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Wrocław is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Oder as one of Poland’s major cultural cities. For centuries, the city has been ruled by changing kingdoms, and it has left its mark on the city’s beautiful architecture and exciting history. There is thus a lot to catch up on as a tourist in the city.
The natural place to start is the city’s central marketplace, Rynek, where there are countless fine houses and famous buildings with the city’s town halls in the center. From the market square the streets lead out into the city center where you can see theaters, museums and churches.
The most important church is Wrocław Cathedral, located on Ostów Tumski, the oldest part of the city. In the old days, the place was an island in the Oder, but one of the river arms has been filled up today. You can see several beautiful churches, buildings, bridges and more at Ostrów Tumski.
There are several exciting things to see in and around Wrocław. If you want to visit other major cities, both Poznań, Łódź and Katowice are close by as opportunities for excursions. You can also go out into nature to, for example, the mountains Giant Mountains with the top Śnieżka, which you can relatively easily go to the top of and enjoy the view from here.
Wroclaw Rynek is the market square in Wrocław, and it is one of the largest and most beautiful squares in Poland. It is surrounded by fine architecture with the many gabled houses that characterize the square. The middle of Rynek is also built up, and it is here that you can see the city’s two town halls, among other things; the old and the new.
The market square’s impressive dimensions are 213×178 metres, and the entire area is laid out as a car-free area, so that you can really enjoy all the sights and the many restaurants and cafes that are located here. It is also easy to get here, as a total of 11 streets lead to the square.
The market, and thus the precursor to the current market place, was established in the first half of the 13th century. Over the centuries, the square and the surrounding streets were built up. Some of the old houses in the middle of the square were demolished in the decades around 1900 to make way for new buildings in, among other things, historicist style.
The city’s Old Town Hall and New Town Hall are the two most famous buildings on Wrocław Rynek, but you can also see other interesting buildings. To the east is the Feniks department store, which was built as Warenhaus Gebrüder Barasch in art nouveau 1902-1904, but architecturally simplified in 1929. To the west you can see Heinrich Rump’s modernist high-rise building from 1931, which was controversial due to the different style from the rest of the square . To the northwest you can see two small houses called Jaś i Małgosia (Hans and Gretel). They lie in front of the mighty St. Elisabeth Church.
In German times, Wroclaw Rynek was called Großer Ring, and in the 1800s, horse-drawn trams started running here. From 1892, electric trams ran, and they continued traffic on the square until the end of the 1970s. During World War II, around 60% of the buildings in and around the square were damaged, but reconstruction was quickly started and beautifully completed to the result that can be enjoyed today.
The Old Town Hall on the Rynek market square in Wrocław is one of the city’s landmarks. The town hall’s history goes back to the 13th century, and it has been expanded over several centuries. There is much to see in the town hall, which is centrally located on Rynek, one of Poland’s largest and most beautiful squares.
The town hall’s earliest history is not known with certainty, but a smaller building had already been erected on the site at the end of the 13th century. The oldest parts of the current building are believed to date from this time. From 1328 to 1333, an extra floor was built at the town hall, which was continuously extended until the middle of the 16th century. The final part of the construction was a Renaissance reconstruction of the top of the town hall tower, which was carried out in the latter part of the 16th century.
Over time, the function of the town hall building has varied. In the first centuries, the town hall was expanded into meeting rooms and administration for the city government. When Wrocław became part of Prussia in 1741, the function of the government was changed and most of the town hall was used as an administrative court building. In the 1930s, the biggest change took place, as the town hall was converted into a museum.
Today you can enjoy the sight of the town hall, which is one of the finest Gothic buildings in Poland. On the eastern facade you can, among other things, see the town hall astronomical clock from 1850 and decoration from around 1500. To the south you can see sculptures symbolizing life in the city, and to the west the 66 meter high town hall tower stands as part of the facade in this direction.
Inside there are several exciting rooms and halls. The Burgensalen/Sala Mieszczańska on the ground floor was where the citizens originally met. The council hall/Sala Rady from 1328-1333 was the city’s center of power for centuries; it was here that the city government met. The Prince’s Hall/Sala Książęca from the 1340s was arranged as a meeting place for the Silesian nobility. Riddersalen/Sala Wielka is the town hall’s largest hall, and many events such as parties and theater performances were held here.
