Nowa Huta

Lonely Planet review

The youngest and largest of Kraków's suburbs, Nowa Huta is a result of the postwar rush towards industrialisation. In the early 1950s a gigantic steelworks, and a new town to serve as a bedroom community for its workforce, were built about 10km east of the centre of Kraków. The steel mill accounted for nearly half the national iron and steel output, and the suburb has become a vast urban sprawl, populated by over 200,000 people.

Because of increasing awareness of environmental issues, the industrial management was forced to cut production and reduce the workforce, yet the mammoth plant is still working despite the fact that it's unprofitable.

The steelworks can't be visited, but you may want to have a look around the suburb. Nowa Huta is a shock after the Old Town's medieval streets. Tram 4, 14 or 15 from Kraków Główny train station will drop you at Plac Centralny, the suburb's central square. It doesn't matter where you start your sightseeing as the landscape varies little throughout the district. Most of it is a grey concrete sea of Stalinist-style architecture, but fortunately, there are a few interesting sights in that sea.