2019 PB BWM Informator Www-1
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EDITORIAL TEAM Publisher & Copyright Holder Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange Texts, concept and editing: Agnieszka Gniazdowska, Servando Herrera Zuazo Photos used come from: K. Cichoń, M. Obrycki, P. Tadejko, M. Jakowiak/UM Białystok, BUT archive; freepik.com, fotolia.com Bialystok, 2019 INTERESTING FACTS • city of incredible murals • the words “biały stok” mean “white slope” • Ludwik Zamenhof, the creator of international language Esperanto, was born here BIALYSTOK, the capital of Podlaskie Province with nearly 300 000 habitants, is the biggest city in north-eastern Poland. The country’s capital, Warsaw, is only 188 km (116 miles) away. Bialystok plays a role of administrative, economic and cultural hub in this part of Poland. The city is a transregional academic and scientific centre with about 40 000 young people studying at various higher education institutions: Bialystok University of Technology, University of Bialystok, Medical University of Bialystok, as well as The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, Branch Campus in Bialystok, Puppet Theatre Art Department and Department of Instrumental and Educational Studies of the Warsaw’s Fryderyk Chopin University of WEATHER Music. There are also a dozen non-public educational institutions here. The weather in Bialystok differs from many other Polish cities. The region is one Bialystok is a good starting point for discovering natural wonders of the Podlasie region. It is called “Green Lungs of Poland”, as it is ecologically clean and rich THE CITY OF BIALYSTOK OF BIALYSTOK THE CITY of the coldest in Poland. Even though winter is long and frosty, summer is usually in tourist attractions. There are 4 national parks in the region, including the world-famous Bialowieza National Park, the UNESCO World Heritage Site. hot here. The temperature reaches over 30°C in warm months but it can drop to The city has been ranked number 1 as the best Polish city to live in (2016 Eurobarometer survey)! minus 30°C in winter season. 4 | Bialystok University of Technology pb.edu.pl/en | 5 A lot of useful information can be he history of Bialystok is several centuries old. Its specific character has been shaped by the coexistence of many nationalities, religions, found on: odkryj.bialystok.pl/en/ guide. Tcultures, customs and traditions. The city has always been the home of Poles, Belarussians, Jews, Lithuanians, Germans and Tatars. It In good weather you can take is this cultural and lingual “melting pot” character of the place that was one of the reasons for Dr Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (born in 1859 in a seat at a cafe or restaurant Thematic tourist trails present Bia- Bialystok) to start creating a universal language – Esperanto. table, soak up the view east to lystok’s rich history and picture the the cathedral and see the city city of many religions and nation- Bialystok received its municipal charter in 1692. The city gained its truly urban characteristics during the reign of Jan Klemens II Branicki alities. You can feel the atmosphere going about its day. of old times thanks to the old wood- (1689-1771), the Grant Crown Hetman, the Cracow Castellan. Hetman Branicki, universally known as Morethe best info: “manager”iro.pb.edu.pl among all Polish en houses. magnates, supported the development of trade and municipal institutions. He reconstructed the local palace and enclosed it with gardens LIPOWA STREET (which came to be known as the “Versailles of Podlasie”) and laid out the central part of the town with its triangular market and a townhall. More than any other street in the city, Lipowa Street bore the The former town of the Branicki family became the capital of the Podlaskie Province. The city lies less than 60 kilometres from the border brunt of the German attack in the Second World War. But its high tenement with Belarus. For some visitors, Bialystok is a convenient jumping-off point for visiting the Bialowieza National Park (often called the “last houses and villas have been restored and there’s an array of interesting untouched wilderness of Europe”) and the Masurian Lake District. sights, like the Cristal Hotel, the first new hotel in Poland after the Second World War. If you cut down Malmeda Street you’ll come to a statue of L. L. Zamenhof, the Bialystok-born doctor who invented Esperanto. At the far end, in Plac BRANICKI PALACE Niepodleglosci, there is the eye-catching Church of Christ the King, which The palace looks a lot like it did when it was completed in the early 18th was one of the world’s first Modernist churches when completed in 1946. century, as does the Great Hall, Chinese Room and the magnificent vesti- bule, all free to enter and shared by the Medical Uni- GREAT SYNAGOGUE MONUMENT versity