Today, you can still visit the Old Town Hall as a museum. Here is the Museum of Civic Art/Muzeum Sztuki Mieszczańskiej. The museum’s focus is art and craft from Wrocław over time, and of course you can also see the interior of the building itself.
Cathedral Island, locally called Ostrów Tumski, is the oldest part of Wrocław. It was here that the city was established and grew from the 9th century on what was then an island in the river Oder. A small community was created, and here was, among other things, a smaller wooden church for the then around 1,500 inhabitants.
The island and the city got a cathedral relatively soon after that, as at the congress in Gniezno in the year 1000 it was decided to make Wrocław the seat of a bishop. In 1163, Bolesław I made High Cathedral Island and thereby the city his capital, and he ruled from here until his death in 1201.
In the 14th century, Cathedral Island was sold to the church, and as a result, the island came to lie outside the secular laws of the rest of the city, and this made it a haven for people who had fallen afoul of the law in Wrocław. A lot of construction was also done under the church, and it is the foundation for the neighborhood that you can take a walk in today.
The centerpiece of Ostrów Tumski is the Wrocław Cathedral with its two tall towers. It stands nicely at the end of the cozy street that leads from the bridge Most Tumski through the neighborhood to the church. Most Tumski from 1889 is in itself an attraction and a romantic place where couples in love have met and visited over time.
Wrocław Cathedral is the city’s cathedral and stands as one of Wrocław’s biggest attractions. The church’s official name is John the Baptist Cathedral/Archikatedra św. Jana Chrzciciela, and as a cathedral it is the seat of the Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Wrocław.
The cathedral is located in the neighborhood of Ostrów Tumski, which was formerly an island in the river Oder. The first church was built on the site in the middle of the 900s. This Bohemian church was replaced by a new one around the year 1000 after the Polish conquest of Silesia. This second church was destroyed in 1039 and a third was built. The current cathedral is the fourth church, as the predecessor was destroyed during the Mongol invasion in the 13th century.
Wrocław Cathedral was the first building in the city to be built of brick, and the cathedral was rebuilt and rebuilt until the 20th century. Therefore, today you can see architecture and furnishings from different styles and periods. In addition, there is the major reconstruction work after the devastation of the Second World War.
Inside, in the Gothic church room, you can see a number of fine sights. The altar room is particularly beautiful with sculptures, joinery and glass mosaics, and you can also see a number of fine chapels in the church from e.g. Gothic and Baroque. An example is the Baroque Electoral Chapel/Kaplica Elektorska, which was built 1716-1724 to a design by Johann Bernhard von Erlach and with frescoes by Carlo Innocenzo Carlone.
In the cathedral, you can also see the organ, which was originally part of the world’s largest organ. The original organ was installed in the Hundredårshallen/Hala Stulecia in Wrocław, from where it was divided into three organs after World War II. The organ in Wrocław Cathedral was installed as the largest in Poland, although it was only a part of the organ in Hala Stulecia.
Hala Stulecia is a hall that was built as Hundredårshallen/Jahrhunderthalle in Wrocław’s German era. It was the architect Max Berg who designed the hall, which was built in reinforced concrete in the years 1911-1913. The construction with the large dome was the largest of its kind in Germany at the time. Max Berg was, among other things, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.
In 1913, the hall was the center of the Centenary Exhibition marking the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III’s proclamation to the people in 1813; An Mein Volk. The proclamation was the starting point for Prussia’s fight against France in the Napoleonic Wars. And the hall’s name, Hala Stulecia, then also means the Centenary Hall after the commemoration of this proclamation, which took place in Breslau; the present Wrocław.
For the opening of Hala Stulecia, the world’s largest organ to date was installed in Hala Stulecia, and Max Reger composed a work for the event. It was the organ builder Wilhelm Sauer who was responsible for the construction, which was taken down after the Second World War and divided into three new organs. The organ in Wrocław Cathedral is one of the three new organs.
Hala Stulecia was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2006 as not least a fine example of modern architecture and engineering in reinforced concrete.
In front of Hala Stulecia, you can see a 90 meter high construction that bears the name Nålen/Iglica. Iglica was designed by the engineer Stanisław Hempel and erected in 1948 in connection with a Polish exhibition in Wrocław marking the reclaimed territories that had passed from Germany to Poland after the end of World War II.
