Gliwice, Poland

Gliwice is located in southern Poland, about 25 km (16 miles) west of Katowice.  The city was founded in 1250 and it's home to just over 180.000 people.  Gliwice is one of the oldest cities in Upper Silesia, is an important industrial centre and a university town.  On Friday evening, we hopped on a train for a weekend away.

Gliwice where is WWII began.  Prior to the war, the city was called Gleiwitz and it was a part of Germany.  On 31 August 1939, German SS officers, wearing Polish military uniforms, commode a false-flag attack on the radio station.  Nazi Germany used this as an excuse to invade Poland the next day which was the start of WWII.

The Gliwice Radio Tower is the world's last wooden radio tower.  It is 118 metres (387 feet) tall and it is part of a local museum and a registered historic monument.

The Market Square dates back to the late 13th century making it one of the oldest medieval squares in Upper Silesia.

In the centre of the square is the neoclassic town hall and a fountain.  Around the square are a number of restaurants and cafes.

Saint Bartholomew's Church dates back to the late 1200s.  It was rebuilt in the 15th century and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Christ the King Church is a Catholic Church that was consecrated in 1935.

The All Saints Church was built in the late 15th to early 16th century.  The exterior is Gothic and the interior is Baroque.  The tower is about 63 metres (207 feet) tall.

The Church of the Holy Cross is a Baroque era parish church that was built in 1623.  It is part of a monastery complex and is a registered cultural heritage monument.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a wooden church that was built in 1493.  It was moved to its current location in 1925, near an old German cemetery. 

At Starokozielski Park is the Memorial Sarcophagus of French Soldiers.  It is a war memorial for 71 French soldiers who died while serving in Upper Silesia in 1920-1922 following WWI.

The Jews House of Remembrance is a branch of the Gliwice Museum focused on the history of the Jews in Upper Silesia.  The building was completed in 1903 and located next to an old Jewish cemetery.

There are over 600 tombstones in the cemetery.

Back in 1929 there were approximately 2.200 Jews in Gliwice.  Only 25 survived WWII with all of them being in mixed marriages with gentiles.

The Red Army Cemetery was established in 1951.  

There are about 2500 Soviet soldiers buried here.

The Weichmann Textile House was built in 1922.  It was built as a textile and department store.  In 1988it was designated as a historic monument.

The 19th century Chopin Park is home to the municipal Palm House, one of the country's largest.  

The brick water tower was built in 1918.

Vila Caro was built in 1885 for a local industrialist.  Today it is a museum.

Piast Castle was built in the mid-1300s.  Today it is part of the city museum.

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul was completed in 1900.  The church became a cathedral in 1992.

Gliwice has a street art scene and we found an industrial area that was full of various murals.

We enjoyed our little Polish city break weekend.  Well worth the trip.

Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

Banská Bystrica is a city in central Slovakia and is located about halfway between Bratislava and Košice, the country's two largest cities.  Banská Bystrica sits on the Hron River, encircled by three mountain ranges, and with 76,000 inhabitants it is the 6th largest city in Slovakia.  

The town was founded by German settlers in 1255 and quickly became a copper mining town.  During the Austro-Hungarian Empire it was called Neusohl until 1867 when it took the Hungarian name of Besztercebánya and Banská Bystrica has been the official name since 1920.

During WWII, when Slovakia was a Nazi puppet state, Banská Bystrica became the centre of Slovakian anti-Nazi opposition when the Slovak National Uprising (SNP) began in August 1944.  The SNP was put down a couple of months later before being occupied by the Germans until Red Army and Romanian troops liberated the city in March 1945.

Today, it is a lovely university town and with warm summers and cold winters, the surrounding mountains make it a popular tourist destination.

SNP Square is the town's main square and home to many of the town's historical sights with several cafes and restaurants.

The clock tower was built in 1552 and it leans 40 cm (16 inches).

The plague column was erected in the 18th century.  I read that in 1964 it had to be temporarily moved when Nikita Khrushchev visited because the communists didn't want a religious symbol in the background when he gave a speech.

The town hall was originally built in the 16th century but has had numerous renovations over the years.  The facade has both Renaissance and Baroque features and a modern glass pyramid on the roof.

The "Wolf's Lunch Building" used to the town hall.  It was built around 1400 at the start of the 15th century.  I heard a couple of different stories about where the name came from but more or less that from this spot there was a tradition of feeding the poor and that included the wolves from the surrounding forests as well.  

There's a black obelisk, unveiled in 1945, to commemorate the Soviet and Romanian soldiers that liberated the city.  Somehow it is the property of the Russian Federation but I don't get how.  I heard that the granite used to build it came from the stockpile that Hitler planned to use fr victory monuments in Moscow and Leningrad, which never came about.  Not sure if this is true or not but an interesting twist.

The Thurzo House dates back to the 15th century and it is one of the city's oldest buildings.  It was once the headquarters for a mining company and today it hosts a museum.

The St. Francis Xavier Cathedral was consecrated in 1715 and it has been the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese since 1776.  The exterior was renovated in 1999.   

The St. Elizabeth Church was built in 1303.  It's also known as the Spiral Church because it was built next to the hospital for sick and unfit miners.  

The Central Slovakia Gallery is one of the oldest regional galleries in the country.  The collection focuses on modern art.

