– some interesting facts

FACT ONE Oficially, Poland is now 1043 years old. Its formal beginning is the year 966 when the ruling prince, , decided to adopt Chritianity as the official religion of his people, thus establishing political bonds with the rest of civilised Europe.

FACT TWO The name „Poland” – in Latin „Polonia” and in Polish „Polska” comes from the name of the tribe „Polanie”, who used to inhabit the western part of today’s country. It used to mean: people living in open fields.

FACT THREE

Our national colours are red and white. They can be seen on our flag and emblem. The emblem represents a white eagle on the red background and there is a nice legend about it. We wrote down the legend for you to read here:

THE THREE BROTHERS The beginnings of Poland

Once upon a time, over a thousand years ago, when the area of today’s Poland was covered with thick and wild forests, there lived three brothers. Their names were Lech, Czech and Rus.

One day they decided to leave their parents and village and, accompanied by their servants and warriors, look for a new place to settle down and start a new life.

For many days they wandered together, but finally understood that they could never find a piece of land that would please all three of them. They decided to choose separate paths. Czech took the path leading to the south, Rus – to the east and Lech went westwards.

Lech and his people made their way through the forests and they observed that with each day the landscapes became more and more beautiful. Finally, after many days, they came to an exceptionally charming spot. As it was getting late, he ordered the camp to be put up for the night around a huge oak tree. Suddenly, the sun started to set and covered the sky with its red flames and some strange noise could be heard, as if of the huge wings breaking the forest’s silence. The warriors raised their heads and saw a huge, white eagle approaching its nest in the oak tree.

Lech understood that the place was not only beautiful, but also abundant in goods of all kinds and very safe. He thrust his sword in the ground under the oak tree and said: “Here I will build my kingdom and around this magnificent oak tree its capital will appear. Because the eagle’s nest is in the oak’s branches, the city will be called Gniezno (“gniazdo” is a Polish word for “nest”) and the symbol of our country will be the white eagle in the red sky.”

FACT FOUR Here is what our country looks like now.

Its capital is Warszawa (Warsaw in English).

It has the sea in the North... (the Baltic Sea)

... and mountains in the South.

We live more to the south, in a city called Katowice, which is the capital city of a region called Silesia, in Polish – Śląsk.

FACT FIVE The best known and most loved Polish city is Kraków, Cracow in English. It is in fact the real heart of the country, the city of unputdownable charm, history and atmosphere. Make sure you come to see it if you are one day in the area! Here is a nice website about the city and its area: http://www.krakow.pl/en/

FACT SIX There are many legends and stories about Cracow. The most famous ones are about the Dragon of Cracow and about how Princess Wanda saved the city. We wrote them down for you as well:

THE DRAGON OF CRACOW (SMOK WAWELSKI) Poland’s most popular legend

Once upon a time there lived a good king in a castle upon the Wawel hill in the place where today we can see the royal castle in Cracow. All the people in his country loved him, because he was just and honest and knew very well how to rule his people.

One day terrible news shocked the whole land. An enormous dragon appeared out of nowhere and settled down in a huge cave just under the king’s castle. Since the day he appeared in Cracow terrible things started to happen in the neighbourhood. He needed big amounts of food every day, so he often attacked farms and stole cattle, sheep or chickens. But that was not enough for him. After a while he ordered the people of Cracow to bring him every morning one beautiful, young girl so that he could eat her for breakfast. Otherwise – as he said – he would use the fire from his stomach to destroy the whole city. What could the people do? They had to agree. Poor king was crying day and night seeing the terrible misery of his people. Finally he came up with an idea. He sent his servants to all corners of the world with a message that the daredevil who would have enough courage to come and kill the monster would as a reward receive half of the kingdom and the king’s beautiful daughter as a wife. Both the kingdom and the princess attracted a great variety of brave young men: soldiers, knights, princes were coming form different far-off lands. Unfortunately, the dragon was stronger and killed them all without the slightest difficulty. The saddest moment came when one day the monster demanded the princes for his next morning meal. And just than a very strange person appeared in the castle – it was neither a soldier nor a noble, but an ordinary shoemaker, a young boy called Dratewka, who lived and worked in Cracow. Nobody believed him when he said he could kill the dragon, but the king was so much in despair that he let him try.

The boy took the skin of one dead sheep and stuffed it with sulphur. Next he stitched it very carefully and added four sticks that looked like legs. After it had been done he took the ‘sheep’ to the cave and placed it right in front of the entrance. When the dragon woke up in the morning he saw the animal as if waiting for him. He was expecting the princess, but he thought he could have that sheep as a starter. Without hesitation he swallowed the dish. A few moments passed and suddenly something strange started to happen inside his stomach. He felt extremely thirsty so he rushed to the nearby river and started to drink. He was drinking and drinking and drinking but nothing could satisfy his thirst. He drank almost all water from the river and then – with a huge ‘boom’ he popped like a balloon! The noise could be heard in all corners of the kingdom.

The king was very happy. He immediately gave half of his kingdom to the shoemaker and the princess was also delighted to marry her hero. After the old king’s death the shoemaker was crowned and ruled long and happily. HOW PRINCESS WANDA SAVED CRACOW

There was once a good, old king Krak who ruled the city of Cracow and the lands around it. He was very popular among his subjects, as a man of honour and kind, loving heart. His wife had long been dead and he had no son who would take the throne after his death, but he had a beautiful and brave daughter called Wanda. She was in love with a young prince, who ruled the lands close to the Baltic Sea. Even though they were often separated by the long miles of thick forests, the two happy people did not despair and kept making plans for the future together.