The Multimedia Fountain is a magnificent multimedia and music fountain that was opened as Poland’s largest of its kind in 2009. It was also one of the largest in Europe and continues to attract many locals and tourists during the season.
The fountain takes up almost one hectare, and for the show, the plant’s lights are used together with around 300 water nozzles and 3 fire nozzles. The displayed water shows are accompanied by different music; from classical works to synthesizers and pop music.
In the summer season, there is usually a show every hour from 10.00 to 20.00, and the music program is varied throughout the day, just as the length of the individual shows is usually from approximately 5 minutes and up to 17 minutes.
Incidentally, the fountain was opened on 4 June 2009 to mark the 20th anniversary of the first democratic elections in Poland in recent times. It is located at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Hala Stulecia, which can be seen on the same occasion.
The New Town Hall in Wrocław was built in the middle of the 19th century as an extension of the city’s old town hall, which still stands as a neighboring building to the New Town Hall. It was a time when the population increased sharply, and this led to a larger administration, which needed more space. The old town hall was also not equipped for the new needs.
It was decided to build the New Town Hall in the middle of the ring road that today forms Wrocław’s market square. On this site was the market hall Leinwandhaus, whose function had become redundant. The Leinwandhaus was demolished in 1859-1860, and in the same year the Prussian architect Friedrich August Stüler started the construction of the New Town Hall. It was completed in 1864.
Stüler built the town hall in a neo-Gothic style, architecturally matching the market square’s old town hall with its Gothic expression. He also integrated elements from the demolished Leinwandhaus into the ornamentation.
Today, the New Town Hall is the seat of Wrocław’s mayor and city council. You can also visit the restaurant and microbrewery Spiż in the cozy cellars of the town hall building.
St. Elizabeth’s Basilica is one of the largest and oldest churches in Wrocław, and for centuries it was the city’s main Protestant church. Since 1946 it has been Catholic and serves as the city’s garrison church.
A church was already built on this site in the 11th century, and in the years 1220-1230 a Romanesque church was built, the foundations of which still remain today. The Mongols destroyed the church, and during the years 1242-1257 the current church was built, and it has later been rebuilt and expanded. On 19 November 1257, the bishop inaugurated the church and dedicated it to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who, among other things, was a princess.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the church was expanded in Gothic style with approximately the church room that you can see today, and in the middle of the following century a 130-metre high church tower was built, which was one of the tallest in Europe. In 1529, the church tower collapsed during a storm, and the replacement was a 90 meter high Renaissance tower.
Saint Elisabeth Basilica was relatively intact after the Second World War, but large parts of the interior were destroyed during a fire in 1976. However, the church was rebuilt, and therefore today you can still enjoy a Gothic church room with a high altar from 1653 in Baroque style. You can also see the large crucifix from the 15th century.
A special attraction in the church is the view from the tower. The viewing platform was established after the fire in 1976, and from here you are rewarded with an excellent view over Wrocław’s Old Town and the beautiful market square, Rynek, located immediately in front of the tower.
Saint Vincent Church is one of the large church buildings in central Wrocław. The Gothic church was founded by Duke Heinrich II as part of a Franciscan monastery for the monks who are believed to have been brought here from Prague around the year 1240.
The church was originally dedicated to Saint James and built in the Romanesque style. After a short period of construction, Heinrich II fell in the Battle of Legnica in the fight against the Mongols, and the church’s crypt was set up as his burial place. In the following centuries, the church was reconstructed and expanded, and it was during this period that the dominant Gothic style of the church was used.
It was also in the 15th and 16th centuries that a large monastery building with four wings was built in immediate connection with the north side of the church. Franciscan monks stayed here until the beginning of the 16th century, when the Reformation meant that they had to leave the place or become Protestants. The last Franciscan was moved in 1529, and the abandoned church was taken over by the Premonstratensian order. On this occasion it was dedicated to Saint Vincent.
In the years 1662-1674, the interior of St. Vincent Church was remodeled in beautiful baroque with, among other things, a new altar by Franz Zeller and Georg Czermak. The monastery buildings were also rebuilt in Baroque style with various decorations. The baroque reconstruction continued in the 18th century, when the Hochberg chapel on the south side of the church was built by Christoph Hackner in 1723-1727. The chapel was supposed to be the mausoleum of Count Ferdinand von Hochberg, who was not buried here, however.
The secularization of Prussia in 1810 meant that the church was converted into a parish church, and the associated monastery buildings were newly furnished as offices for the city’s courts.
