St Mary ‘s Church
The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the largest brick church in the world, went through several stages of development over the period from 1343 to 1502. Its interior displays many exquisite pieces of Medieval and Baroque art, including the stone Pieta from about 1410, a copy of the Last Judgement by Hans Memling, the original canvas dating back to 1472, the astronomical clock built by Hans Duringer between 1464 and 1470 and the main altar put up between 1510 and 1517.
From 1529 to 1945 St Mary’s was a Protestant church. Like so many other parts of Gdansk, it was rebuilt after World War II. The interior contains furnishings in the Gothic, Mannerist and Baroque styles. The church is 105 m long, including the tower battlements, and the vaults soar 29 meters above floor level. The solid main tower is 77.6 meters high and it is crowned with a viewing gallery which enables visitors to enjoy a panoramic view of the city. In order to get there it is necessary to climb almost 400 steps.
The Mariacka Gate
The charming and truly unique Mariacka Street is closed off on one end by the towering Mariacka Church and by the Mariacka Gate on the other. The gate allows pedestrians passage from the Motlawa to the cobbled roads of the Old Town and the famed porches of ul. Mariacka.
This defensive structure was built in 1485 and is built of dark, almost brown, brick. Two towers rise up from the top of this fort, and the windows are small and secretive. When one is walking along the Motlawa, enjoying the vendors or restaurants, he or she might hardly notice the exceptional and almost out-of-place look of this building, but to see it from Granary Island you’ll notice that its dark, Gothic style sticks out like a sore, impenetrable thumb.
St Mary’s Street
St Mary’s Street (Ulica Mariacka) is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful streets of Gdansk. It leads from the St Mary’s church to the Long Embankment with the Medieval St Mary’s Gate. The street is an exquisite example of historic Gdansk urban planning with terraced entrances and narrow, richly decorated facades of houses which once belonged to affluent merchants and goldsmiths.
Rebuilt from the ruins that resulted from World War II, the street contains outstanding examples of traditional Gdansk architecture. The picturesque scenery of the place has always inspired writers and painters. It has also used as the scene of films. Today the street is a favourite haunt of lovers as well as tourists, most of whom are looking for picturesque subjects to photograph or browsing through the amber jewellery for which Ulica Mariacka is now celebrated. During the long summer evenings, a number of musicians provide free open-air concerts, and the welcoming street cafes stay open until late at night.
Green Gate
The Renaissance Green Gate stands on the site of the most ancient gate in Gdansk, the Koga Gate. This gate was built to serve as the formal residence of Polish monarchs, but was only used for that purpose once in its history. There are four arched passages through this gate and there is a symbol over each: The eagle of the Prussian Kings, and the emblems of Poland, Gdansk, and Royal Prussia.
The gate was designed in the Mannerist style by the architect Johann Kramer from Dresden, and built in 1564-1568 by Regnier from Amsterdam. Its windows provide a magnificent view of Ulica Dlugi Targ and the town hall in one direction, and the River Motlawa and Spichlerze Island in the other. Today, the gate is managed by the Polish National Museum and is the home of a great many exhibitions and galleries. Former Polish President and symbol of Solidarity, Lech Walesa, has his office in the Green Gate and if you know the secret knock, he’ll let you in and let you try on his Nobel Peace Prize. This gate marks the end of the Royal Route, but hang a left and enjoy a stroll down the Motlawa River, or go straight over the bridge and take a look at Granary Island.
The Golden House
The Golden House, also known as Speimann House or Steffens House is one of the most beautiful buildings in Gdansk. It was erected in 1609 by the Jan Speyman, the Mayor of the city and at the same time a wealthy merchant and an open-minded patron of the arts, and his wife, Judyta (from the Bahra family).
The construction was based on a design prepared by Abraham van den Blocke, who was also responsible for a part of the sculptural decorations which were completed in 1618. The house is famous for its richly-decorated facade. Local people claim that it is haunted. The legend goes that from time to time the corridors of the house are frequented by a luminous creature. It is a ghost of the beautiful Judyta Speymann whispering “A just deed fears no man”. Today the building houses the Maritime Institute.
The Golden Gate
The Golden Gate was built in the years 1612-1614 according to a design drafted by Abraham van den Blocke, in the Renaissance style. Stone sculptures adorning the attic date back to 1648 and they were carved by Piotr Ringering. They present an allegory of citizen’s virtues: Prudence, Justice, Piety and Harmony.
The building adjacent to the Golden Gate is the Manor of the St. George’s Guild, erected by J. Glotau in the years 1487-1494, in the late-Gothic style. The arches of the gate are framed by Ionic columns in the lower tier surmounted by composite columns in the upper tier. The carved decoration is complemented by inscriptions in both Latin and German on the theme of civic virtue. The whole gate was designed and constructed in the Neo-Classical style but with Mannerist elements. The Golden Gate is one of the most notable tourist attractions of the city.
