His house museum is in Torun. Sights of Torun - where to go, what’s most interesting. Torun - the "gingerbread capital" of Poland

This medieval town is famous primarily for the fact that Nicolaus Copernicus was born here) But besides this, Toruń is home to many beautiful buildings and interesting museums, and the city itself is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Poles lived here from time immemorial, until the invaders - the Prussian tribes - came in the 13th century. Then the Mazovian prince Konrad enlisted the support of the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order, who helped the Poles get rid of their enemies, and so they remained here.

As a result, the crusaders built a fortress in Torun, and then built a powerful castle, which became the seat of the order, and the craft village that grew up nearby in 1264 received city rights. Torun entered the Hanseatic Trade Union, which united northern German cities, and thanks to this union, German merchants, relying on the power of the knightly order, monopolized trade intermediation in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. Sea vessels along the Vistula reached Toruń, which allowed the city to become a serious competitor to Gdańsk.

The city rapidly developed and prospered, and by the 17th century it was already the size of the then Warsaw. In the 15th century, the Crusader castle was destroyed and now a museum is located among the ruins.

In 1473 in Toruń on St. Anna (now Copernicus Street) Nicolaus Copernicus was born - it is not surprising that today on this street in house No. 17 there is a museum, within the walls of which many items related to the great astronomer are collected. Although his entire life was spent away from Toruń, he was always considered to belong here. In the Old Town market, next to the town hall, a monument was even erected to Copernicus, on which is engraved in Latin: “Nicholas Copernicus, a Torunian, moved the Earth, stopped the Sun and the Sky.”

The ancient part of the city has been preserved approximately as Copernicus himself saw it. In the powerful Gothic church of St. Jana is the famous bell called “Tuba Dei” (“Trumpet of the Lord”) - the second largest in Poland after Krakow’s Sigismund. It was cast in 1500, its diameter is 217 cm, and it weighs more than 7 tons.

Torun even has its own “Leaning Tower of Pisa”, only it is called “Krzyva Vezha” (“Crooked Tower”) - this is one of the towers of the fortress wall, built in the 13th century. Since then, its top has moved away from the vertical by almost one and a half meters.

Town Hall Torun in brick gothic style

This town, small by today’s standards, has many interesting buildings - for example, the “House Under the Star”, built in 1697, stands out among the rest for its unusual architecture; today it houses the Museum of Far Eastern Art. Another old stone house houses the “Under the Smart Apron” tavern, which began attracting visitors since 1700.

There is also a real military fort from World War II and the Torun Astronomical Observatory, open to visitors.

Today in Toruń you can enjoy a local “delicacy” - the famous gingerbread, made according to an old recipe. Their flat surface often depicts symbols of the city and scenes from medieval knightly life.

At night, the buildings and city walls of the Old Town along the avenue are illuminated, creating a spectacular effect.

The Town Hall building, in the ancient Polish town of Toruń, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as are most of the attractions in this city. The Town Hall is located in the very center of the Market Square.

From the 13th century, on the site of the Town Hall, merchant houses and shopping arcades were located, and at the end of the 14th century, a decision was made to build the Town Hall, and several houses were combined into a massive square with a courtyard. In the 17th century, another floor was added and corner towers appeared. The architecture of the Town Hall is made in the Gothic style.

In the 18th century, the town hall building, damaged in the war, was renovated and the interior halls were decorated. Since 1861, the Town Hall building has housed the Toruń Local History Museum - the largest and oldest in the city. Local residents consider the Town Hall to be a giant calendar: 4 walls – 4 seasons, 12 halls – 12 months, 52 rooms – 52 weeks, 366 windows – 366 days, one of which opens only in leap years. Today, the Town Hall is an architectural monument of the Gothic style and is visited by many tourists every year.

House of Copernicus

Previously, Copernicus Street was named after St. Anna. Now it bears the name of the great astronomer. It is still not known for certain in which house Nicolaus Copernicus was born and spent the first seven years of his life, in No. 17 or No. 15, which is why these two buildings now house the House Museum.

Museums are merchant houses with a high canopy, office, living and storage areas.

House No. 17 houses an exhibition of items related to the life of Copernicus. The building consists of three parts: the first floor, the middle part, which is vertically divided by semicircular arches, and the third part. The entrance to the house is decorated with a memorial marble table, which was installed by city residents to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus.

House No. 15 was built back in the 15th century. For 10 years it belonged to the astronomer’s family; the father of Nicolaus Copernicus even slightly rebuilt the building in the late Gothic style. The house consists of three floors, each of which displays collections of objects from the 16th century to the 19th century. Here you will see genuine pewter, antique paintings, a collection of porcelain and unique antique furniture, among which you should definitely highlight a Gothic cabinet made of oak in the 15th century.

What sights of Torun did you like? Next to the photo there are icons, by clicking on which you can rate a particular place.

Cathedral of St. John in Toruń

The city of Torun is divided into two districts: the new and the old city, which is typical for most cities in Poland. And it is the old city with its historical monuments that has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997.

