Just in front of the former shipyard gates, the striking Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers commemorates those killed in the riots of 1970. Unveiled on 16 December 1980, 10 years after the massacre, the monument is a set of three 42m-tall steel crosses, with a series of bronze bas-reliefs in their bases. The first monument in a communist country to commemorate the regime’s victims, it became an instant symbol and remains so today.
Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers
Gdańsk
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Malbork Castle
26.98 MILES
Malbork’s blockbuster attraction is its show-stoppingly massive castle sitting on the banks of the sluggish Nogat River, an eastern arm of the Vistula…
Museum of WWII
0.55 MILES
Opened in 2016, this striking piece of modern architecture is a bold addition to the northern end of Gdańsk's waterfront. It has rapidly become one of…
European Solidarity Centre
0.06 MILES
Opened in 2014, and housed in a truly awful example of 21st-century architecture (its rusty steel plates were designed to evoke ships under construction),…
St Mary's Church
0.77 MILES
Dominating the heart of the Old Town, St Mary’s is often cited as the largest brick church in the world, its massive 78m-high tower dominating the Gdańsk…
Długi Targ
0.87 MILES
Długi Targ was once the main city market and is now the major focus for visitors. Things have gotten a bit touristy here over the last decade (dubious…
National Maritime Museum
0.75 MILES
This is a sprawling exhibition covering Gdańsk's role as a Baltic seaport through the centuries. The headquarters, the multimillion-euro Maritime Cultural…
Ulica Mariacka
0.8 MILES
The most atmospheric of all Gdańsk's streets and one of Poland’s most photogenic lanes is this length of cobbles between the waterfront St Mary’s Gate and…
Town Hall
0.82 MILES
Dominating Długi Targ, Gdańsk's impressive Gothic-Renaissance town hall boasts the city's highest tower at 81.5m. It is home to the Historical Museum of…
Nearby Gdańsk attractions
1. European Solidarity Centre
0.06 MILES
Opened in 2014, and housed in a truly awful example of 21st-century architecture (its rusty steel plates were designed to evoke ships under construction),…
2. Sala BHP
0.13 MILES
The Sala BHP is the former Health and Safety building where the 21 demands were signed off and where strikes were coordinated. The hall has been left…
3. Gdańsk Shipyard
0.13 MILES
Gdańsk’s former Lenin Shipyard is a key fragment of 20th-century European history. It was here that the first major cracks in Eastern Europe’s communist…
4. Berlin Wall
0.21 MILES
Near the mammoth headquarters of Solidarność on Wały Piastowskie stands a lonely piece of the Berlin Wall. Next to it stands the wall Lech Wałȩsa climbed…
5. St Bridget's Church
0.44 MILES
Founded over 700 years ago, St Bridget’s was reduced to medieval brick dust in 1945, and until 1970 only the outer walls were left standing. Very little…
6. Great Mill
0.45 MILES
Standing conspicuously opposite St Catherine’s Church, the Great Mill certainly lives up to its name. Created by the Teutonic Knights in northern Poland’s…
7. Old Town Hall
0.46 MILES
The Old Town Hall was once the seat of the Old Town council. A well-proportioned Renaissance building crowned with a high central tower typical of its…
8. St Catherine's Church
0.46 MILES
The largest monument of the Old Town is St Catherine’s Church, Gdańsk's oldest, which was begun in the 1220s. It was the parish church for the entire town…