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in the mid-13th century.  It is also known as the German Church because it had been built by wealthy Germans townspeople on the foundation of a basilica.  It's the oldest building in town.

The Kammerhof building used to be one of the town's three breweries.  The building was renovated in 1954 and since 1958 it houses museum exhibitions.

The Bishop's Palace was built in 1776.  It boggles my American brain that this building is as old as the U.S. Declaration of Independence and this isn't even the oldest building in town.

Apparently we had just missed "American Day in Banská Bystrica."

Józef Dekrét Matejovie Park was founded in 1971.  It's named after a pioneer of modern forestry during the 18th and 19th centuries who contributed to forest improvements that had been devised due to local mining.

The State Opera house was completed in 1929.  It is one of three state opera houses in the country.

The Museum of the Slovak National Uprising was impressive.  It opened in 1955 and it is one of the reasons that I wanted to visit the town.  It did not disappoint.  Very interesting and here's a short video I found on YouTube. 

©goguliver.sk

Banská Bystrica had been on my list of places to visit for more than 10 years.  We really enjoyed it and I'd like to explore a bit more of Slovakia.  We also took a day trip out to visit nearby Hronsek and Slovenská Ľupča.

Žabovřesky Walk

A while ago I found a map for a self-guided walk of Žabovřesky at the Tourist Information Office.  Since yesterday was Labour Day so decided to get some fresh air and go for a walk.  

Žabovřesky is one of Brno city districts, next to where I live, that covers 4,35 km² (about 1.7 miles²).  It dates back to the Middle Ages.  It was an independent municipality until it was annexed to Brno in 1919.  The name translates to "Frog screams."

Kounicovy koleje are student dormitories that were built in 1922.  Following the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, on 17 November 1939, about 200 students were taken from the dormitory and sent to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.  From 1940, the Gestapo used the facilities for interrogations and as a prison.  Tens of thousands of prisoners passed through the prison and at least 800 people died here.

After Brno was liberated, it became a prison for Nazis and collaborators from May to September 1945.  During this time at least 300 people died there from torture and were buried in mass graves at the Central Cemetery.    

In 1978, the dorms were declared a national cultural monument and in the garden is a memorial for the victims and to victory over Fascism.  

Since 1999, the dorms belong to the Brno University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Across the street from the dormitories is the headquarters of the Národní úřad pro kybernetickou a informační bezpečnost (NÚKIB).  The National Office for Cyber and Information Security is the central office for cybersecurity and cryptography.  NÚKIB has jurisdiction over the National Security Centre (NCKB).

Bohuslav Fuchs House was built in 1928, by the renowned architect who worked from a private studio in his villa.

In 1929, he resigned from his position as the city's main architect but continued to work from his home office.  He then connected his villa to the neighbouring house. 

Kino Lucerna is began screening films on 29 May 1915.  The single-storey Art Nouveau building still functions as a single-screen movie house.  It is the oldest operating cinema in Brno and the second oldest in Czechland.  

The Church of Our Lady Help of Christians was built in 1994 and consecrated in 1995.  The 500 seat church was built on the original site of Church of the Salesian Order.  The original church was built in 1939 but the order was banned in the 1950s by the Communist regime.

Sono Centrum is a multi-purpose facility that opened in 2016. The  "Death Star" is a nine-story building that combines a hotel, a music club, a conference hall and a restaurant.  

The Masaryk University Faculty of Law opened in 1919 and is one of four law schools in the country.  The present building opened in 1932 until 1939 when the Gestapo made it their headquarters until 1945.  Classrooms were used as cells and interrogation rooms.  Eventually the building was used by the Military Academy until after the Velvet Revolution in 1989 when it was returned to the Law Faculty. 

In 2010, a monument of former President Edvard Beneš was unveiled in front of the faculty.  The statue cost 1,6 million Kč (~$77K) and ame at the request of members of the Czechoslovak Legionnaires' Association and the Association of Czechoslovak Foreign Pilots 1939-1945.  Although not at some controversy as the Beneš Decrees played a significant role in relocating ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after the war. This is locally know as the Brno Death March.  Later this year it will be 75 years since he passed away.

The Chapel of St. Wenceslas was built in 1906 and is dedicated to the patron saint of Czechland.  The chapel facade is a protected cultural monument and the the building was renovated in 2018.

The Dušan Jurkovič Villa was built in 1906 by one of the best 19th century architects in Central Europe.  

Wilsonův les, Wilson's Forest, is a 34,4 hectare (85 acre) forest park on the southern edge of the Žabovřesky.  In 1888 it was called Kaiserwald, the Imperial Forest, to honour Emperor Franz Joseph I who was celebrating the 40th anniversary of his reign.  In 1918, it was renamed in honour of American President Woodrow Wilson who supported the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia.  During WWII it was called Kaiserwald again and from 1953 to 1991 it was known as Jirásek's Forest after writer Alois Jirásek.  I guess having a forest named after an American President isn't something that would have been something favoured by the Communist regime.

From the hill you get a great view of the city.

There's quite a bit to see just walking around Žabovřwsky.  Of course I supposed it couldn't be called "Frog Screams" if there wasn't some kind of frog motif.  

The art nouveau building, built in 1908, has a golden frog at the entrance.

The weather was perfect so it was great to walk around the neighbourhood all day.  Definitely need to explore some other Brno neighbourhoods as well.