Showing 1-7 of 7 results
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Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity
The Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity, off the southern corner of the Rynek, was built of brick around 1330, but the interior was reshaped later on various occasions. It boasts an ornate high altar, an 18th-century organ, and a domed Renaissance chapel in the left-hand aisle, separated by a fine late-16th-century wrought-iron grille. The highlight of the church is the Chapel of St Anne (Kaplica Św Anny), which is accessible from the right-hand aisle through a doorway with a tympanum.
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Holy Cross Cathedral
The Gothic Holy Cross Cathedral, a short walk north of the Rynek, features 73m-high towers and mostly Baroque interior furnishing. The chapel in the right-hand aisle shelters the red-marble tombstone of the last of the Opole dukes, Jan II Dobry (John II the Good), who popped his ducal clogs here in 1532. A Gothic triptych (1519), the last survivor from the church's original collection of 26 pieces, is also displayed in this chapel.
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Opole Silesian Museum
Two blocks east of the Rynek, a former Jesuit college (1698) houses the Opole Silesian Museum. The permanent display features the prehistory and history of the surrounding area and city, and there are always temporary exhibitions.
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Opole Village Museum
Opole also has an excellent skansen, the Opole Village Museum. Located in the suburb of Bierkowice, 5km west of the centre, the 20-hectare skansen has a variety of rural architecture from the region. A shingled church from 1613, a windmill from 1734, a smithy from 1726 and a couple of large granaries are among the showpieces. Several houses are fully furnished and decorated and can be visited. It's accessible by bus 9 with 'Bierkowice' written in front.
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Piast Tower
The only vestige of the dukes' castle is the 33m-tall Piast Tower, a sturdy watchtower with 3m walls and foundations 6m deep. Built in the 14th century, the castle was pulled down in the 1920s to make room for office buildings. You can climb the 163 steps to the top for a panoramic view over the city.
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Rynek
Opole's Rynek, badly damaged during WWII, has been rebuilt. It is lined with attractive sand-coloured Baroque and Rococo houses and, particularly on the west side, pubs and bars. The 64m-high tower of the oversized town hall in the middle was modelled after the one at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and looks a little out of place here. The original, dating from 1864, collapsed in 1934 but was rebuilt in the same style.
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Twinned-Cities Post
Opole is even madder than most Polish municipalities over matching up with towns and cities worldwide, judging from the Twinned-Cities Post southeast of the town hall, which lists 13 twins of Opole - from Roanoke in the American state of Virginia to Grasse in France and Carrara in Italy.
Showing 1-7 of 7 results