One of the most beautiful and oldest monuments of Toruń is the Gothic Cathedral of St. John (St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist), built on the land of Chelmno. Construction of the church lasted 3 years (1233-1236). In the 14th and 15th centuries the cathedral was expanded. Its dimensions reached more than 56 meters in length and 27 meters in height. The interior of the church is decorated in Baroque style - a beauty that will simply take your breath away! And the wall paintings are the most valuable monument of medieval art: the subjects “Crucifixion on the Tree of Life”, “The Last Judgment”, which were written around 1380.

St. John's Cathedral is famous for its bell, which weighs 7 tons; it was brought to Toruń in 1500 and called the “Trumpet of the Lord” (Tuba Dei). This is one of the largest bells in Poland, its diameter is 2.17 meters. In order to control the bell, a unique mechanism is used; an ordinary rope cannot handle such a “giant”.

Another attraction of the church is the medieval font. It was in it that the newborn Nicolaus Copernicus was baptized.

The most delicious and most recognizable symbol of Toruń is, of course, the Toruń gingerbread. The first mention of this city's signature sweets dates back to 1380. It was in Torun that all important trade routes intersected, which means that only local confectioners had an abundance of such valuable exotic spices as ginger, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bakers specially ordered gingerbread boards with unique themes from city woodcarvers. The oldest gingerbread molds that have survived to this day date back to the beginning of the 17th century and can be viewed at an exhibition in the City Hall.

In addition, the Gingerbread Museum is always welcome in Torun. Here you will be greeted by guides dressed in costumes of medieval chefs who will tell you about the history of Toruń gingerbread, the peculiarities of its production and ancient recipes. It is important that the dough for this delicacy is prepared over several months, but specially prepared dough is stored here for museum visitors, so anyone can feel like a cook if they want. You can choose any baking form.

The monopolist of the gingerbread market in Torun is the Copernicus factory, which was founded in 1760. You can buy its products in branded stores on the streets of the Old Town - you need to focus on the transparent display cases with the inscription “Katarzynka”.

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Built by order of the Franciscans in 1239 next to the market square, it was considered the tallest in Central Europe until the sixteenth century. The interior decoration has been preserved from the time of construction.

Gdanisko - toilet tower

Gdanisko is a toilet tower in the medieval Polish town of Torun. This tower is the only surviving structure of the castle of the Teutonic Knights. This tower housed nothing more than a public toilet for the inhabitants of the castle, the structure was usually built away from the palace chambers, and a long passage from the castle led to it. The construction of the toilet tower dates back to the beginning of the 13th century.

This is the only surviving structure of the medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights. Construction of the castle itself began in 1236; the complex was shaped like a horseshoe. In 1454, the castle was conquered and destroyed by the inhabitants of the city, so to this day only the “Gdanisko” - a toilet tower, located somewhat away from the main buildings of the castle - has survived. By the way, the Old Town of Toruń, where this tower is located, is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List as an architectural monument of the Middle Ages that has survived to this day.

Meshchansky Dvor

The Bourgeois Court in Torun, a charming medieval town in Poland, is located in the historical center - the Old Town, which is listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. thanks to the medieval monuments that have been perfectly preserved to this day, to which the Bourgeois Court belongs. It was built in 1489 and for a long time served as a summer residence for the Brotherhood of St. George.

Initially, the Bourgeois Court was intended for meetings and gatherings of the burghers - townspeople, merchants, and artisans. The architectural style of the building is Gothic, as evidenced by the rows of pointed plastered pointed roofs. The building was built of brick, so it has been perfectly preserved to this day. Later, the Bourgeois Court served as the residence for the Brotherhood of St. George, which met here in the summer. By the way, the Bourgeois Court, like most of the buildings in Torun, did not suffer destruction during the wars, so it is an original, and not a restored, monument of medieval architecture.

Piłsudski Legions Bridge

The Pilsudski Legion Bridge, at the time of completion of construction, was the longest bridge in the Polish state. It connects the left side of the city of Toruń, where the train station is located, and the right side, where the Old Town is located. The bridge crosses the Vistula River.

The Piłsudski Legion Bridge was built in 1937-1938. Its design was carried out by the Polish bridge builder Andrzej Pavlovich Pshenitsky, who is known for creating the design of the Palace Bridge in St. Petersburg in 1901.

During World War II - in September 1939, part of the Piłsudski Legion Bridge was destroyed by an explosion by the retreating Polish army. However, with the arrival of the Germans it was restored. The story of the bridge does not end there. During the raids in January 1945, it was completely destroyed. It was possible to restore it only by June 1950.

House under the star

The House Under the Star is an apartment building in northern Poland that was built in the late Baroque style and has a star on top, after which it was named. It is located on the banks of the Vistula River, in the eastern part of the old town of Toruń, in northern Poland and was built in second half of the 13th century.

It was reconstructed and restored many times: it was completely rebuilt in the 14th century, and at the end of the 16th century a second floor was added. The main reconstruction of the building was carried out at the end of the 17th century by its owner Jan Jerzy Zobner, who ordered the facade to be decorated in Baroque style and decorated with elements of flowers and fruits.

At the beginning of the 19th century, unique frescoes appeared in the hall on the first floor, which today can be seen thanks to the efforts of experienced restorers. In 2000, a major renovation was carried out in the house, which returned it to its original appearance and beauty. Now in the house under the stars there is a local history museum of the city of Toruń, with a permanent exhibition of the world of the East.

