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Thanks to its convenient location on the Paris – Moscow European Road, Poznań can be easily reached from anywhere in Europe – whether by train or by private car. The visit to the cosmopolitan and hospitable city is always worthwhile. Everywhere you will find cozy pubs and cafes, and since there are a good dozen universities in Poznan, the cityscape is youthful. Of the approximately 600,000 inhabitants, 120,000 are students.
Poznań is located in western Poland on the left bank of the Wartha River, about 300 km east of Berlin. With a population of 540,000, Poznań is the fifth largest city in Poland and the historical capital of the Wielkopolska province (Greater Poland) and the voivodeship of the same name. Today Poznań is an important centre for education, culture, trade and industry. The university city is also the largest transport hub between Berlin and Warsaw. Poznań was a candidate for the European Capital of Culture 2016.
No other city is more closely connected with Polish nationality than Poznan. Already in the 9th century, the Slavic tribe of the Polans built a castle on an island of the Warta. In 968, just two years after Poland’s adoption of Christianity, Prince Mieszko I of Poland chose the place as the seat of his first bishop. The baptism of Poland paved the way for the country to enter the Western cultural circle. The newly created settlement received the name “Ostrów Tumski” (cathedral Island) and became the second important center of the Polish duchy, next to Gniezno. In the same year, the first church was built on the island. Later, a cathedral (Basilica of St. Peter and Paul) was built here, in the Golden Chapel of which both Mieszko I and his son Boleslaw Chrobry (“the Brave”), who was crowned the first Polish king in 1025, found their final resting place.
You should start the city tour with this oldest part of the city and definitely also visit the Archdiocesan Museum located at the cathedral with its rich collection of valuable liturgical objects, medieval sculptures and paintings by the famous Polish painter Leon Wyczółkowski.
What is Poznań Poland known for?
Is Posen in Poland or Germany?
Is Poznań German or Polish?
Is Poznań a city or state?