of Bialystok. In Suraska street you may be stopped in The gardens have also been kept from that time and your tracks by a memorial on the site of Bia- so they stand as the best example of Baroque gar- lystok’s former Great Synagogue. On a lawn FEEL THE SPIRIT OF THE CITY BY den design in Poland, with topiaries, geometric lawns, there is the crumpled metal frame of the FOLLOWING ONE OF THE TRAILS: stone vases and fountains. synagogue’s dome in the middle of a paved n Route of Branicki’s Family Star of David. n KOŚCIUSZKO MARKET SQUARE Wooden Architecture This memorial is dedicated to the tragic n The original town hall, founded by Jan Klemens Bran- Route of the Bialystok Factory Tycoons events that occurred on June 27, 1941, when icki, was the centre of commerce in the city. It was n The Esperanto and Multicultural Route the Great Synagogue was burnt down by the site of the town’s official models of weights and n Route of the Places of Worship German Nazis with about two thousand n PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST PLACES OF HISTORICAL measures of length and volume. The Bojary Route Jews inside. INTEREST PLACES OF HISTORICAL n Trail of Murals 6 | Bialystok University of Technology pb.edu.pl/en | 7 PODLASIE OPERA AND PHILHARMONIC CATHEDRAL BASILICA OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED – THE EUROPEAN ART CENTRE IN VIRGIN MARY BIALYSTOK It is the main church of the Archdiocese of Bialystok which acquired the sta- Northeastern Poland’s biggest and most mod- tus of basilica in 1985. The cathedral complex is composed of the neogothic ern cultural institution, the Podlasie Opera and cathedral (the late Renaissance church is the oldest brick building in the city) Philharmonic moved into a brand new complex and a Baroque presbytery constructed in 1761. In the old church, look for the in 2012. This minimalist concrete and glass con- fine main altar, the mannerist pulpit and the tombs of the Gryfit-Branicki fam- struction opened in time for the highly-regarded ily. Worth noting are the Cathedral Organ Concerts which take place on Friday institution’s 58th season and is worth a detour nights in July and August. even if you are not up for high-brow entertain- AKCENT ZOO ment. The revolving main stage is equipped with a It was founded back in the 1960s, and while it used to have exotic species, second largest organ in Poland. This high-tech the zoo’s emphasis is now on animals from eastern Poland. These are grey hall also has movable platforms in the ceiling, wolves, fallow deer, red deer, wildcats, lynxes and bison, as well as regional with glass screens that can help customise the breeds of horses, goats and ponies. The zoo also has aviaries for buzzards, hall’s acoustics according to the performance tawny owls, Eurasian eagle owls and white storks. You’ll be pleased to see that taking place. the habitats are large for the most part and have a lot of foliage. The Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic building is complemented by the Amphitheatre, which serves as a concert, festival and film screen- ing venue throughout the spring and summer months. WANT TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR CITY, GO TO: MAY 3RD CONSTITUTION PARK Streched over 16 hectares, the park remains refreshingly uncultivated. Most of the terrain is shrouded by Tourist Information Centers dense mature forest of oak, hornbeam and birch, and with elms and alders growing in the more humid n Centrum Informacji Turystycznej, 1A Koscielna Street pockets of the park. WANT TO BUY SOUVENIRS, GO TO: n Regionalne Centrum Informacji Turystycznej, 6 Malmeda Street Keep a lookout for the Polish and Soviet World War I and II military cemetery, as well as the monument n Multimedialne Centrum Informacji Turystycznej, 1 Kilinskiego Street to commemorate the soldiers of Poland’s 42nd Infantry Regiment who lost their lives in conflicts that n SLJEDZIK, 13 Kilinskiego Street followed the First World War. n CEPELIA, 3 Grochowa Street PLACES OF HISTORICAL INTEREST PLACES OF HISTORICAL n Ojczyzna. Gadżety sportowo- INTEREST PLACES OF HISTORICAL narodowe, 15 Pilsudskiego Street 8 | Bialystok University of Technology pb.edu.pl/en | 9 vealed very unwillingly. A real pyramid bacon, onion, eggs and flour. However, cake requires a large number of eggs babka is baked on a tray, while the (50 to 60 depending on size), with kiszka mass is stuffed into a pig’s in- sugar added. The secret of the cake’s testine before baking. sponginess lies in the thorough beat- ing of the dough, to which some butter Polish cuisine is diverse and unique. and a little flour are added. But that BIGOS is not enough. To make a good cake PIEROGI it must be properly baked. The art of In Poland we can find a wide range of dishes prepared with cabbage, barley, beetroot, potatoes and – above Traditionally a winter dish.