During the Second World War, the church suffered great damage, and the reconstruction took place in stages until 2013, when the beautiful Hochberg chapel was completed. In the meantime, Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz had donated the church to the Greek Catholic congregation in Wrocław-Gdańsk in 1997, and Saint Vincent Church has continued that status.
The Sky Tower is a skyscraper that was built as Poland’s tallest building in the years 2007-2012. The high-rise had the status of the country’s tallest until 2020, when the Varso Tower in Warsaw surpassed the Sky Tower’s height of 212 meters.
Today there are i.a. offices and a shopping center in the Sky Tower, where visitors can also enjoy an unparalleled view from the observation deck on the 49th floor. From the glass terrace, located almost 200 meters above the ground, you get a panoramic view of Wrocław and the surrounding area. You can also see the Ślęża mountain and, in good weather, Chełmiec and Śnieżka.
Incidentally, the Sky Tower was built on the exact spot where Wrocław’s tallest building also previously stood. It was the Poltegor building from 1982, which had a building height of 92 metres. Businessman Leszek Czarnecki bought the Poltegor building and demolished it to make way for the Sky Tower.
Wrocław Opera is the city’s large and fine opera scene. The opera house was built as the Breslauer Stadttheater in 1841 as a replacement for the site’s old and somewhat smaller theater building, which Carl Gotthard Langhans had designed and built in 1782. Carl Ferdinand Langhans was responsible for the new building, and he was Carl Gotthard’s son.
The theater burned in 1865 and again in 1871, and both times the building was rebuilt during the restoration. The theater survived both world wars in the 20th century, but it suffered damage in 1997 when the river Oder and the canals of Wrocław overflowed its banks. However, this is not something you can see on the beautiful building today.
There were opera productions in Wrocław’s German era, and the first Polish production premiered on September 8, 1945. It happened with Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka. Today you can still go to the opera here, and during a performance you can enjoy the setting that exudes classical theater from the 19th century.
Wrocław Royal Palace was built as Breslauer Stadtschloss, and from 1750 it was the residence of the Prussian Hohenzollern in Breslau, then Wrocław. However, the oldest parts of the castle were built in 1719 as a residence for the ecclesiastical court chancellor Heinrich Gottfried von Spätgen.
The Prussian King Friedrich II acquired the building in 1750, and in 1752-1753 he expanded the facility with the current southern cross wing, designed by the Berlin architect Johann Boumann.
Later in the 18th century and in the middle of the 19th century, the castle complex was greatly expanded with wings to the southwest to the current Plac Wolności. These facilities were destroyed and demolished during and after the Second World War, while the castle’s fine baroque garden was recreated. The facility also includes the Protestant court church, located west of the castle.
The Wrocław Royal Palace was converted into a museum during the Weimar Republic, and the city of Breslau’s art collection was exhibited here. Today, Wrocław’s interesting city museum, Muzeum Miejskie Wrocławia, is housed in the beautiful setting. Here you can see exciting exhibitions and enjoy the former royal suites, which, among other things, counting rooms and halls from the Baroque and Rococo.
The castle church is also worth seeing. It was called Hofkirche until 1946 and today bears the name Church of God’s Providence/Kościół Opatrzności Bożej. The late Baroque church was built 1747-1750 with an oval floor plan and a bright and elegant interior.
Jelenia Góra is a city with a rich history, located in the Polish part of historic Silesia. Its history dates back to the 10th century, but it developed rapidly after gaining town rights in 1288. The city was strategically located on the trade routes between Bohemia and areas to the northeast.
There is a lot to see in Jelenia Góra, where city life not least takes place in the cozy streets around the central market square, where the town hall is located. You can also see some beautiful churches such as the Garrison Church and enjoy the view of the center and the surrounding area from the top of the Baszta Zamkowa tower.
Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój is a small town located as a suburb of Jelenia Góra. In the suburbs you can take a walk along a beautiful promenade and see the castle of the Schaffgotsch family, Pałac Schaffgotschów. The castle was built 1784-1788, and together with Cieplice’s spa park, it forms a beautiful ensemble.
In Cieplice Śląskie-Zdrój you can also enjoy the town’s hot spring water, which comes up with a temperature of around 90 degrees. The town was formerly known as the German Bad Warmbrunn, and the spa park Park Zdrojowy was built at the springs. Today you can enjoy the warm water in the Termy Cieplickie thermal bath, where the water is of course cooled to suitable temperatures.
