Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Monuments & mounds
Częstochowa
On a bronze bench on the Avenue of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Aleja NMP) sits a bearded doctor, a book and a stethoscope beside him. This is Dr Władysław Biegański (1857–1917), voted "Częstochowa's Citizen of the Century" by local residents…
Monuments & mounds
Siewierz
On the market square in Siewierz, two bespectacled gentlemen sit on a bronze bench: the composer Stanisław Hadyna and the poet Zdzisław Pyzik. They wrote the song "Od Siewierza jechał wóz" ("A Cart Was Coming from Siewierz"), performed for…
Monuments & mounds
Łomża
On the Old Market Square in Łomża sits a bronze Hanka Bielicka – wearing, of course, a hat with an enormous brim, her trademark throughout her career. Her signature is on the backrest and the seat beside her is free, so you can sit down ne…
Monuments & mounds
Sulejówek
Near the Milusin villa, the only home Józef Piłsudski ever owned, stands a bronze monument its sculptor called "A History Lesson". It was unveiled on 10 June 2010. The Marshal sits in an armchair with his younger daughter perched on a benc…
Monuments & mounds
Ełk
On one of the benches in Ełk's Copernicus Park sits someone who, as the Polish saying goes, "stopped the Sun and moved the Earth". The figure of Nicolaus Copernicus waits for you to sit down beside him, while stone spheres – the Sun and th…
Monuments & mounds
Pszczyna
On the Market Square in Pszczyna, a few steps from the castle gate, a bronze Princess Daisy sits on a bench – leaving a free seat beside her for anyone who wants a photo. The monument was unveiled on 1 May 2009, and miniature versions of i…
Monuments & mounds
Siedlce
In front of the historic Municipal Public Library building at 5 Piłsudskiego Street in Siedlce, a bronze Stefan Żeromski sits on a bench. The bench monument was unveiled in 2011, when the library reopened after renovation for its 90th anni…
Monuments & mounds
Żary
On the market square in Żary, next to the town hall and in front of the Art Exhibition Hall, a Baroque composer sits on a bronze bench with a violin in his hands. The Georg Philipp Telemann bench was unveiled on 17 April 2010, the town's 7…
Monuments & mounds
Bydgoszcz
The nude archer drawing her bow opposite the Polish Theatre is today the best-known symbol of Bydgoszcz, but for her first decades she was a local scandal. Between the wars the city council even voted to remove her. The bronze figure by th…
Monuments & mounds
Ślesin
On the road to Sompolno in Ślesin stands a Neoclassical triumphal arch that locals call Napoleon's Gate. It was built in 1811 (some sources say 1812) in honour of the French emperor, who had passed through Ślesin four years earlier. The Po…
Monuments & mounds
Radziechowy
The stainless-steel cross on top of Matyska gleams in the sun and can be seen from far away. The hill (609 m above sea level) above Radziechowy, about 7 km south-west of Żywiec town centre, is the last distinct high point on a ridge of the…
Monuments & mounds
Olsztyn
At the entrance to Olsztyn near Częstochowa, travellers are greeted by a seven-metre wooden Guardian Angel. The sculpture by folk artist Jan Wewiór was set up on Pańska Góra hill in 2007 and has since become the emblem of this small Jurass…
Monuments & mounds
Stary Sącz
The Papal Altar in Stary Sącz (STAH-ri sonch) is a two-story wooden structure on the town's riverside meadows in southern Poland, where Pope John Paul II canonized St. Kinga on June 16, 1999. Built as a temporary stage for the Mass, it was…
Monuments & mounds
Sandomierz
The Ring in Sandomierz is one of the town's most unusual monuments: an openwork wrought-iron setting holding a huge cabochon of striped flint, in which you can see the letter "S" from Sandomierz's logo. The structure weighs 80 kg and has s…
Monuments & mounds
Warszawa
The Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw (Pomnik Bohaterów Getta) is one of Europe's most important Holocaust memorials: a massive stone block more than 10 meters tall, with reliefs by sculptor Nathan Rapoport, honoring the Warsaw Ghett…
Monuments & mounds
Gniezno
The Monument to Bolesław the Brave stands on Lech Hill, on the square in front of Gniezno Cathedral and opposite the Primate's Palace. The bronze figure of Poland's first crowned ruler, wearing a crown and resting on a sword, is 4.75 m tal…
Monuments & mounds
Szczebrzeszyn
"W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie" ("In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reeds") – this line from a poem by Jan Brzechwa is known to every Polish child and every foreigner who has tried to master Polish pronunciation; it is…
Monuments & mounds
Góra Świętej Anny
The Monument to the Silesian Insurgents on St. Anne's Mountain (Góra Świętej Anny, roughly "GOO-ra SHVYEN-tey AH-nee") is a massive granite memorial by sculptor Xawery Dunikowski, unveiled in 1955 above a former quarry turned giant amphith…
Monuments & mounds
Jarocin
A boot more than two metres tall, with a high leg, stands by one of Jarocin's busier junctions and tells you at once where you are. The "glan" – the heavy leather boot worn by the punks who flocked to Jarocin's concerts – became the symbol…
Monuments & mounds
Susiec
Kargul and Pawlak, the heroes of the cult Polish comedy "Sami swoi" ("All Friends Here"), stand in Susiec for a reason. This is where Sylwester Chęciński, director of the comedy trilogy about two feuding neighbours from beyond the Bug rive…
Monuments & mounds
Marcinkowo Górne
Nagi książę pędzący konno ze strzałą w plecach — ten nietypowy pomnik przypomina o jednym z najbardziej dramatycznych wydarzeń średniowiecznej Polski.
Monuments & mounds
Bolesławiec
A dark obelisk about 10 metres tall, guarded by four lions, stands by the old town walls of Bolesławiec. It commemorates the Russian field marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Napoleon's nemesis, who died here in 1813. The monument was designed by Kar…
Monuments & mounds
Toruń
Since 1853 a bronze Copernicus has stood in the south-eastern corner of Toruń's Old Town Market Square, one finger raised to the sky. The city calls it the most popular meeting point in Toruń and the most photographed sight in town. It pay…
Monuments & mounds
Frombork
Copernicus with a sprig of lily of the valley in his hand, six metres tall and distinctly unconventional: Mieczysław Welter's monument, unveiled in 1973, divided opinion from the start. Critics compared it to a block topped with a small he…