Français 
Deutsch 
Español 
Italiano Gdansk 
Things to see and do
Organise your stay
Gdansk, the “Gem of the Baltic” :
Nearby tourist sites
Nearby hotels
-
BEST WESTERN Hotel Bonum from54 €
Book -
hotel mercure gdansk stare miasto (previously mercure hevelius) from269 PLN
Book -
Gryf from25 €
Book
Gdansk, the “Gem of the Baltic”
Gdansk, the “Gem of the Baltic”
Marie Lecocq et Janusz Groth - 2007-10-01
A mild aroma of iodine hangs in the air in Gdansk, originating from the nearby sea that has shaped the identity of the thousand-year-old city. Water, an element whose riches are well tapped, has maintained its central role in the life of the inhabitants of Gdansk. People sail on it in the numerous canals, fish in it, extract precious amber from it, and cool off in it during the summer season. Water reigns over the city, guiding us, and revealing the surprising facets of this Nordic gem.
The seafront
We start by taking the temperature of this sea that is reputedly so cold. That’s certainly no myth, but the pleasantly soft feel of the very slightly iodised water also deserves a mention.
In Gdansk, there are no luxurious villas or rows of hotels overlooking the coast. During the Soviet era, social housing was built on the seafront, giving rise to working-class districts. At the foot of these large, multicoloured blocks of concrete, vegetable gardens and orchards invaded the unused parcels of land.
Ten years ago, the city reclaimed this fertile land in order to create an immense park, which was named after American President Ronald Reagan.
The apple, plum and other fruit trees were retained, and a multitude of plant species were introduced. It is now a unique space with a wild look about it, an ideal place for an end-of-day stroll between the sea and the city.
In the surrounding area, property developers’ cranes now echo the distant cranes of the harbour, which can be seen from the Przymorze (which means “near the sea” in Polish) pier.
The Tròjmiasto: a trio of beautiful cities by the water
From this pier, you can also make out to the north the two towns that are inseparable from Gdansk: Sopot and Gdynia, without which Gdansk would not be Gdansk. This urban alliance forms what is known as the Tròjmiasto or “Tri-City”.
Whilst charming Gdansk proudly flaunts its colourful ambers and façades, discreet Gdynia deals and plays the musical hand in its city centre clubs and theatre.
At the harbour, the somewhat overly grey shipbuilding landscape has something majestic about it: it is pleasant to stroll along the quays at sunset.
Here you can get up close to the ORP Błyskawica, an impressive Polish destroyer – 114 metres long and nigh on 2,000 tonnes of steel – that is now moored a stone’s throw from the maritime museum.
Meanwhile, Sopot lights up the Tròjmiasto’s nights, with its restaurants and clubs. When the sun goes down on the cheerful seaside resort, an endless stream of passers-by come and go along Monte Cassino. All along this pedestrian street, which runs from the main square to the seafront, people are choosing a terrace, dining, getting ready to party.
There are bathers coming back from the beach, others still sauntering along the Mole, the lovely long pier (511 metres) built during the spa resort’s tourist boom and extended through the decades. The elegant Art Nouveau façade of the Orbis Grand Hotel, a spa building dating back to the late 1920s, looms above.
Then, slowly heading up towards the town, you cross Kuracyjny square, where works are still ongoing, with notable new constructions such as the brand new white arcade that houses new tourist shops. Behind the stalls, people speak a little English, more and more German, but mainly Polish, since tourism is still mainly domestic.
The thousand-year-old gem
Then there is the city of Gdansk, this majestic centre that was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War and returned, not to its inhabitants (after the war, the Germans, who were then in the majority, emigrated en masse) but to a new Polish population, resettled here by the authorities.
Sketches, paintings, and some photographs made it possible to restore the port city to its former architectural glory. Just 10 years ago, Gdansk celebrated its 1,000th anniversary.
Could it have been called the “Venice of the North”, like Saint Petersburg, with its web of canals in the city? No, it is less Italian than its Russian neighbour, more Nordic with its rows of tall façades, its gables – in short, closer to Amsterdam than to the capital of the tsars.
To comprehend the centre, to understand how it feeds on its mother, the Baltic, and to be able to draw its contours in your mind, nothing beats a tour by canoe.
It costs next to nothing to hire the equipment at stands in the area around the centre. In just a few strokes of the paddle, you find yourself surrounded by nature. Only the zigzags and ruins covered by vegetation serve as a reminder that you are skirting the old fortifications.
The section near the shipyard is quite simply spectacular: a fascinating, colossal landscape of cranes and liners, berthed or under construction.
In the early 1980s, this gigantic womb of multi-coloured metals gave birth to the famous Solidarnosc movement, one of the first breaches to be cut into the Soviet system.
The people of Gdansk are proud of their history and religion. A portrait on a building façade, a piece of graffiti or a concert: the endless tributes to Lech Walesa’s association and John Paul II bear witness to this.
The tour finishes in style, entering the city via the Motława river. Here, you can linger for a while near one of the city’s main sights: the old grain-lifting crane, a wooden structure that has been kept as it was in the 15th century. Thousands of men have operated the wheel of this great machine which, looking as if it is stretching out towards the water, still symbolically plays its role as gateway.
Baltic gold
However, nothing and no one has yet managed to steal the limelight from the real star of the region, amber, to which almost an entire street has been dedicated.
In Mariacka Street, renowned as the finest in Gdansk, one word can be seen on almost every shop window: bursztyn, or its German equivalent, bernstein. The elegant, colourful façades, carved staircases and wrought iron provide an elegant architectural setting.
The precious resin mined from the Baltic, once used as trading currency in Rome, still makes some men and women their fortune. Lucjan Myrta is a notable example, along with his daughter, whose boutique in the Manhattan shopping centre is worth a visit.
In this brand new complex in the Wrzeszcz district, the jeweller’s window, inlaid with yellow and orange-coloured amber, displays some real creative treasures. Some pieces by the famous designer are also to be found in the city’s amber museum.
From the inexpensive little stalls on the seafront to the luxurious boutiques in the centre, the prices rise rapidly as the stone becomes increasingly pure and set in precious metals.
Our waterside walk comes to an end in the heart of the city, on the Royal Way at the foot of the Neptune Fountain. Armed with his trident, the Roman god of the sea and the oceans protects the magnificent buildings around him, among them the Artus Court and the flamboyant Town Hall.
Nearby awaits DługaStreet with its countless restaurants, where Polish specialities and, above all, seafood delights are on the menu.
A mild aroma of iodine hangs in the air in Gdansk, originating from the nearby sea that has shaped the identity of the thousand-year-old city. Water, an element whose riches are well tapped, has maintained its central role in the life of the inhabitants of Gdansk. People sail on it in the numerous canals, fish in it, extract precious amber from it, and cool off in it during the summer season. Water reigns over the city, guiding us, and revealing the surprising facets of this Nordic gem.