Śnieżka is a characteristic mountain that sits as the peak of the Karkonosze mountain range that forms the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. You can see Śnieżka from a long distance, which at 1,603 meters is the highest point of the chain, and which rises significantly in the landscape above all other parts of the Karkonosze.
The mountain is called Śnieżka in Polish and Sněžka in Czech, and it is the highest point of the Czech Republic. It is also a mountain that is easy to climb. You can go to the top of the mountain from both the Polish and Czech sides and you will be rewarded with a wonderful view from the top. You can also take the cable car from the Czech side of the mountain.
Poznan is one of Poland’s great and historically significant cities. This means that many sights and activities await; museums, churches, shopping and other city activities and also special places such as the many preserved parts of the fortifications that made the former Festung Posen.
Poznan’s Old Town around the market square, Stary Rynek, is a lovely and cozy place for a walk. Here are beautifully decorated houses in line with the city’s old town hall as the central and probably most famous building. Stary Rynek itself is quite a large square with several monuments and more.
Katowice is a city located in the large Polish industrial area of Silesia. It was the large amounts of coal in the Silesian mountains that initially made Katowice a larger village when, after the Silesian War, it became Prussian in 1742. From the beginning of the 19th century, Katowice and this part of Silesia were industrialized with mining, steelworks, workshops and factories, and Katowice grew rapidly due to the industry and inflow of workers for the plants.
In the 1900s, Katowice became Polish again, and Polish soldiers arrived in the city on May 3, 1921. The local parliament was seated in Katowice, which thereby became the capital of the region. Germany annexed Katowice in 1939, and the city was under German control until liberation on January 27, 1945. Eight years later, for a period of three years, Katowice was renamed Stalinogród, the name was a tribute to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Powstańców Śląskich 2-4
arkadywroclawskie.pl
Rynek 31-32
feniks.wroc.pl
Plac Dominikański 3
galeria-dominikanska.pl
Legnicka 58
magnoliapark.pl
Świdnicka 40
renoma-wroclaw.pl
ul. Powstańców Śląskich 95
galeria.skytower.pl
Graniczna 2
wroclawfashionoutlet.com
Sucha 1
wroclavia.pl
Rynek, ul. Świdnicka, ul. Oławska
Ogród Zoologiczny we Wrocławiu
ul. Z. Wróblewskiego 1-5
zoo.wroclaw.pl
Ludkoland
ul. Z. Wróblewskiego 9
ludkoland.pl
Hydropolis
ul. Na Grobli 17
hydropolis.pl
Polinka
ul. Na Grobli 2
visitwroclaw.eu
Wrocławska Fontanna
Tereny wystawowe
Overview of Wroclaw
Wrocław is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Oder as one of Poland’s major cultural cities. For centuries, the city has been ruled by changing kingdoms, and it has left its mark on the city’s beautiful architecture and exciting history. There is thus a lot to catch up on as a tourist in the city.
The natural place to start is the city’s central marketplace, Rynek, where there are countless fine houses and famous buildings with the city’s town halls in the center. From the market square the streets lead out into the city center where you can see theaters, museums and churches.
The most important church is Wrocław Cathedral, located on Ostów Tumski, the oldest part of the city. In the old days, the place was an island in the Oder, but one of the river arms has been filled up today. You can see several beautiful churches, buildings, bridges and more at Ostrów Tumski.
There are several exciting things to see in and around Wrocław. If you want to visit other major cities, both Poznań, Łódź and Katowice are close by as opportunities for excursions. You can also go out into nature to, for example, the mountains Giant Mountains with the top Śnieżka, which you can relatively easily go to the top of and enjoy the view from here.
About the upcoming Wroclaw travel guide
About the travel guide
The Wroclaw travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Polish city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Wroclaw is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Wroclaw and Poland
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Wroclaw you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
Cathedral Island • Market Square • City Castle • Two City Halls
Overview of Wroclaw
Wrocław is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Oder as one of Poland’s major cultural cities. For centuries, the city has been ruled by changing kingdoms, and it has left its mark on the city’s beautiful architecture and exciting history. There is thus a lot to catch up on as a tourist in the city.
