City in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
Photo: Gabriel Wilk, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Gliwice is a city in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland, with a population of 175,102 in 2021. It's part of Metropolis GZM centred on Katowice and is industrial. Nevertheless it has a well-restored old town and many historical sights.
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This is a tower built in 1322 as part of the city walls, plus an armory building. It was probably never a seat of the Piast royal dynasty, whose power was ebbing by that date. It's now a branch of Gliwice Museum.
Completed in 1900 as the Church of Sts Peter and Paul, this was promoted to cathedral in 1992 when Gliwice became a diocese.
Kościół Wszystkich Świętych
Stout brick Gothic church built from 1250 and restored after a fire in 1711.
Mansion of the industrialist Oscar Caro built in the 1880s, now part of Gliwice Museum and visited on the same combi ticket as the castle.
Palmiarnia Miejska
19th century Palm House with over 5600 specimens, some of them over 150 years old.
Dom Pamięci Żydów Górnośląskich
This branch of the Municipal Museum tells the history of the Jewish people of Upper Silesia. The building was originally a funeral home next to the new Jewish cemetery, established in 1902–1903.
A city icon, this 118 metre-high radio mast is the tallest wooden structure in Europe. Erected in 1934, it was the target of the "false flag" attack of 31 Aug 1939, the pretext for Germany to invade Poland. The SS dressed in Polish uniforms, stormed the transmitter and broadcast an anti-German message. Next morning German radio barked that Poland was invading but Seit 5 Uhr 45 wird jetzt zurückgeschossen! - "Since 05:45 we are returning fire!". Two days later Britain and France declared war against Germany. The mast still supports radio and mobile phone transmissions while the building is now part of Gliwice Museum, with old equipment and a film about the attack. Labelling is only in Polish.
Muzeum Odlewnictwa Artystycznego
A branch of the Municipal Museum, exhibiting artistic bronze and iron castings. It's in the engine room of a former coal mine.
PreZero Arena
Large multi-purpose venue for music and sports.
Trad Polish and other East European food on market square.
Stylish relaxing cafe.
Dingy, more like a workers' flop-house.
Clean and friendly, though rooms in the roof space are tiny.
Clean, modern and central, small rooms.
Smart place near Rynek with spacious rooms.
Midway between Rynek and station, comfy enough but small rooms.
By train
Trains from Katowice run every 20 minutes and take 30 min via Chorzów and Zabrze. These may start from Częstochowa, Dąbrowa Górnicza, or all the way from Przemyśl on the Ukraine border via Kraków.
By bus
Flixbus runs four times a day from Berlin, taking 7 hours via Berlin Airport (BER), Wrocław, Brzeg and Opole, and heading for Katowice and Kraków.
The central area is compact; further out, buses ply all the main streets. ZTM Metropolia run almost all buses and trams across the 40-some cities of Upper Silesian Metropolis, which straddles the Czech border.
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