Poznan
The heart of poland
The cities storry starts when Polands storry almost started. Thats why some of the first kings of the country are burried in its cathedral. Today its a beautyfull city, with a relaxed flair that is good for shopping. The biggest sights are the zoos - it has an old and a new one, the later being among Europes largest
Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul
The cathedral was originally built in the second half of the 10th century within the fortified settlement (gród) of Poznań, which stood on what is now called Ostrów Tumski ("Cathedral Island"). This was one of the main political centres in the early Polish state, and included a ducal palace (excavated by archaeologists since 1999, beneath the Church of the Virgin Mary which stands in front of the cathedral). Mieszko I was baptised in 966, possibly at Poznań – this is regarded as a key event in the Christianization of Poland and consolidation of the state. The cathedral was built around this time; it was raised to the status of a cathedral in 968 when the first missionary bishop, Bishop Jordan, came to Poland.
Saint Peter became the patron of the church because, as the first cathedral in the country, it had the right to have the same patron as St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The pre-Romanesque church which was built at that time was about 48 meters in length. Remains of this building are still visible in the basements of today's basilica. The first church survived for about seventy years, until the period of the pagan reaction and the raid of the Bohemian duke Bretislav I (1034–1038). The cathedral was rebuilt in the Romanesque style, remains of which are visible in the southern tower. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the church was rebuilt in the Gothic style. At that time, a crown of chapels was added. A fire in 1622 did such serious damage that the cathedral needed a complete renovation, which was carried out in the Baroque style. Another major fire broke out in 1772 and the church was rebuilt in the Neo-Classical style. In 1821, Pope Pius VII raised the cathedral to the status of a Metropolitan Archcathedral and added the second patron - Saint Paul. The last of the great fires occurred on 15 February 1945, during the liberation of the city from the Germans. The damage was serious enough that the conservators decided to return to the Gothic style, using as a base medieval relics revealed by the fire. The cathedral was reopened on 29 June 1956. In 1962, Pope John XXIII gave the church the title of minor basilica. |
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Działyński Palace
The Palace was built between 1773-1776 by architect Antoni Höhne. During the war in 1945 the building burned down. It was rebuilt in the years 1953-1957. Currently the palace houses the research institutes of the Academy of Sciences and a branch of the Kórnik Library.
The representative Baroque façade is divided by eastern Corinthian-style pilasters. The façade has an attic with a tympanum from the late eighteenth century with the arms of Działyński - Ogończyk. Close by are figures of Roman legionaries from the nineteenth century. At the attic are reliefs depicting an Roman sacrificial procession (to the right of the tympanum) and triumphant (left). At the top of the attic, above the tympanum, rising truncated obelisk on which they are sitting pelican - the symbol of generosity and sacrifice (pelican in heraldry) - this is a reconstruction. In times of annexation the pelican was a symbol of the eagle and so it is often still readable. |
national museum
The National Museum(Polish: Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu), popularly abbreviated as MNP, is a state-owned cultural institution and one of the largest museums in Poland. It houses a rich collection of Polish painting from the 16th century on, and a collection of foreign painting (Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German). The museum is also home to numismatic collections and a gallery of applied arts.
The Museum was established in 1857, as the "Museum of Polish and Slavic Antiquities". The present building was erected 904 by architect Karl Hinkeldeyn in the stile historicism. During World War II the building was damaged, the collection looted by German military, while numerous museum exhibits, including the natural and ethnographic collections, were destroyed. After the war the Polish Government retrieved many of the works seized by the Nazis. Museum's collections are on display in seven thematic exhibition galleries that explore the major trends and disciplines of the age: the Gallery of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Polish Art from 16th-to-18th century; and, in the new wing: the Gallery of Polish art from the period of foreign partitions until the end of World War II, the Gallery of European Art (or Foreign Painting), the Gallery of Modern Art, and the Poster and Graphic design Gallery. |
Old Market Square
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The original settlement of Poznań was on the river island of Ostrów Tumski, and dates from at least the 9th century. The Old Town neighbourhood, however, corresponds to the city on the left bank of the Warta, to the west of Ostrów Tumski, which received its charter in 1253.