The natural place to start is the city’s central marketplace, Rynek, where there are countless fine houses and famous buildings with the city’s town halls in the center. From the market square the streets lead out into the city center where you can see theaters, museums and churches.
The most important church is Wrocław Cathedral, located on Ostów Tumski, the oldest part of the city. In the old days, the place was an island in the Oder, but one of the river arms has been filled up today. You can see several beautiful churches, buildings, bridges and more at Ostrów Tumski.
There are several exciting things to see in and around Wrocław. If you want to visit other major cities, both Poznań, Łódź and Katowice are close by as opportunities for excursions. You can also go out into nature to, for example, the mountains Giant Mountains with the top Śnieżka, which you can relatively easily go to the top of and enjoy the view from here.
About the upcoming Wroclaw travel guide
About the travel guide
The Wroclaw travel guide gives you an overview of the sights and activities of the Polish city. Read about top sights and other sights, and get a tour guide with tour suggestions and detailed descriptions of all the city’s most important churches, monuments, mansions, museums, etc.
Wroclaw is waiting for you, and at vamados.com you can also find cheap flights and great deals on hotels for your trip. You just select your travel dates and then you get flight and accommodation suggestions in and around the city.
Read more about Wroclaw and Poland
Buy the travel guide
Click the “Add to Cart” button to purchase the travel guide. After that you will come to the payment, where you enter the purchase and payment information. Upon payment of the travel guide, you will immediately receive a receipt with a link to download your purchase. You can download the travel guide immediately or use the download link in the email later.
Use the travel guide
When you buy the travel guide to Wroclaw you get the book online so you can have it on your phone, tablet or computer – and of course you can choose to print it. Use the maps and tour suggestions and you will have a good and content-rich journey.
The New Town Hall in Wrocław was built in the middle of the 19th century as an extension of the city’s old town hall, which still stands as a neighboring building to the New Town Hall. It was a time when the population increased sharply, and this led to a larger administration, which needed more space. The old town hall was also not equipped for the new needs.
It was decided to build the New Town Hall in the middle of the ring road that today forms Wrocław’s market square. On this site was the market hall Leinwandhaus, whose function had become redundant. The Leinwandhaus was demolished in 1859-1860, and in the same year the Prussian architect Friedrich August Stüler started the construction of the New Town Hall. It was completed in 1864.
Stüler built the town hall in a neo-Gothic style, architecturally matching the market square’s old town hall with its Gothic expression. He also integrated elements from the demolished Leinwandhaus into the ornamentation.
Today, the New Town Hall is the seat of Wrocław’s mayor and city council. You can also visit the restaurant and microbrewery Spiż in the cozy cellars of the town hall building.
St. Elizabeth’s Basilica is one of the largest and oldest churches in Wrocław, and for centuries it was the city’s main Protestant church. Since 1946 it has been Catholic and serves as the city’s garrison church.
A church was already built on this site in the 11th century, and in the years 1220-1230 a Romanesque church was built, the foundations of which still remain today. The Mongols destroyed the church, and during the years 1242-1257 the current church was built, and it has later been rebuilt and expanded. On 19 November 1257, the bishop inaugurated the church and dedicated it to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, who, among other things, was a princess.
At the beginning of the 14th century, the church was expanded in Gothic style with approximately the church room that you can see today, and in the middle of the following century a 130-metre high church tower was built, which was one of the tallest in Europe. In 1529, the church tower collapsed during a storm, and the replacement was a 90 meter high Renaissance tower.
Saint Elisabeth Basilica was relatively intact after the Second World War, but large parts of the interior were destroyed during a fire in 1976. However, the church was rebuilt, and therefore today you can still enjoy a Gothic church room with a high altar from 1653 in Baroque style. You can also see the large crucifix from the 15th century.
A special attraction in the church is the view from the tower. The viewing platform was established after the fire in 1976, and from here you are rewarded with an excellent view over Wrocław’s Old Town and the beautiful market square, Rynek, located immediately in front of the tower.
Saint Vincent Church is one of the large church buildings in central Wrocław. The Gothic church was founded by Duke Heinrich II as part of a Franciscan monastery for the monks who are believed to have been brought here from Prague around the year 1240.
The church was originally dedicated to Saint James and built in the Romanesque style. After a short period of construction, Heinrich II fell in the Battle of Legnica in the fight against the Mongols, and the church’s crypt was set up as his burial place. In the following centuries, the church was reconstructed and expanded, and it was during this period that the dominant Gothic style of the church was used.
