Wroclaw Off The Beaten Path

There was some kind of monument during my visit to Wroclaw on the main market square that advertized Poland and Ukraine to win Euro 2012. In fact, Poland and Ukraine have won organization of Euro 2012.:)

Wroclaw is one of cities on the list where Euro 2012 will take place. The best known football club of the city is Slask Wroclaw. So, lets meet in Wroclaw in 2012.:)

Boleslaw Chrobry (967 - 1025) was from 992 on as Boleslaw I. Duke of Poland, 1003/04 Duke of Bohemia and from 1000 on first King of Poland. He established the Archbishopry Gniezno which was independent from Magdeburg and convince Emperor Otto III. to acknowledge the independence of Poland from the German Empire (Act of Gniezno in 1000). He tried to unite the western slavonic peoples in which he succeeded for a while. Towards the end of his life Poland was a great power in Europe, but not for long - the neighbouring countries felt threatened, especially the German Empire in the west and the Kiewvsky Rus in the east.

The location of this monument is at Swidnicka st. where it crosses the green ring around the old town (next to opera house).

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This group of funny sculptures is to find at the crossroad Pilsusiedzka/Swidnicka, right on the way from the train station to the old town. The idea behind this is "Transition" - something that Wroclaw certainly knows well, changing from a Polish town to German "Breslau" (with alternating rulers like Hapsburgs and Prussians), to the Polish city "Wroclaw", from the communist regime to democracy ...

The artist is Jerzy Kalina. Another of his "transition" works had been displayed first in Warszaw.

There's definitely a deeper meaning behind the group of sculptures, but I personally found it to be very funny how they seem to walk down imaginary stairs on one side of the street and reappear on the other side. Especially while I was impatiently waiting for the red light turning green ...

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Renoma is a department store that was built in the 1930s by the well-known Wertheim family who owned department stores all over Germany. The design is typical 1930s (Bauhaus). Location is on Kosciuszko square/Swidnicka st.

Nowadays it is an elegant place for fancy shopping. There are shops with international brands on the several floors, also restaurants etc. From the restaurant on the 3rd floor the huge glass windows offer fantastic views of the old town of Wroclaw. Hint: free restrooms on each floor :-)

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You might easily miss this cute small church in the shadow of the huge cathedral. It is located right on the northern side of cathedral square on Ostrow Tumski. This church is actually the oldest originally preserved structure in Wroclaw, not destroyed in the tatars' attack.

What's so special about this church is the nice brickstone architecture and decoration from the first half of the 13th century. Unfortunately it was closed when I visited but the Romanesque portal alone was worth the time.

This square is located southwest right next to the Rynek. Its name "Salt Market" stems from the past centuries when Polish and Russian merchants sold salt from Wieliczka here. Now you'll see mostly women selling flowers and such. The surrounding townhouses were beautifully restored.

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The so called Bermuda Triangle district offers a dramatic contrast to the area around the beautifully restored Market Square. Most of the old houses in the Bermuda Triangle are run down, but have interesting facades with oriels, little statues or other nice details.
When wandering around the streets you might feel as if you have stepped back into WWII times.
Please note that the Bermuda Triangle district is not the safest area of Wroclaw, so watch yourself.

Directions:
The Bermuda Triangle district is situated in the area south of Traugutta street and east of Pulaskiego street. This area is located east of the Old Town (Stare Miasto).

One thing which always fascinated me on my trips to the Ex-Soviet bloc countries is the socialist realism architecture of the early post war period.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find that many examples of this architectural style in Wroclaw, but at least the centrally located Kosciuszki Square is well worth seeing. It is a large square with wide boulevards and uniform granite buildings offering a bit of grey charm from Soviet times. The buildings around the square were constructed in the 60's.

Directions:
Kosciuszki Square is located about 1 km south of the Market Square (Rynek).