Unfortunately, the time finally came when the old king died. The nobles of Cracow started thinking how to ensure the safety and stability of the land. They thought that the best way would be to marry the princess off to some brave knight who could protect the land and its people. They sent their messengers to all neighbouring kingdoms and soon a mighty knight from a fighters’ tribe, very hostile towards Wanda’s nation, came to the Cracow castle and demanded Wanda’s hand in marriage. Wanda, scared of the knight’s brutality, refused, especially that she was still hopeful to hear from her seaside prince.

The knight, however, was not so easily discouraged. “I will now go back to my land”, he said, “but I will be back soon, with my numerous, well trained and well armed hosts. If you do not agree to have me as your husband, we will destroy your country with swords and fire and slay all your subjects. The choice is yours.” With these words, the knight left.

Poor Wanda had never felt so lonely and helpless in her life before. Her prince gave no sign of life and day by day people came to her castle, begging her to marry the cruel knight and save her land. She knew, however, that under such a rule, her people would never again feel safe and free.

Finally, the day came when the knight and his army were approaching Cracow. Wanda knew that her prince would not come in time to protect her and her land. She knew she had to save her people without anybody’s help. She put on her most beautiful dress and picked up some flowers. She went to the top of the Wawel Hill and looked around to admire her lands for the last time. “If I cannot marry the man my heart has chosen then I shall marry no one,” she said with a sad smile. “And I will never give anyone a reason to attack my country and hurt my people. If this is my destiny, let it be so.” With these words she plunged down the cliff, straight to the Wisla River.

Many miles away from the city her body was found drifting along the river. People mourned her for long months and the legend says that she looked so sweet, peaceful and pretty in her death as if she had only been asleep.

FACT SEVEN Poland really is situated in the VERY HEART of Europe. The geometrical central point of the whole continent can be found in a town of Suchowola in the East of the country.

The map doesn’t show all the way eastwards to the Ural Mountains, there is an arrow pointing in this direction.

FACT EIGHT The most famous Pole is – in our opinion – the most famous astronomer of all times, who also happens to be the patron of our school. His name is Mikołaj Kopernik, known to the world as Nicolaus Copernicus. His biggest merit is that he „stopped the Sun and moved the Earth”.

FACT NINE One of the most famous places in Poland is the oldest Salt Mine in Wieliczka, near Kraków. It is a truly impressive place, in which salt has been excavated for over 700 years! Check our next story to read how – according to a legend – salt was discovered there.

THE LEGEND OF SAINT KINGA How Poland got its salt deposits

In the 13 th century a young Polish prince, called Bolesław , of the , decided to get married and for his wife chose a beautiful Hungarian princess of the Arpad Dynasty, the daughter of king Bela IV, Kinga (or Kunegund, as she is sometimes called). When Bolesław’s proposal was accepted, the loving father asked Kinga what she would like to get from him as a wedding present, what she would like to take to her husband and the new country. Kinga replied that she wanted no gold and jewels, since they only brought unhappiness and tears. She wanted something that could serve the people she was going to live with. Her request surprised the king greatly – she asked for salt. The king was determined to keep his promise. He offered Kinga the biggest and most prosperous salt deposits in Hungary – the Marmaros salt mine. However, nobody knew what Kinga could do with the treasure. On her way to Poland the princess visited the mine. She kneeled to pray next to the entrance and – to everyone’s surprise – suddenly threw her engagement ring inside. She gathered a group of the best Hungarian salt miners and told them to follow her. When the party arrived in Poland and was approaching Kraków, Kinga stopped and asked the miners to look for salt. They started digging and suddenly hit something very hard. It was a lump of salt. When they broke it, everyone saw what was hidden inside – Kinga’s engagement ring! That is how the Hungarian princess brought salt to our country. Right now in Wieliczka there is the most famous salt mine museum. Here is the link to the mine’s homepage: http://www.kopalnia-wieliczka.pl/english/ To commemorate the princess, 101 metres under the ground, down in the mine there is the world’s biggest underground chapel, dedicated to Saint Kinga.

FACT TEN We have twenty-three National Parks in Poland, so you can see we are concerned about protecting our wildlife and landscapes! In some of them there are some truly unique species of animals, like the European buffalo or white eagle for example. Here is a nice place to learn about our Polish Parks: http://www.mos.gov.pl/kzpn/ind_gb.htm

FACT ELEVEN The population of Poland in the 10 th century was about 1 –1,5 mln. Now it is over 38,2 mln .

FACT TWELVE In our opinion, the most interesting building in Poland is Spodek in our city, Katowice. The name means „Saucer” and it really looks like a giant flying saucer, especially at night. It is a big sports and concert hall.

FACT THIRTEEN Polish language belongs to the group of Western Slavonic languages. With us, there are two other languages in this group: Czech and Slovakian. Especially the Slovakian language is very easy for us to understand!

FACT FOURTEEN In Poland there are three main types of schools. You start in a primary school when you are seven and continue for six years. Then you go to a junior secondary, or middle school for three years and finally for three years to secondary school. At the end of it you are nineteen and if you pass your exams, you can go to university!

FACT FIFTEEN The Polish alphabet consits of 32 letters. Here they are: a ą b c ć d e ę f g h i j k l ł m n ń o ó p r s ś t u w y z ź ż

We also use some dyphtongs to express the consonants which do not have a one-letter representation in the alphabet:

sz, cz, dż, dź, ch

FACT SIXTEEN We have won the Nobel Prize seven times in history. Here are the winners from Poland: Literature – Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska. Peace – Lech Wałęsa. Chemistry – Maria Skłodowska-Curie. Physics – Maria Skłodowska-Curie.