Discover places worth seeing â from historic sites to mountain trails.
Selected city: bialystok
Palaces
BiaĆystok
In the 19th century more than a hundred statues disappeared from the gardens of Branicki Palace â reportedly because the nude figures might corrupt the pupils of the tsarist Institute for Young Ladies of Noble Birth that had moved into theâŠ
Churches & monasteries
BiaĆystok
St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in BiaĆystok is the city's main Orthodox church and the seat of the BiaĆystokâGdaĆsk diocese of the Polish Orthodox Church. Its white classical facade, the silhouette of its dome and bell tower, and its fresâŠ
Hidden gemChurches & monasteries
BiaĆystok
An openwork tower topped by a figure of the Virgin Mary on a crown rises over central BiaĆystok from the hill on Lipowa Street. St Roch's Basilica was built as a church-monument to Poland's regained independence and is one of the key worksâŠ
Hidden gemChurches & monasteries
BiaĆystok
The walls and domes of this church are shaped like the tongues of fire that descended on the apostles at Pentecost â hence its dedication. The Church of the Holy Spirit in BiaĆystok's Wysoki Stoczek district is considered the largest OrthoâŠ
Hidden gemChurches & monasteries
BiaĆystok
In the Wysoki Stoczek district of BiaĆystok stands a church that looks Baroque but is only a little over thirty years old. The Church of the Lord's Resurrection was built in 1991â1996 as an echo of a lost church in Berezwecz, in what is noâŠ
Hidden gemMuseums
BiaĆystok
BiaĆystok's town hall was never home to the city authorities â from the start it was a market hall full of stalls. In 1940 the Soviet authorities demolished it to make room for a statue of Stalin, and today's building is a post-war reconstâŠ
Churches & monasteries
BiaĆystok
Its crystal-shaped dome is meant to evoke the imagery of the Book of Revelation, and beneath it parishioners spent years pouring foundations and carrying bricks themselves. The Orthodox Church of the Resurrection in BiaĆystok's LeĆna DolinâŠ
Landmarks
BiaĆystok
On busy Jana PawĆa II Avenue, at No. 62, stands a small Neoclassical rotunda with a domed roof and a columned portico that locals call Napoleon's House (Domek Napoleona). The name comes from a romantic legend â in reality it was a customsâŠ
Other
BiaĆystok
Right next to KoĆciuszko Market Square, a stretch of pavement in BiaĆystok turns into a guide to the history of Polish blues. The slabs of Blues Alley (Aleja Bluesa) carry the names of people who played, recorded and championed the genre ââŠ
Museums
BiaĆystok
"I was brought up as an idealist; I was taught that all people are brothers," Ludwik Zamenhof wrote years later â while recalling that on the streets of BiaĆystok he saw at every step a division into Poles, Russians, Germans and Jews. TheâŠ
Churches & monasteries
BiaĆystok
BiaĆystok Cathedral (pronounced "bee-AH-wih-stok"), formally the Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the main Catholic church of northeastern Poland and the most recognizable building in BiaĆystok. LocalâŠ
Museums
BiaĆystok
The Sybir Memorial Museum in BiaĆystok (pronounced "bee-AH-wih-stok") is one of Poland's most powerful modern history museums. It tells the story of Poles and other citizens of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who were exiled, imprisâŠ
Other
BiaĆystok
For almost sixty years BiaĆystok's symphony musicians played without a home of their own â in a theatre, in a small palace, in an old hall on PodleĆna Street. Today they have one of the most modern music buildings in this part of Europe: aâŠ
Gardens
BiaĆystok
The parks of BiaĆystok (pronounced roughly "bya-WIS-tok") are the easiest way to understand why this northeastern Polish city calls itself one of the greenest in the country. Right in the center, a few minutes' walk from the main square, aâŠ
Old towns & squares
BiaĆystok
KoĆciuszko Market Square (Rynek KoĆciuszki) is the main square of BiaĆystok (say "BYAH-wis-tok"), the capital of the Podlasie region in northeastern Poland, about 200 km (125 miles) northeast of Warsaw. This long, car-free promenade centerâŠ
Historic sites
BiaĆystok
The Jewish Heritage Trail in BiaĆystok (pronounced "bee-AH-wih-stok") is a marked walking route through the places that tell the story of Jewish life in this northeastern Polish city: synagogues, industrialists' villas, old neighborhoods,âŠ