German archictecture and Polish culture combine in this wonderful city of gnomes, nightlife and non-stop festivals. Duncan Rhodes reports back from one of his favourite small cities. Something of a bastard son in Poland , Wroclaw pronounced Vrots-warv was born to Slavic parents but raised in Germany as the city of Breslau — before being handed back to Poland as a pile of rubble in the wake of WWII.
An inglorious end of an era, the city has been busy reconstructing itself ever since, and whereas the glorious Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance Market Square check our photos here!
Even then you should still be able to take in the Gothic Town Hall , which is on the square itself. A waltz around the interior reveals some splendid anterooms and temporary art exhibitions, whilst on the outside pay note to the astronomical clock anything Prague can do… and townspeople motifs. Housed in an ugly Modernist cyclinder the Panorama is a vast circular painting commemorating the fateful occasion when some Polski peasants rose up and defied the odds to whoop some Ruski rump sadly a case of winning the battle, losing the war.
Audio tour lasts 30 mins. Just nearby find the National Museum you can enter for free with your Panorama ticket with a full spectrum of Polish art, whilst a short walk North will take you across the Oder river to Ostrow Tumski cathedral island where you can ascend the twin towers of St. To this purpose none surpass Mleczarnia with its flickering candlelight, old Jewish portraits and superb smoked-salmon toasties. The White Stork Synagogue occupies the small square behind it.
A geeky alternative would be a trip to the Post and Telecommunications Museum , with its mind-bogglingly complex yet low-tech machinery and a good history in English of the Polish postal service.