City Park

This park is located across the street from the old town and, despite the proximity to the main city road, it is very quiet and cozy. And in the stream, across which bridges are thrown, waterfowl feel good.

The most popular attractions in Toruń with descriptions and photographs for every taste. Choose the best places to visit famous places in Toruń on our website.

Individual and group

Story

Archaeologists have found that in the place where this city now stands, people lived back in 1100 BC. e. Most likely, this settlement was not very large. In the 13th century, the territory was captured by Prussian tribes, and they were replaced by the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order. They built a fortress here, and then a castle, where the residence of the order was located. The built fort was named by the Teutons in memory of the military fortification they owned in Palestine - Toren.

In 1233, the craft village that grew around the fortress walls received the status of an urban settlement.

The city of Toruń has always occupied an advantageous trading position. Many ships loaded with goods passed here along the Vistula from the Baltic Sea. The Torun merchants, supported by the Teutons, very quickly monopolized all trade between Eastern Europe and the Baltic, so Torun developed rapidly, became rich and became the cultural and economic center of the region. It became part of Poland in 1919, as a result of the Treaty of Versailles agreements.

Birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 on the small street of St. Anne, which today bears his name. And although the scientist’s entire life was spent outside the walls of his hometown, Copernicus is highly revered in Torun. His memorial museum is opened in house number 17 - a branch of the city local history museum. Many rare items associated with the name of the great scientist are exhibited here: his instruments for making astronomical measurements, a model of the heliocentric system built according to a drawing by Copernicus, ancient engravings and portraits. The house in which the museum collection is located is interesting in itself. It was built in the 60-70s of the 15th century and belonged to the Copernicus family.

In the Old Town, near the City Hall, grateful citizens erected a monument to the famous countryman, and on this monument there is a Latin inscription: “Nicholas Copernicus, a resident of Toruń, moved the Earth, stopped the Sun and the Sky.” One of the best Polish universities, opened in Torun in 1945, is named after the scientist. Students are trained here at 16 faculties.

The homeland of the great astronomer has its own planetarium and a modern astronomical observatory. Observations of celestial bodies are carried out here using one of the largest radio-controlled telescopes in Central Europe.

What to see in Torun

The old part of the city has hardly changed since the time of Copernicus. During the Second World War, when most of Poland was destroyed, by a happy coincidence, the historical center of Toruń was not damaged. The architectural monuments that can be seen here are original, and not restored, as in most European cities. Traveling through the streets of Toruń is interesting at any time of the day. The buildings of the Old Town are illuminated very effectively in the evening and at night, and all travelers who come to Torun like this.

Most of the city's architectural monuments are concentrated around the Market Square and on the streets that begin near it. This place used to be the heart of the medieval city. Here executions were carried out and the king’s decrees were read to the residents. On the square there is a massive Gothic building of the City Hall, built of brick in the 13th-14th centuries. Today it houses the collections of the District Museum, which houses many works of medieval art, a rich collection of national paintings of Poland and portraits of Polish kings.

Located on the Market Square, the three protruding turrets make it easy to find the ancient Church of St. Mary in Torun. It was surrounded on all sides by other buildings, and this made the church seem squashed. This temple was originally built for a Franciscan monastery. The high, 27-meter vault of the church is studded with stars and makes a very strong impression. The ancient interiors are decorated with numerous frescoes and elaborate wood carvings, which date back to the 14th century. Here, for example, you can see the figure of Christ carved from oak. In addition, inside the church there is a burial place of the sister of King Sigismund III, Princess Anna.

Walking around Torun is very interesting. This ancient city has its own Leaning Tower of Pisa. True, the townspeople call it the “Crooked Tower.” The round brick structure closes one of the surviving sections of the ancient fortress wall, built in the 13th century. The fact that the Torun tower is “falling” is noticeable from afar, because over several centuries its top has deviated from its vertical position by almost a meter.

Torun is also interesting for its majestic medieval Catholic churches. The oldest in the city is the Cathedral Church of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, founded in the 70s of the 13th century. It is famous not only for its intricate interweaving of Gothic and Baroque architecture. This temple houses one of the largest bells in Poland, which has its own name - “Trumpet of the Lord”. It was cast in 1500 and weighs over 7 tons.

In this church you can also see a medieval font, in which, as is commonly believed, Nicolaus Copernicus himself was baptized. Next to it you can see a bust of the scientist, considered one of the first monuments to Copernicus. It was installed in the church in 1766. You can visit inside the Catholic church every day from 8.30 to 19.30. Entrance is free.

In Torun there is also a beautiful church dedicated to St. James. Inside this large temple, built in the first half of the 14th century, beautiful paintings made in the 14th and 15th centuries have been preserved. In addition, here you can see a statue of Our Lady from the early 16th century and rare medieval paintings. The church tower rises 49 m and is visible from afar. It is curious that during the Northern War, which took place at the beginning of the 18th century, Swedish troops took two bells from this church. One of them has survived to this day and is on public display in the cathedral of the ancient city of Uppsala. This bell is considered the largest in Sweden.

