POLAND – some interesting facts FACT ONE Oficially, Poland is now 1043 years old. Its formal beginning is the year 966 when the ruling prince, Mieszko I, 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.