Greater than a thousand years of Christianity means there are many issues to find in Poland.

Poland is an clearly outdated nation. Nonetheless, the nation in its present incarnation continues to be comparatively younger and solely dates to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. That’s as a result of a lot of the land throughout the present borders was for hundreds of years managed by assorted powers, together with czarist Russia and Prussia earlier than German unification to the World Battle II occupation below the Nazis and at last the communism of the Soviet Union.

All through all these intervals one factor remained fixed: a deep religiosity, courting to when Poland turned a Christian nation with the so-called Baptism of Poland on Holy Saturday in 966.  

One of many extra attention-grabbing chapters in Polish historical past is the interval of the Teutonic knights.

Formally referred to as the Teutonic Order, the knights have been a part of a monastic order throughout the pre-Reformation Roman Catholic church that originated through the Crusades. Ultimately, they settled close to the Baltic in what was traditionally referred to as Pomerania. It was right here the place from 1226 till 1561 they managed a monastic state equal to the Knights Hospitaller on the island of Malta.

The warrior-monks of the Teutonic period have been additionally intertwined with the Hanseatic League.

The league or Hansa was a Germanic confederation that primarily functioned as a medieval free commerce zone for retailers and mariners. At its peak, some 200 cities and cities have been members.

The Teutonic knights and Hansa had an incredible affect throughout northern Europe, together with the realm in and round Poland’s Baltic coast. Their respective energy and wealth allowed for the development of architecturally and artistically important church buildings that stay in use in the present day.

This defining legacy is a particular model of Gothic structure referred to as brick Gothic.

Whereas stone dominated the church buildings, cathedrals, palaces, fortresses and vernacular structure elsewhere in medieval Europe, brick was the on a regular basis constructing materials right here. The explanation? The world across the Baltic coast lacks ample pure stone assets.

To find this era of historical past, I began my go to to Poland in Gdansk or Danzig, its historic German title.

The outdated city — referred to as Glowne Miasto in Polish or Primary Metropolis in English — appears to be like precisely how most People think about a centuries-old metropolis someplace in Europe. Nonetheless, appearances could be deceiving. 

A lot of the Primary Metropolis is definitely a duplicate of what stood earlier than the warfare as Gdansk sustained intensive harm. Fortunately, the cityscape was thoughtfully restored even when a few of the rebuilt facades are simply that: facades concealing postwar concrete buildings. That’s actually fairly exceptional, given the dangerous structure that got here out of the postwar years, notably within the nations below Soviet occupation.

St. Mary’s Church (formally the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) is among the most interesting examples of brick Gothic anyplace in northern Europe. Restored to the rites of Roman Catholic worship after the warfare, the church had been below Lutheran management because the aftermath of the Reformation. The difficult previous is mirrored within the inside, which has a mixture of whitewashed partitions and a number of other notable examples of pre-Reformation artwork inside chapels that line the facet aisles of the nave.

About 100 miles south of Gdansk is Torun (Thorn in German).

Granted a constitution by the Teutonic knights in 1233, the town was traditionally oriented towards the Vistula River — Poland’s longest river. Not like Gdansk, it was spared from the bombing and destruction of the warfare. Because of this, a substantial variety of landmarks from the Teutonic and Hansa eras stay and in the present day are protected by a UNESCO World Heritage designation.

Among the many most important sights are three interval church buildings: the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist; the completely huge Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a former Franciscan church that features the tomb of Swedish Princess Anna Vasa; and the Church of St. James the Larger with its imposing tower. One other must-visit is the Outdated City Corridor on the medieval market sq.. At the moment it homes a department of the regional museum that features a assortment of non secular artwork.

Two barely off-the-beaten-path locations on the drive again to Gdansk are Chelmno (Kulm in German) and Grudziadz (Graudenz in German).

Chelmno is a small city that punches above its weight.

The 743-year-old brick Gothic parish church — additionally devoted to the idea of Mary — not solely has a tower that may be climbed by guests for sweeping views of the encircling countryside however accommodates a relic from the cranium of St. Valentine. As one would possibly count on, the relics entice pilgrims and are performed up each Valentine’s Day.

Whereas Grudziadz was closely scarred by World Battle II, my information stated the Swedish occupation within the mid-Seventeenth century was really a lot worse.

Town, which dates to the late thirteenth century when there was a Teutonic fort right here, has a brand new museum inside outdated granary buildings on the historical past of this once-important port on the Vistula between Torun and Gdansk. In addition to the museum, the Church of St. Nicholas, which was restored after the warfare, has an historical Romanesque stone baptismal font from Gotland, an island within the Baltic in present-day Sweden.

Should you go

I flew into Gdansk’s Lech Walesa Airport, which is reachable with only one connection from nearly each main airport in america.

Renting a automotive with GPS navigation is advisable if venturing past Gdansk. Nonetheless, some guests may need a difficulty selecting up their reserved automotive. That’s as a result of many rental automotive businesses implement an outdated Polish regulation requiring some international drivers to carry an archaic doc referred to as a global driver’s allow — a doc that isn’t issued by the U.S. authorities. The permits are actually nothing greater than a income stream for the AAA, which points them.  

Keep on the Vacation Inn Metropolis Centre or Puro Lodge Stare Miasto in Gdansk, Lodge Eter in Torun and the Ibis Kinds in Grudziadz. All of the resorts are inside strolling distance of every little thing to do and see of their respective cities. For these with an early morning flight dwelling, the Hampton by Hilton at Gdansk’s airport is really helpful.

An in depth information to essentially the most notable examples of brick Gothic structure is offered by way of the European Route of Brick Gothic, an alliance of a number of historic cities and cities in Denmark, Germany and Poland.

The famend Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, whose groundbreaking principle that the Earth revolved across the solar was later banned by the Roman Catholic church, was born in Torun in 1473. A brick Gothic home attributed to the household and believed to be his birthplace homes an attention-grabbing museum.

Full journey planning assets can be found by way of the Polish Nationwide Vacationer Workplace.

Dennis Lennox writes a journey column for The Christian Submit.

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