The church, dedicated to the Holy Spirit, was a Lutheran church until the end of World War II, and then became a Jesuit church. It was built in the mid-18th century and is perfectly preserved. Guests of the city can see inside this temple the original altar of the 18th century, made in the Rococo style, as well as beautiful carved doors depicting gospel scenes.

On Podgornaya Street in Torun stands the picturesque Church of Our Lady the Victorious, whose history begins in the 13th century. Inside this Catholic church there is an organ made by craftsmen from the Faulkner company, as well as a mosaic depicting the head of Jesus Christ, which was made based on the famous engraving of Albrecht Durer.

City museums

There are about 10 museums in Torun. The ruins of a Teutonic castle on the banks of the Vistula (Przedzamcze Street) house a museum where you can learn about the archaeological excavations carried out in this area. The restored Armory of the Crusaders, the kitchen and bedroom of the knights, their library and the Defense Tower of the ancient castle are also on display here. Traditionally, knightly orders minted their own money, so this museum hosts a half-hour show for tourists showing the technology for producing medieval coins.

The Ethnographic Museum of Toruń is located on Wały gen street. Sikorskiego, 19. It presents a rich collection of folk art and handicrafts. Here tourists can learn a lot of interesting things about local customs and rituals, as well as the traditions of wooden architecture in Northern Poland. An interesting “ethnographic park” has been created at the museum, where traditional estates, houses, mills, wells and outbuildings are collected. The colorful buildings form a real rural settlement within the urban areas of Toruń.

It may seem paradoxical, but the ancient city of Torun could not do without a center for contemporary art. It was opened in 2008 on Wały gen street. Sikorskiego, 13. City exhibitions and festivals, artist meetings, as well as educational programs for schoolchildren and students are held here. The relaxed atmosphere attracts many visitors to Torun to this artistic center. The Center for Contemporary Art is a place where you can have a good time, meet authors, relax in a cafe or swimming pool, visit a reading room, and also buy your favorite reproductions and original souvenirs.

Restaurants and cafes

It is impossible to remain hungry in the city of Toruń. Cafes and restaurants await travelers on almost any street. Many of them are stylized as antiques and are happy to offer tourists Polish national dishes. The most famous in the city is the “Under the Smart Apron” tavern, which was opened in an old medieval house back in 1700. Arriving in Torun, you should try the delicious ginger bread, as well as traditional Polish dishes: bigos, aromatic pork chop, perogy, similar to our dumplings, gołombki (stuffed cabbage rolls), white and red borscht, baked duck with apples and meat rolls.

Famous Torun gingerbread

Poles have long considered Torun their “gingerbread” capital.” And this is quite justified, because gingerbread production began to develop in this city back in the 14th century. This happened because Torun was located at a trade crossroads, and here it was not difficult to get spices that were rare in those days - cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger or nutmeg.

You can learn more about the history of Toruń gingerbread making at the city gingerbread museum (Rabianska Str. 9). This is not an ordinary museum, but a working bakery, stylized as a similar establishment of the 16th century. Here visitors can knead their own dough and make fragrant gingerbread cookies using ancient tools and printed boards. And professional bakers dressed in national costumes help them with this. The Gingerbread Museum welcomes guests daily from 10.00 to 18.00.

The famous gingerbread in Torun is baked in different sizes. And often images of city landmarks or scenes from the life of knights are placed on the flat side of the gingerbread. The most popular type of gingerbread is covered with chocolate glaze and is called Katarzynka. According to one of the urban legends, one of the Toruń bakers made such gingerbread cookies for his wayward lover, Katerina. The factory that produces gingerbread these days sells its products throughout the city.

Every June Toruń holds a special festival dedicated to gingerbread. During it there are theatrical performances, performances by musicians and, of course, a large trade in the famous gingerbread cookies. Gingerbread is the most popular souvenir that almost all travelers try to bring from this Polish city.

Transport

The public transport system in Torun is represented by thirty bus routes and several tram lines, which cover almost all city neighborhoods and nearby suburbs.

In the very center of the city there is a bus station, from which you can take buses to Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries. The railway junction is somewhat remote from the city center, and trains pass through it, connecting Torun with almost all major cities in Poland, including the country's capital, Warsaw.

Special offers on Torun hotels

How to get there

The largest airports closest to the city of Toruń are in Warsaw, Gdańsk and Bydgoszcz. The largest number of flights is served by Warsaw Chopin Airport. In addition, there are direct flights from Russia to this airport, but you have to make transfers to the airports of Gdansk and Bydgoszcz. Warsaw airport is approximately 200 km away from Torun. Having arrived here, you can get to Torun by taxi, train or regular buses.

Torun is one of the most beautiful cities in Poland, which miraculously managed to avoid the devastating consequences of the Second World War and, thanks to the presence of numerous unique historical buildings, was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1997.

A long time ago, as part of an organized excursion “In the footsteps of Copernicus,” I visited this wonderful city, but in that rush I remembered little, except that Torun turned out to be good. The recent independent “take two” confirmed these memories. In addition, EU money has significantly improved the appearance of the city, for which we can thank German taxpayers! :-))

However, their distant German ancestors helped found the city of Thorn on the right bank of the Vistula. The crusaders who arrived in these lands at the beginning of the 13th century built a wooden fortress, from which it all began, and which over the years and centuries was improved, strengthened and overgrown with a settlement that turned into a large city. Its core was the first castle of the Teutonic Order on the Kulm lands, and the historical value of the castle lay in the fact that it was here that the base of the Teutonic knights was located during the period of Christianization of Prussia.