It was also in the 15th and 16th centuries that a large monastery building with four wings was built in immediate connection with the north side of the church. Franciscan monks stayed here until the beginning of the 16th century, when the Reformation meant that they had to leave the place or become Protestants. The last Franciscan was moved in 1529, and the abandoned church was taken over by the Premonstratensian order. On this occasion it was dedicated to Saint Vincent.
In the years 1662-1674, the interior of St. Vincent Church was remodeled in beautiful baroque with, among other things, a new altar by Franz Zeller and Georg Czermak. The monastery buildings were also rebuilt in Baroque style with various decorations. The baroque reconstruction continued in the 18th century, when the Hochberg chapel on the south side of the church was built by Christoph Hackner in 1723-1727. The chapel was supposed to be the mausoleum of Count Ferdinand von Hochberg, who was not buried here, however.
The secularization of Prussia in 1810 meant that the church was converted into a parish church, and the associated monastery buildings were newly furnished as offices for the city’s courts.
During the Second World War, the church suffered great damage, and the reconstruction took place in stages until 2013, when the beautiful Hochberg chapel was completed. In the meantime, Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz had donated the church to the Greek Catholic congregation in Wrocław-Gdańsk in 1997, and Saint Vincent Church has continued that status.
The Sky Tower is a skyscraper that was built as Poland’s tallest building in the years 2007-2012. The high-rise had the status of the country’s tallest until 2020, when the Varso Tower in Warsaw surpassed the Sky Tower’s height of 212 meters.
Today there are i.a. offices and a shopping center in the Sky Tower, where visitors can also enjoy an unparalleled view from the observation deck on the 49th floor. From the glass terrace, located almost 200 meters above the ground, you get a panoramic view of Wrocław and the surrounding area. You can also see the Ślęża mountain and, in good weather, Chełmiec and Śnieżka.
Incidentally, the Sky Tower was built on the exact spot where Wrocław’s tallest building also previously stood. It was the Poltegor building from 1982, which had a building height of 92 metres. Businessman Leszek Czarnecki bought the Poltegor building and demolished it to make way for the Sky Tower.
Wrocław Opera is the city’s large and fine opera scene. The opera house was built as the Breslauer Stadttheater in 1841 as a replacement for the site’s old and somewhat smaller theater building, which Carl Gotthard Langhans had designed and built in 1782. Carl Ferdinand Langhans was responsible for the new building, and he was Carl Gotthard’s son.
The theater burned in 1865 and again in 1871, and both times the building was rebuilt during the restoration. The theater survived both world wars in the 20th century, but it suffered damage in 1997 when the river Oder and the canals of Wrocław overflowed its banks. However, this is not something you can see on the beautiful building today.
There were opera productions in Wrocław’s German era, and the first Polish production premiered on September 8, 1945. It happened with Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka. Today you can still go to the opera here, and during a performance you can enjoy the setting that exudes classical theater from the 19th century.
Wrocław Royal Palace was built as Breslauer Stadtschloss, and from 1750 it was the residence of the Prussian Hohenzollern in Breslau, then Wrocław. However, the oldest parts of the castle were built in 1719 as a residence for the ecclesiastical court chancellor Heinrich Gottfried von Spätgen.
The Prussian King Friedrich II acquired the building in 1750, and in 1752-1753 he expanded the facility with the current southern cross wing, designed by the Berlin architect Johann Boumann.
Later in the 18th century and in the middle of the 19th century, the castle complex was greatly expanded with wings to the southwest to the current Plac Wolności. These facilities were destroyed and demolished during and after the Second World War, while the castle’s fine baroque garden was recreated. The facility also includes the Protestant court church, located west of the castle.
The Wrocław Royal Palace was converted into a museum during the Weimar Republic, and the city of Breslau’s art collection was exhibited here. Today, Wrocław’s interesting city museum, Muzeum Miejskie Wrocławia, is housed in the beautiful setting. Here you can see exciting exhibitions and enjoy the former royal suites, which, among other things, counting rooms and halls from the Baroque and Rococo.
The castle church is also worth seeing. It was called Hofkirche until 1946 and today bears the name Church of God’s Providence/Kościół Opatrzności Bożej. The late Baroque church was built 1747-1750 with an oval floor plan and a bright and elegant interior.
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