The Dluga Street and the Dlugi Targ Street
The Dluga and Dlugi Targ Streets which are also known as Trakt Krolewski (the Royal Route) rank among the most beautiful streets in Gdansk. The wealthiest Gdansk patricians used to live there and almost every tenement house has its own interesting history to tell. The oldest preserved houses date back to the Middle Ages, but most of the buildings were erected in modern times.
Tenement houses on Dluga Street are typical Gdansk houses with narrow facades topped with gables or attics, richly decorated with coats of arms, allegoric figures and silhouettes of ancient heroes. Unfortunately when houses on Ulica Dluga were modernized in the mid-19th century, all the stepped terraces that originally fronted the entrances to the houses were removed. After the carnage of World War II, almost every building on Ulica Dluga was left in ruins. Many of the houses were later reconstructed, but only the finest buildings were rebuilt in architectural detail. The most important secular buildings – the Hall of the Main City and the Artus Court are located on Dlugi Targ Street.
The Neptune Fountain
The Neptune Fountain has stood in front of the Artus Court since 1633 and is a symbol of Gdansk. It was built on the initiative of the Mayor of Gdansk, Bartlomiej Schachmann. The model was prepared by Peter Husen and Johann Rogge, and it was cast in 1615 in Augsburg. The design of the whole fountain was prepared by Abraham van den Blocke.
The ornamented grill surrounding the fountain dates back to 1634. In the years 1757-1761 Johann Karl Stender redecorated the basin and the base of the fountain in the Rococo style, by adding a large array of sea creatures. According to one of the Gdansk legends it was Neptune himself who contributed to the creation of the famous Gdansk liqueur called Goldwasser. He got angry at people throwing golden coins into the fountain and hit the water with his trident so hard that the gold fell to pieces, forming small golden flakes which now shine in the tasty herbal liqueur.
The Artus Court
The Artus Court was in many respects the epicenter of Gdansk’s mercantile galaxy. Named after the mythical British King Arthur, it provided an arena for the movers and shakers of Gdansk to strut their stuff in knightly style. The enterprise was inspired by the courts of King Arthur, and the merchants endeavoured to emulate the chivalrous, brotherly ideals that were espoused in the Arthurian legends.
Originally founded in 1350, the edifice got a sumptuous baroque make-over in the seventeenth century, although nearly all was lost in 1945. Thankfully, large sections of the interior had been spirited away, and these are amongst the highpoints of this splendidly reconstructed treasure. On the front wall of the Court there is a memorial board from 1965 commemorating the 20th anniversary of placing the Polish flag on the Artus Court by the soldiers of the 1st Armoured Brigade. Currently the interior of the Artus Court is open for visitors – there is also the department of the Gdansk History Museum.
The Main Town Hall
The main town hall is a Gothic-Renaissance building, located at the corner of Dluga Street and Dlugi Targ, dominating the panorama of the Royal Route – the most representative route of the listed part of the city.
The origins of the Town Hall, which from the very beginning was the seat of the authorities of the main Gdansk area, from the 14th century referred to as the Main City, go back to the early Middle Ages. From the mid 15th century it became the center of power for the entire area located on the Motlawa river. It served this function for a few centuries, and throughout this time was the main municipal building. The exact date of the creation of the building is unknown. According to 17th century Gdansk chronicler, Stephan Graua, the construction of the Town Hall was started in the spring of 1327 and completed in December 1336. The Gdansk chronicler did not however provide the source of this information. In the 14th century the Town Hall was probably a small one-storey building constructed as a frame structure from bricks and wood. Reconstruction of the town hall, started in 1946, was a difficult project and is regarded as one of the outstanding Polish post-war conservation achievements. After extensive bricklaying-conservation work, on 2 April 1970, the reconstructed town hall was commissioned to accommodate the Gdansk Historical Museum, which since 2000 has been the Gdansk History Museum. The town hall performed functional and ideological tasks. The latter were reflected especially in the design of its most beautiful interior, i.e. the preserved Great Council Hall (the Red Hall). In this enormous painting-sculpture complex, the creators of the program presented – generally speaking – the moral norms and the rules of conduct for the city authorities. The specific atmosphere of Gdańsk is also created by its bells. In 2000 a new outstanding 37-bell carillon was installed in the town hall tower The carillon was built by the Dutch bells and carillon manufacturer, Royal Eijsbouts in Asten. The Town Hall’s chiming bells are the background and at the same time a sort of rival to events held in the city.