In 1233, Thorn became one of the first local colonies to receive Kulm city rights. After this city joined the Hanseatic League of trading cities of Northern Europe, it began to grow before our eyes - trade led to its enrichment and prosperity. By this time, the financially strengthened merchants, who were forced to pay tribute to the crusaders, decided to get rid of their “guardianship.” After the defeat of the Teutons in the Battle of Grunwald and the weakening of their influence, the city magistrate took an oath of allegiance to the King of Poland Władysław Jagiella, and in 1454 the burghers expelled the crusaders from the city, after which they destroyed the castle as a guarantee of their non-return. In 1457, Thorn received new rights and became a free city as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the partitions of Poland, Thorne passed into the possession of the Prussians for more than a century, but after World War I it returned to Poland, where it remains to this day under the name Toruń.

Well, now, a walk around Torun - the city of Pernicus, Copernicus and numerous legends. Well, pernik is a gingerbread in our opinion...

The most important building of the Old Town is its Town Hall.

The Town Hall building began to acquire its modern appearance at the end of the 14th century as a result of combining under one roof the buildings that had existed on the Market Square since the 13th century. The building consisted of a merchant's house and cloth rows, shops and bakeries, a tower and the first Town Hall, as well as court buildings and scales. In 1393, when the city council received the right to build a new Town Hall, these buildings were connected to each other and formed a quadrangular two-story building intended for administrative, judicial and economic functions. In the 17th century, the Town Hall was rebuilt, after which it received a third floor and a rich external and internal appearance.

There is a legend that supposedly the Town Hall was a kind of stone calendar. The town hall tower symbolizes the year, the four wings symbolize the four seasons, and the 12 large halls and 52 rooms represent the number of months and weeks of the year. There are exactly as many windows in the town hall as there are days in the year - 365. And every leap year, the mayor hired a mason who cut an additional window in the wall and, at the end of the year, walled it up again. I didn’t dare check the number of halls and windows of the Town Hall; I regretted the time. But he examined the interior of the building, where he found a lot of interesting things and climbed the observation tower, which offers a beautiful view of the Old Town.

If you look closely at the spire of the Town Hall tower, you can see something similar to a crown. There is a story about this.At the mouth of the Drvenets River, not far from Torun, lived the water Kashorek. He was known as bad and greedy. When one night the moon decided to drink water from the river, a treacherous merman caught her in his net and hid her at the bottom of the river. At night, Toruń was plunged into darkness. Its inhabitants lived in constant fear, as robberies and murders became more frequent due to darkness. The situation was critical. The son of the Town Hall trumpeter, Klimek, decided to restore order. When, standing by the river, he was thinking about how to extract the moon from Kashorek’s captivity, a wreath of rowan branches floated up to him, from which the queen of the Vistula River suddenly appeared. She handed him a rowan wand and told him how he could use it to free the moon. Klimek promised the queen that if he could free the moon, he would become a jeweler and create the most beautiful golden crown for her. With a wave of the rowan wand, the water in the river parted and Klimek, descending to the bottom of the river, freed the moon from the net and returned it to the sky. In addition, he grabbed part of Kashorek’s treasures, from which, having mastered the profession of a jeweler, he made the promised crown. It was not possible to find the queen, and many years later, the crown was installed on the spire of the Town Hall (see picture above). Today the spire with the crown is missing, and the Town Hall itself looks more modest due to the siege and shelling of the city by the Swedish army in 1703, during which the building was seriously damaged.

The southern side of the Old Market is occupied by a buildingCourt of Artus , which played an important role in the life of the Torun townspeople. Important political decisions were made here, deals were concluded between merchants from different countries, balls and feasts were held, the court received representatives of the Hanseatic League, the kings of Poland and Prussia.

On the corner of Toruń Market Square you can see bronze donkey . This is not just a sculpture to decorate the city; its history goes back centuries. From the 15th to the 19th centuries, on the Market Square next to the Town Hall there was a traditional pillory in the form of a column, which served as a place of punishment for guilty citizens. In the 17th century, a wooden donkey with a high tin crest on its back was installed in the same square. To the delight of the local public, guilty Torun soldiers were placed on it, with lead weights tied to their feet to intensify the pain. The original donkey stood until 1797. A new, bronze donkey was installed in 2007 in memory of that same wooden donkey. Only now numerous tourists climb it completely voluntarily.

In front of the entrance to the Town Hall rises monument to Nicolaus Copernicus , erected in 1853.

This famous native of Toruń was immortalized in bronze using funds from city residents, which, by the way, had to be collected twice. Since Torun became part of Prussia in 1815, it was decided to erect the planned monument using the funds raised in Warsaw.And the initiative to erect a monument in Torun was put forward by the German community, for which another collection of money began throughout Prussia.The Latin inscription on the monument reads: “Nicholas Copernicus is a native of Torun, who moved the Earth and stopped the Sun and Heaven.”

