City county in Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland
Photo: Slowacki, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Białystok is the largest city in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Podlachia. It is the gateway to many natural attractions of Podlachia, known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland, including Biebrza National Park and Białowieża National Park. Białystok is also the place of birth of Ludwik Zamenhof, the inventor of the artificial language, Esperanto. The city hosted an international Esperanto conference in 2009.
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This is by no doubt the main tourist attraction in the city. The Branickis' Palace is a former residence of a wealthy and influential noble family of Branicki, which used to own the whole city of Bialystok. The most famous member, Jan Klemens Branicki, the Great Crown Hetman of Poland with unsuccessful aspirations to the Polish throne, made the city prosperous and striving. The palace was given its current shape in early 18th century and since then has been called many names reflecting its grandeur, including "the Versaille of Podlasie". Although badly damaged by German bombs during the World War II, it was carefully rebuilt and now serves as the main building of the Medical University of Białystok.
A big palace painted in light pink, the former residence of the Prussian Governor of the Białystok region during the short times in 19th century (1795-1815) when Białystok was under German rule. The building was later transformed into a school. It is here that Ludwik Zamenhof was taught. The school has another infamous alumnus - Ignacy Hryniewiecki, who killed Alexander II, Tsar of Russia, on 13 March 1881, by throwing a bomb at him.
A marked foot trail created in June 2008 by a group of students and doctorate candidates, who participated as volunteers. One of the goals of the project was to generate social capital by engaging cooperation between local institutions and social groups. The project included: planning the trail, publicizing an informative booklet and map in printed and electronic versions, building an interactive website of the project, marking the trail sites and opening the trail to the public with a walk around the city, publicizing teacher's materials.
Uniwersyteckie Centrum Przyrodnicze w Białymstoku
A museum of natural science.
Home to the Jagiellonia Białystok football club, who play in Ekstraklasa, the top tier of Polish football. Capacity 22,000.
Muzeum Pamięci Sybiru
Museum showcasing an array of exhibits on Polish citizens who were deported to the USSR during WWII.
The Cooperative
Cafe and bookstore with modern interior and large front shopwindow.
Old: Galeria Biała
By train
This is the most affordable choice of getting in to Białystok train station from Warsaw. There are 13 trains a day from Warsaw, the first one leaving at 04:55 and the last one at 21:30.
By bus
PKS Białystok operates coaches to most major cities in Poland.
By car
You can easily get there by car from Warsaw, Gdańsk (A1) and Poznań. The national road S8 makes Białystok 2 hours and 30 minutes away from Warsaw.
As a city, Bialystok has a rather small area considering its big population - it is the second most densely populated city in Poland after Łódź.
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