Progetto Comenius “Harmony of Cultures”

Istituto comprensivo Vietri di Potenza

anno scolastico 2011-2012

Poland

Around its cities and history

Poland

• Poland is a central european country

• Total area of the country is 312 685 km2

• Poland has a population of over 38 million people  

• Its national anthem is "Mazurek Dąbrowskie. The anthem was wrote in 1797 in Reggio Emilia, by Józef Wybicki lieutenant of polish army

A polish legend tells that three brothers,Lech,Cech and Rus,

founded slavic nations.

Lech,Poland’s founder, traveled north where he found a white eagle that was protecting its nest. He decided that land was the right place to settle down. White eagle remains a symbol of Poland to

this day

There are many important cities in Poland

Gdańsk

Warsaw

Kracow

ZacopaneLodz

Wrocław Poznan

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River

The city of Warsaw was

founded in the late 13th century. In 1815 Warsaw became the capital of the Polish Kingdom

During World War II about 85% of the city had been destroyed, including the historic Old Town

Warsaw,as the phoenix, flourished again and many historical museums, castles, streets and churches were restored, and the Old Town became part of Unesco’s World Heritage list.

Gdańsk ( Danzig ) is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, Gdańsk is considered the most beautiful city on Baltic Sea having rich architecture. Gdansk is known as the “amber city” because of the abundance of deposits of this material in the area.

Gdańsk was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which, under the leadership of  Lech Wałęsa, played a major role in bringing an end to Communist rule across Central Europe.

Lech Walesa became Poland's first post-Communist president. and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.

Wadowice is a town in southern Poland, 50 km from Kraków with about 19,000 inhabitants, situated on the Skawa river. Wadowice was the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. In Wadowice it’s possible to visit home where Karol Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920.The small apartment is preserved as a museum since 1984.

Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre was a mass execution of Polish nationals made by the Soviet secret police, in April and May 1940. The number of victims is estimated at about 22,000,Andrzej Wajda made a film depicting the event, Katyn. The film was produced by Akson Studio, and released in Poland on September 2007

Cracow Memorial

Wrocław memorial

Katyn victims commemorated in Warsaw 2007

For many centuries Kraków the "Florence of the North", was the royal capital of Poland, until Sigismund III Vasare located the court to Warsaw in 1596.

Registered by UNESCO into the list of the World Heritage,Kraków 's historic centre - the Old City with Wawel, Kazimierz and Stradom - gathers the most significant monuments of Polish history

Jasna Gora Monastery (Bright Mount Monastery ) in Czestochowa it is the holiest place of Poland and one of the world’s most important destinations for pilgrims. The monastery was founded in 1382 by Pauline monks by the will of King Jagiello who wanted to build a cathedral around the chapel containing the icon.

Small gothic chapel with Our Lady of Czestochowa’s holy picture, also known as 'The Black Madonna', is the heart of the sanctuary. According to tradition, the icon of Jasna Góra was painted by Luke the Evangelist . The miracle for which the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is most famous occurred in 1655, when Swedish troops were invading Częstochowa.

A group of Polish soldiers prayed fervently before the icon for deliverance, and the enemy retreated

Next year, 2012, Poland will be hosting the European Football Championship. Polish host cities are Warsaw, Gdańsk, Poznan and Wroclaw.

Amber stadium, Gdańsk

Poznan Stadium Logo

Championship Logos show host cities’ most important monuments : Neptune’s fountain in Gdańsk , one of the 120 bridges that joined Wroclaw’s twelve islands on Oder river, the mermaid Sawa that according to a legend together to Wars give the name to Poland’s capital.