The Old Market Square (Stary Rynek) is the large square on which the Old Town neighbourhood is centred. The sides of the square measure approximately 140 metres (460 ft). There is a group of buildings in the central part of the square, chief of which is the Old Town Hall (Ratusz). On each side of the square are tall rows of former tenement houses (kamienice), many of which are now used as restaurants, cafés and pubs (often with outdoor tables on the square itself). The square was originally laid out in around 1253, with each side divided into 16 equal plots, and many changes to architectural layout and style were made over the centuries. Major changes were made from 1550 onwards by Giovanni Battista di Quadro, who reconstructed the Town Hall and several other buildings in Renaissance style (severe damage had been done to the buildings by a fire of 1536). Most of the buildings in the square were reconstructed following heavy damage in the Battle of Poznań (1945). |
Raczyński Library
Poznań Raczyński Library was founded by the Polish nobleman opened and publicist Edward Raczyński and on 5 May 1829th Raczyński donated for this purpose a starting stock of 10,000 volumes from his own library. The handing over of the house to the city of Poznan took place 1832. All resulting maintenance costs of the library, however, were still paid even after the transfer of ownership of Raczyński from its private wealth. Motivation for Raczynski Foundation was its belief that the Polish language and literature - national cultural treasures should be protected and receive - especially during the period of Prussian rule over that part of Poland.
Regardless of religious affiliation, nationality or social background everyone had access to the library and its holdings. During the 19th century and in the interwar period, the library collection expanded further. During the Second World War was the library, as well as all other cultural institutions in the city, only Germans had access. Thanks to the efforts of Józef Raczyński the library's collections, however, were not scattered. During the fighting at Poznan in January 1945, the library suffered great losses. The Germans destroyed the building of the libraryincluding 90% of its books. By outsourcing the most valuable books after Obrzycko in 1943 by Józef Raczyński about 17,000 volumes were saved. That was the foundation for the existence of Raczyński Library after the war. Until the historic building of the library in 1956 reconstructed, the collection was housed in a school. In 1998, the old building of the library was renovated and modernized. In 2011, the main building of the library has been extended to a large new building to showcase the growing inventory professional. |
Town hall
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The town hall was originally constructed as the administrative building of the city founded on the left bank of the Warta in 1253 (see History of Poznań).
In 1536 the city suffered a major fire, which did serious damage to the town hall. Repair work was carried out in 1540–1542, particularly to the tower, but it remained unsafe. In 1550 the city' council commissioned Giovanni Battista di Quadro to carry out a major rebuilding. The work lasted until 1560. Di Quadro added an upper storey, extended the building towards the west, and added attic walls and a three-storey loggia.A new clock (installed 1551) was made with three full faces and one half-face, and with goats added as a "comic element". In 1675 the tower, clock and goats were destroyed by lightning. The tower was rebuilt in 1690 to a height of 90 metres (300 ft). The top of the tower was destroyed in a hurricane of 1725. In 1781–1784 major renovation was carried out on the building thanks to the efforts of the city's "Committee of Good Order", and it obtained the basic form which it presents today. A Classical-style tower roof was designed by Bonawentura Solari, and on the top was a white eagle with a two-metre wing span. On the eastern elevation Franciszek Cielecki painted Jagiellonian kings, and under the central turret was placed a cartouche with the king's initials "SAR" (Stanislaus Augustus Rex). The next major renovation was carried out in 1910–1913 (during the period of German rule), when black rustication was used to give the building a more "northern German" style. An additional storey was added and the goats, which had been absent since 1675, were restored to the tower in 1913. Following major damage in the Battle of Poznań (1945), the Town Hall was again rebuilt in 1945–1954, when the Renaissance character of the elevations was restored (and extracts from the constitution of the Polish People's Republic were added to the text displayed on the attic wall). The eagle, which had been kept hidden during the war, was returned to the tower in 1947. The mechanism that drives the goats was replaced in 1954, and again at the end of the century. Renovation carried out in 1992–2002 largely restored the building to its post-1784 appearance. |