Silesia

Tschenstochau (Częstochowa) on the Warta River, with approx. 206,000 residents, is the second-largest city in Silesian Voivodeship. It is known for the Jasna Góra Pauline Monastery, founded in 1382 by Duke Władysław of Opole (Władysław Opolczyk), which attracts three to four million pilgrims and visitors annually with its miraculous Black Madonna icon. The city gained Magdeburg Rights in 1502 and railway connection to Warsaw-Vienna in 1846.The approx. 1.5-kilometer-long and 44-meter-wide Avenue of the Most Holy Virgin Mary (Aleja Najświętszej Maryi Panny) connects the Old Town and city center with the monastery hill. It starts at Plac Daszyńskiego, leads via Plac Biegańskiego, and ends at the parks below Jasna Góra. Along it are townhouses from around 1900, the neo-Gothic Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary, and the Pilgrim Museum. Away from the monastery, the Matchstick Museum showcases a piece of the city's industrial history.

Katowice is the capital of the Silesian Voivodeship and the hub of an urban agglomeration with several million inhabitants. The village grew into an industrial city in the 19th century thanks to coal and ore, receiving city rights in 1865. Following a plebiscite and the division of Upper Silesia, it joined Poland and became the capital of the Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship in 1922. From 1953 to 1956, it was called Stalinogród. Today, approximately 279,000 people live here.The city center (Śródmieście) stretches from the train station to the Rynek. Nearby lies the pedestrian street ul. Mariacka, with its 19th-century neo-Gothic St. Mary's Church, which becomes the hub of nightlife in the evenings. Just a few minutes' walk north stand the Spodek Hall and the Culture Zone (Strefa Kultury) on the grounds of the former Katowice Mine. In the east of the city, the mining settlements of Nikiszowiec and Giszowiec are preserved.Since 2015, Katowice has been a UNESCO Creative City of Music. Alongside NOSPR concerts, the OFF Festival in August and the Tauron Nowa Muzyka Festival shape the calendar, while the Spodek hosts the finals of the Intel Extreme Masters e-sports tournaments.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum is located on the outskirts of Oświęcim, west of Krakow (Kraków). German occupiers established the camp in 1940, and Auschwitz II-Birkenau was built from October 1941. According to estimates by the Memorial, approximately 1.1 million people were murdered in Auschwitz, about 1 million of them Jews. The victims also included approximately 70,000 Poles, 21,000 Sinti and Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and about 12,000 prisoners of other nationalities.On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the camp; since 2005, this day has been the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Polish Parliament founded the museum on July 2, 1947, and since 1979, the site has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The site covers approximately 191 hectares: the former main camp Auschwitz I and the much larger Birkenau, about three kilometers away; a free shuttle bus provided by the Memorial connects both parts. For a visit, you should allow at least half a day.

Krakow (Kraków) lies on the Vistula in southern Poland and, with around 800,000 inhabitants, is the country's second-largest city. Until 1596, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Poland; on Wawel Hill, kings were crowned until 1734 and most of them were interred. Since 1978, its historic center—the Old Town, Wawel, Stradom, and Kazimierz—has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.The Old Town (Stare Miasto) surrounds the Rynek Główny, whose layout dates back to 1257. A green belt, the Planty, occupies the site of the former city fortifications; the historic Royal Route begins at St. Florian's Gate and led coronation processions up to Wawel. South of it lies Kazimierz, founded as a separate city in 1335 and for centuries a center of Jewish life. Today, synagogues, cafés, and bars mingle there.Beyond the Vistula lies Podgórze, where German occupiers established the ghetto in 1941; in the Zabłocie district stands Oskar Schindler's former enamel factory. To the east, Nowa Huta is an industrial city of the socialist era, incorporated in 1951.

Wieliczka is located about 13 kilometers southeast of Krakow (Kraków) and has lived from salt since the Middle Ages. The first shafts were dug in the 13th century, and the town was granted city rights in 1290. Salt mining ended in 1996; the mine has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1978, joined by the Bochnia mine in 2008, and the Saltworks Castle in 2013. Together, they form the World Heritage site Royal Salt Mines Wieliczka and Bochnia.Most visitors come for the underground tourist route, but the town itself is also worth a tour. At Rynek Górny, the buildings follow the medieval layout, while Rynek Dolny was once a trading place for salt and is located by the Regis Shaft. The town also features the Saltworks Castle, the wooden St. Sebastian's Church, and a brine graduation tower.