Introduction
120km (75 miles) S of Torun
Poznan, the main center of the province of Wielkopolska (Greater Poland), is a bustling city of 600,000 people. To Poles, it's regarded as the legendary birthplace of Poland, but to outsiders it's known more for its many annual trade fairs (making Poznan a cousin of sorts to Leipzig in Germany and Brno in the Czech Republic). The city lies on one of Europe's main east-west train lines, stretching from Paris and Berlin to Warsaw and Moscow, which makes getting here a snap. The city's principal attraction is its enormous and beautiful town square, the Stary Rynek, which when filled to brimming on a warm summer evening looks and feels not unlike a more down-to-earth version of Kraków's Rynek Glówny or Prague's Old Town Square.
Poznan owes its traditional prosperity to its position along main transportation routes and astride the Warta River. During the Prussian occupation, when the town was known as Posen, it became one of the region's leading industrial...
more local info
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National Museum
An impressive art collection that's particularly strong on examples of the "Mloda Polska" art movement from the early years of the 20th century...
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- Museums
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Zamek
This fascinating building will appeal to World War II buffs. The "castle" actually dates only from the beginning of the 20th century, and was built...
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- Landmarks
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Old Town Hall (Ratusz)
Originally dates from the 14th century but extensively renovated in the 16th century in Renaissance style by the Italian architect Giovanni Quadro....
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- Landmarks
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