Church of the Holy Spirit on the Old Market Square was erected in the middle of the 18th century. The need for the construction of a new church in Toruń arose as a result of the consequences of the religious clash between Catholics and Protestants, which erupted in the city in July 1724. The assessor's court handed down a harsh sentence to the participants in the conflict and representatives of the city authorities. Eleven people, led by the burgomaster, were executed, and the Protestant community lost its Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Only a few decades later the community was allowed to build a new shrine, but on the condition that it would not resemble a church. Initially it was a hall-type building. Only at the end of the 19th century the building was supplemented with a neo-baroque tower.

On the Old Market Square of Toruń stands fountain with bronze sculpture of a raftsman . This figure, placed here in 1914, is surrounded by a concrete pedestal-pool, on which seven golden frogs sit, fascinated by the young man playing the violin.

The figure of a young man playing the violin, surrounded by toads, is one of the symbols of Toruń and is associated with a legend. The young man, with the help of music, managed to bring hordes of toads outside the city walls, the invasion of which the townspeople could not get rid of. Bronze toads, unlike real ones, were loved by Torunians. There is a belief associated with them - if you rub the back of a toad and wish for something secret, it will certainly come true. True, Elena Malysheva would categorically forbid everyone to do this, due to the unhygienic nature of this act. But I didn’t do this for my own reasons :-)

On top of one of the houses of the Market Square, from the tower of the town hall you can see sculpture black cat . And, if you’re not tired of legends, then here’s another one.

The city residents are especially fond of the black cat, who saved the city from the Swedish invasion in the 17th century. During this period, Torun encountered a large number of mice infesting its granaries. To solve this problem, several cats were brought into the city. One of the cats was so lazy that he preferred not to chase mice, but to wander around the fortress walls and beg for food from the guards, who were not particularly generous to this animal.This continued until February 16, 1629. On this day, the lazy man was resting on the fortress wall, when suddenly his eyes were blinded by the armor of Swedish soldiers sparkling in the rays of the rising sun. The cat screamed so loudly that he raised all the townspeople to their feet. The city was put on alert and managed to prepare for the attack of the Swedish invaders - to prevent them from entering the city. After this, the cat became a local hero and grateful residents not only provided him with all-inclusive meals, but also named most of the towers of the city wall with names such as Cat's Head, Cat's Tail, Cat's Paws, etc. Today, after the demolition of part of the city wall, only Cat's Head Tower .

The city authorities expressed their gratitude, financially, to another of their saviors - a good-for-nothing fellow who stole and was sentenced to death by hanging. When he climbed the scaffold, from its height, beyond the Vistula, he saw an enemy detachment of Swedish troops approaching the city. "Swedes, Swedes!" - the boy shouted. The townspeople crowded around the scaffold rushed to close the city gates and prepared in time to repel the enemy attack. And the condemned man, taking advantage of the turmoil, hid far away, so much so that the city council, which had allocated a monetary reward to the escaped criminal, could not find him for a long time. Thus, the lucky man received fame and a new name, Shvedko.

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary It was built in stages in the 14th century at the Franciscan monastery, which appeared in Toruń before 1239. After the abolition of the monastery in 1821, the monastic buildings damaged during the siege of the city in 1806 and 1812 were dismantled and the church was restored. The most famous landmark of the church is the mausoleum of Princess Anna Vasa, sister of King Sigismund III. Famed for the steadfastness of her faith, she did not want to convert from Protestantism to Catholicism. The Protestant princess could not be buried in the royal tomb in Wawel and therefore her nephew, King Władysław IV, ordered a magnificent funeral in Toruń and a royal tomb built for Princess Anne.

Along the Vistula River, part of the city's defensive fortifications with gates and numerous towers, dating back to the 13th century, has been preserved. Once upon a time, this all consisted of a double line of defensive walls, which included eight gates and about thirty towers. For five hundred years, these walls made it possible to successfully repel enemy attacks; they were partially destroyed by the Swedes at the beginning of the 18th century and partially dismantled in the second half of the 19th century. Today, three gates of the wall have been preserved - Monastery, Bridge and Sea.

One of the towers of this wall is crooked tower , so to speak,local leaning Leaning Tower of Pisa. The height of “Krzyva vezha” is small - only about 15 meters. But the slope from the vertical is 1 m 40 cm.

The crooked tower has been preserved in the city since the first half of the 14th century. And, of course, various legends have been invented about its tilt. One of them tells the story of the crusader monk Hugo. Despite his vow, the young monk had the imprudence to fall in love with the townswoman Barbara, although without reciprocity. He couldn't find anything better than to try to kidnap her. Fleeing from her headless admirer, Barbara ran onto the fragile spring ice on the river and, of course, fell into the river and drowned. The horse on which the lover tried to catch up with the fugitive also drowned. He himself, clinging to a snag and praying earnestly, happily reached the shore and, as atonement, took upon himself a vow to build a tower. The tower was built, but it immediately became askew, as a warning about the sinful life of its builder. In fact, everything is much simpler and more prosaic: the tower has tilted over the past centuries as a result of subsidence of the soil under the foundation of the building. A modern belief is associated with the tilt of the tower: if someone manages to maintain balance while leaning their back against the Krzyva vezha, then this person is sinless. Of course, I tried and it didn’t work out. I dumped everything on the camera hanging around my neck and pulling me forward, and then went to explore the city further.

