many household utensils. One display case, some 30 metres (98 ft) long, is wholly filled with human hair which the Nazis gathered from the prisoners before and after they were killed.
5. Częstochowa
This city is the spiritual center and the destination of Catholic pilgrims from Poland and other countries. Here in the Pauline Monastery on the Jasna Góra hill is the miraculous portrait of Our Lady otherwise known as the Black Madonna. The picture has seven richly ornamented dresses and in the course of each day it is covered and uncovered to the sound of a drum. The fortified Church and Monastery Complex on Jasna Góra has gone down in history for its heroic defence against the Swedish during their invasion of Poland in 1655.
6. Zakopane
The regional tourist center of the Tatra Mountains (often referred to as the miniature Alps), called the winter capital of Poland, Zakopane lies about 100 kilometers (about 62 mi) south of Cracow. There are many interesting examples of regional architecture and a visit to the Tatra Museum provides a good introduction to the lively folklore and culture of the Tatras’ inhabitants. The Atma House contains a museum dedicated to the famous Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1973). The town, surrounded by the Tatra National Park, is the starting point of many picturesque tourist routes and hiking trails of different character and levels of difficulty.
7. Gdańsk and Malbork
Gdańsk (also known by its German name Danzig), a city on the Baltic coast, is Poland's principal seaport and, historically, the largest municipality of the Kashubian region. It has a complex political history with periods of Polish rule, periods of German rule, and two spells as a free city. On September 1, 1939, the first shot of the Second World War was fired here from the German warship Schleswig Holstein. Since 1945 Gdańsk has been part of modern Poland. The city was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa, played a major role in bringing an end to the Communist rule.
In conurbation with the spa town of Sopot and the city of Gdynia, Gdańsk forms a metropolitan area called the Tricity (Trójmiasto), with a population of over 800,000. Gdańsk has a rich heritage of material culture and its most important tourist sites include the impressive Old Town and Main Town as well as Oliwa with its jewel of the Cistercian Monatsery – the organ built from 1763 to 1791 by the Gdańsk master Delitz (the concerts here are famous).
Some 55
kilometers (34 mi) east-west of Gdańsk lies Malbork,
the medieval capital of the Teutonic Nights who were invited to Poland
in 1226. Its most impressive surviving relic is a huge Malbork Castle –
the biggest Gothic fortress in Europe universally recognized as one of
the finest examples of the medieval defence constructions. It is now a
museum exhibiting details of the history of the Castle and its
successive transformations, medieval sculptures, portraits, military
paintings, bookplate collections, articles made from amber as well as
extensive collection of medieval and more modern armaments and weaponry
from Poland and elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East.
6. The Masurian Lake District
The Masurian Lake District (Masuria or, in Polish, Mazury) is a lake region in northeastern Poland containing more than 2,000 lakes. It extends roughly 290 km (180 mi) eastwards from the lower Vistula River to the Poland-Lithuania border and occupies an area of roughly 52,000 km² (20,000 sq mi). The lakes are well connected by rivers and canals, to form an extensive system of waterways. The whole area has become a prime destination for yachtspeople and canoeists, and is also popular among anglers, hikers, bikers, birdwatchers, and nature-lovers. The area is the most famous lake district in Central Europe and gets a high number of tourists every year for its beautiful scenery and great freshwater lakes.
