Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum
Oświęcim
Auschwitz-Birkenau is synonymous with the Holocaust. More than a million Jews, and many Poles and Roma, were murdered here by German Nazis during WWII…
Must-see attractions in Silesia
Oświęcim
Auschwitz I was only partially destroyed by the fleeing Germans, and many of the original brick buildings stand to this day as a bleak testament to the…
Oświęcim
Though much of Birkenau was destroyed by the retreating Germans, the size of the place, fenced off with long lines of barbed wire and watchtowers…
Lower Silesia
This impossibly photogenic castle, the largest in Silesia, commands a thickly wooded prominence in Książ. Following the destruction of an earlier…
Sudetes Mountains
This mighty fortification, begun under Austrian rule in the mid-17th century on the site of former strongholds dating to the 10th century, was extended…
Sudetes Mountains
The Góry Stołowe (goo-ri sto-wo-veh; Table Mountains) are among the most spectacular ranges of the Sudetes, as they’re topped by a plateau punctuated by…
Wrocław
Wrocław’s pride and joy is this giant painting of the battle for Polish independence fought at Racławice on 4 April 1794, between the Polish army led by…
Lower Silesia
This magnificent building, the largest baroque timber church in Europe, was erected between 1656 and 1657 in just 10 months. The builders were not trying…
Sudetes Mountains
Karpacz has a curious architectural gem – Wang Church, the only Nordic Romanesque building in Poland. Pronounced 'Vang', this remarkable wooden structure…
Wrocław
See if you can spot the tiny bronze statue of a dwarf resting on the ground, just to the west of the Hansel & Gretel houses. A few metres away you’ll spot…
Katowice
A symbol of Katowice's transition from a centre of heavy industry to one of culture, the Silesian Museum sits in an ingeniously repurposed coal mine in…
Wrocław
This glorious Gothic edifice, Wrocław's quintessential photo opportunity, took shape over more than 200 years. The right-hand part of the eastern facade,…
Museum of Katowice History at Nikiszowiec
Katowice
This branch of Katowice's museum, an ethnographic exploration of working-class and industrial life in Upper Silesia, lies in the distinctive suburb of…
Church of the Holy Name of Jesus
Wrocław
Wrocław University's baroque-rococo church is arguably the most beautiful in the city. It was built by the Jesuits in the 1690s on the site of the former…
Cathedral of SS James and Agnes
Silesia
Nysa’s mighty cathedral dominates the northern end of the Rynek with its imposing walls of time-soiled brick and a vast gabled roof – one of the steepest…
Franciscan Church of the Holy Trinity
Silesia
This church off the southern corner of the Rynek was built of brick around 1330. It boasts an ornate high altar, an 18th-century organ and a domed…
Sudetes Mountains
You can’t miss this macabre chapel in the Church of St Bartholomew’s grounds at Czermna, 2km north of Kudowa’s town centre. The length of its walls and…
Sudetes Mountains
This interesting set of tunnels dates in parts to the 13th century. The 600m route, enlivened by audiovisual exhibits, links cellars, warehouses for…
Wrocław
Established by the Jesuits in the early 18th century, the University of Wrocław's main edifice was built between 1728 and 1742. While it's very much a…
Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene
Wrocław
One block east of the Rynek is this mighty Gothic red-brick cathedral, dating to the 14th century. Its showpiece is a Romanesque portal from around 1280…
Sudetes Mountains
Karkonosze National Park is a 55.75-sq-km belt that runs along the Polish–Czech border for some 25km. The two main settlements here are the resort towns…
Wrocław
Wrocław's National Museum is a treasure trove of fine art from across the ages. Medieval sculpture is displayed on the ground floor; exhibits include the…
Wrocław
On the first floor of the main building of the University of Wrocław, this ceremonial hall is Wrocław's most beautiful baroque interior, embellished with…
Wrocław
Also known as Passage, this arresting sculpture depicts seven bronze pedestrians literally being swallowed by the pavement, only to re-emerge on the other…
Wrocław
Cathedral Island contains the city’s botanical gardens, a charming patch of greenery that's part of the University of Wrocław, serving educational and…
Lower Silesia
Some 34km southwest of Wrocław, the solitary forested cone of Mt Ślęża rises to 718m above the surrounding open plain. It was one of the holy places of an…
Silesia
This grandiose ducal residence dates back to the 12th century, when the Opole dukes built a hunting lodge here. Rebuilt as a Renaissance palace in the…
Lower Silesia
The regional museum houses a collection of Silesian religious art from the 14th to 18th centuries, a fascinating clock gallery and a permanent exhibition…
Church of SS Stanislaus and Wenceslas
Lower Silesia
East of the Rynek, this massive Gothic stone building has a facade adorned with four elegant 15th-century doorways and an 18m-high window (the stained…
Wrocław
Taking over both artefacts and premises from the former Silesian Museum of Artistic Crafts and Antiquities, the Museum of Architecture is located in a…
Katowice
With a base measuring 89m by 53m, this is Poland's largest cathedral. Erected between 1927 and 1955, the neoclassical sandstone basilica's progress was…
Lower Silesia
The Old Town’s market square contains a bit of every architectural style – from baroque to postwar concrete structures – the cumulative effect of…
Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park
Katowice
This sprawling open-air museum contains scores of traditional wooden buildings spread over 20 hectares, representing architectural styles from Upper…
Silesia
Established in Nysa's grand 17th-century Bishops' Palace in 1897, this museum exhibits include local archaeology from prehistory to early modern times…
Church of Our Lady on the Sand
Wrocław
This lofty 14th-century building dominates the tiny islet known as Sand Island (Wyspa Piasek). Almost all the fittings were destroyed during WWII and the…
Katowice
The city's central market square is not lined with historical burghers' houses as you’d find elsewhere in Silesia, but is instead encircled by drab…
Wrocław
Set in the northwestern corner of the Rynek are two charming houses known locally as Jaś i Małgosia, better known to English and German speakers as Hansel…
Wrocław
The main attraction here is the Gothic interior of the Old Town Hall (Stary Ratusz). Look for the Great Hall (Sala Wielka) on the 1st floor, with carved…
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Sudetes Mountains
Jelenia Góra’s main attraction is this massive church. One of six new churches permitted by the 1707 Treaty of Altranstädt, it was built between 1709 and…
Basilica of SS Erasmus and Pancras
Sudetes Mountains
This basilica was erected in two stages in the late 14th and early 15th centuries; note the Gothic doorway in the southern entrance portraying Mary and St…