Meshchansky Dvor - summer residence of the brotherhood of St. George. The building was probably constructed from materials obtained from the dismantling of the ruins of a destroyed Crusader castle. Nearby, in a spacious courtyard, there was a brotherhood shooting range, where fun and feasts were organized.

Huge building Church of St. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist - one of the oldest and most impressive religious buildings in Toruń. The church was founded in 1260, and received its current form in the 15th century. On its high tower there is the second largest bell in Poland, cast in 1500 and another Toruń legend is associated with it - the Legend of the Bell.

When the construction work on the construction of the church came to an end, it was time to cast a bell for the bell tower. But there was no longer enough money for this - the treasury was empty. The City Council thought for a long time about how to solve this problem, and in the end, came to the conclusion that they needed to use a trick. The year 1500 was approaching and rumors spread among the people that the end of the world was approaching. Encouraging this point of view, the authorities began to warn people that if before December 31, 1500, a bell called “God's Trumpet” appeared on the church tower, God would deliver the inhabitants from inevitable death. God-fearing residents began to bring all valuables and gold to the city hall, hoping to avoid heavenly punishment and, as a result, money for the bell was collected quite quickly.

As it turned out, the idea of ​​the City Council was effective and, soon, the bell was ordered from the workshop of master Martin Schmidt. On September 22, 1500, the colossus weighing 7238 kg and with a diameter of 2.17 meters was solemnly delivered to the church. However, another problem arose: how to drag such a large and heavy bell onto a high tower? It was necessary to build a special device to raise it and, fortunately for everyone (the deceived and cunning), on December 31, 1500, the first bell ringing sounded from the bell tower, which was heard far beyond the city. The bell, as expected, was called the “Trumpet of God.”

On the church tower there is a single dial facing the Vistula River. A single arrow, called the “Finger of God,” helped sailors and rafters navigate time.

House of Copernicus. In 1473, a boy was born in this house on St. Anna Street, which belonged to a merchant originally from Krakow. And this boy’s name was Nicolaus Copernicus - the future great astronomer. Now this street is called Copernicus Street, and in a house with a Gothic facade, there is a museum telling about the life and scientific works of Copernicus.

Walking along the streets of Torun near a small canal, you can see a cute blue-eyed dragon sitting comfortably.

According to the facts, the Torun dragon really existed. This is evidenced by an entry in the municipal archives of Torun dated August 13, 1746, which says: "The carpenter Johann Georg Hieronymi and Katharina Storchin, the wife of a common soldier, testified before a municipal employee that in the spring of 1746 they saw a two-meter dragon flying low over the city. It was a monster with a dark gray body and a yellow-brown tail, whose scales glittered on sun. He appeared in the area of ​​the Vistula River tributary - Struga in Toruń and flew towards the ruins of the Teutonic Order castle."True, the question immediately arises: how much alcohol did this couple consume per capita that day and how did a married woman end up in the company of a carpenter in some unknown place?! The archives are silent about this :-))

The most delicious and most recognizable symbol of Torun is the Torun pernik, that is, gingerbread. The first mention of this city's signature sweets dates back to 1380.

Of course, there is also a legend about the emergence of the “gingerbread industry”. When in the XIV century. A cholera epidemic began in the city, and crowds of exhausted citizens gathered in front of the Benedictine monastery located outside the city walls. Nun Katarzyna lost peace and sleep, not seeing the slightest opportunity to feed so many starving people. But the mouse king Kosistrakh, who appeared one night, helped her in this and escorted her to the monastery dungeons. In the gloomy rooms there were huge bowls of dough. Sister Katarzyna immediately began baking excellent gingerbread cookies from it. So many of them were made that it became possible to feed all the suffering and thereby save them from inevitable death by starvation. And the gingerbread cookies, in honor of the initiator and performer of this civil feat, began to be called “Katarzynka”.

And here is one of the saleswomen of this delicacy.

Well, in the city, in addition to branded stores with the inscription “Katarzynka”, where you can buy this sweet product, there is a Gingerbread Museum. Here, guides dressed in costumes of medieval chefs will not only tell you about the history of Toruń gingerbread, but will also help you make it.

The specific atmosphere of the city is created by numerous bourgeois houses with unique facades and portals, many of which are decorated with bas-reliefs and high reliefs of garlands, flowers, masks, people and animals.

There was no numbering of houses in Torun, so they were distinguished by certain signs by which they were called - the house “Under the Star”, the house “Under the Golden Lion”, etc.

You can’t show everything you saw, but finally, another nice sculpture dedicated to the works Zbigniew Lengren - Polish cartoonist, satirist and illustrator. The most famous characters in Lengren's works are the eccentric and absent-minded Professor Filyutek and his dog Filus, whose adventures were published once a week in the pages of the magazine Przekruj for more than 50 years - a record for Polish comics.

On February 2, 2005, in honor of the 86th anniversary of the birth of Zbigniew Lengren, a sculptural composition dedicated to one of his characters was installed on one of the streets of Toruń: bronze dog Filyus guards Professor Filyutek's umbrella, holding his constant bowler hat in his teeth. The author of this composition is the Toruń sculptor Sbigniew Mikilevich.

One of Zbigniew Lengren's aphorisms: " Buy yourself a dog. This is the only way to buy love with money."

The Vistula River is famous not only for its natural beauty, but also for the city of Torun, which harmoniously rises on its northern banks. This city in Poland is famous for the fact that it has many attractions for tourists, and also because it was where Nicolaus Copernicus was born.

History of the Polish town of Torun

Before 1100 BC, settlements already existed in the lands where Toruń is now located. In the Middle Ages, people lived there and guarded the river until the 13th century. Then these lands were not inhabited for some time. Only in 1230, on the site of the modern settlement, the Teutonic Order built a fortress. The military structure was named "Toron", after another such fortress in Palestine.

In 1233, the villages surrounding the fortress grew so large that they were recognized as a single city. The town then turned into a German trading center. Afterwards, Franciscan and Dominican monks lived there. In the 14th century, the city was annexed to the Hanseatic League for trade. Further, the city authorities entered into an agreement with the Polish crown that, in exchange for various privileges, Toruń would fall under the jurisdiction of Poland.

Protestantism was also developed in this city, although most of Poland is considered Catholic. When World War II ended, a university was built and opened on the territory of Toruń, named after Nicolaus Copernicus.

Sights of the city of Torun

The old part of the town is included in the UNESCO heritage list. Indeed, for lovers of attractions, Toruń has a lot to see. Museums, towers, palaces, castles, churches - all this is present in the city in sufficient quantities.

Old Market: main square

Around 1252, a large square was allocated in Toruń. The Old Town Hall was built nearby. Administrative processes were carried out in this building, and there were shops of shoemakers and merchants nearby.

“Brick Gothic” is an architectural style that perfectly characterizes the entire city of Toruń. It is also related to the Old Market, where many interesting souvenirs and goods are sold today.

Holy Trinity: church

Until 1667, the Church of the Holy Trinity was simply the New Church. Then it became an evangelical temple. The modern building, after reconstruction, is made in an arcade style.

When World War II ended, the church was converted into an exhibition hall and gallery. Any tourist can visit this place for a reasonable fee.

Ethnographic Museum of Znamiroska-Prufferovej

The museum was named after the outstanding ethnographer Maria Znamiroskaya-Prufferova. It was opened in 1959. Since that moment, the museum has replaced many famous leaders.

Today, there is an exhibition there that tells about the secrets of the daily life of residents of the regions of Paluki, Chelmno, and Kashubsko.

There is also an agricultural park with relevant exhibits on the lands owned by the museum. In total, the collections of this institution contain 60,000 different items.

Leaning Tower of Toruń: symbol of sin

The glorious city of Toruń has its own Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was built in the medieval period, and has a deviation from a straight line of 1.46 meters.

There is one sad legend associated with this unusual structure. A knight of the Teutonic Order, and he, for a second, was a monk, fell in love with a local girl. The tragedy took place in the 12th century. At night, the young man and the girl met, walked around the city and declared their love. But the insidious townspeople reported the unlucky lover to the head of the order. Then the guy and the girl were separated, then the monk was ordered to build a “crooked” tower, as a symbol of deviation from church canons, or a symbol of sin.

In the 18th century, the Leaning Tower of Pisa housed a women's prison. Then they opened a souvenir shop and a blacksmith shop there. Today there is a cafe in the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Arthur's Third Court in the main square

Councilor Rudolf Schmidt designed the first courtyard building around 1889. Previously, a building in the Gothic style stood on the site of the courtyard. This building was the property of the Brotherhood of St. George.

In 1738, the decoration of the building and courtyard was done by Georg Steiner. In 1802, the Prussian government demolished the courtyard and its buildings. Then there were attempts to build a second Arthur's courtyard, but that too was demolished.

Only in 1891, a new Arthur’s courtyard was built on this site, which now houses a cultural center that organizes a variety of public events.

Gingerbread Museum

The museum, where gingerbread cookies are on display, is located in the central part of the city. It was organized by Elisabeth Olzewska in 2006.

Torun has long been famous throughout Europe for its gingerbread recipes. Therefore, in the museum you can not only learn the history of gingerbread baking in different eras, but also take part in the process yourself.

Bishop's Family Palace

At the end of the 17th century, the Dambski family built their residence in Toruń. The palace was built for Bishop Stanislav Dambsky. The facade of the building is incredibly beautiful, and is made in a classic Baroque style.

The building itself often changed owners. Thus, the Dambsky Palace belonged to the following people and organizations at different periods:

• Prussian officer Joachim Avern;
• To the owner who opened the Gdansk Hotel in the palace;
• Brewer Frederic Holpe;
• Prussian War Ministry;
• Organizers of casinos for the military;
• State Police;
• Society of Fine Arts.

The palace was then transferred to the Nicolaus Copernicus University. Today they teach fine arts there.

Torun is a city with a long history. On its streets it has many places that are of scientific and historical value. Thanks to the efforts of various institutions, many of Toruń's sights have been preserved as completely as possible. Others undergo regular reconstruction. This city is slightly different from classic European cities, both in its external appearance and in its internal atmosphere. It is a striking example of the mixture of cultures of peoples and eras. It has ancient buildings, modern exhibition centers and cobbled squares. Toruń is also considered an important tourist destination.