- 0.5m
- 50 000
- 748 €
- 1720 h
- Warsaw Chopin Airport / 208 km
The so-called city hall in fact never housed Białystok’s municipal authorities. Local merchants used the space in the lower part for shops and firemen used the tall tower for observation.
Białystok is now a fairly large city with all the infrastructure of a regional capital, but it still retains some of the charm of a much smaller place. The scale of Lipowa – the main street, lined with two and three storey houses, leading up to a pedestrian market square (Rynek Kościuszki) – strengthens this impression. Look out for the post-war buildings around the square and look up to see graffito decorations of ancient warriors, zodiac signs and other themes that were supposed to give this rather new city an old town feel.
In fact, the history of Białystok is relatively short. It grew rapidly into a multicultural city in the 19th century thanks to a railroad linking Vienna and St. Petersburg via Warsaw and Vilnius and an industrial boom. The residence of the aristocratic Branicki family, which owned Białystok before it became an industrial hub, marks the eastern end of Lipowa Street, a few steps away from the Market Square.
Meticulously restored after the Second World War and now housing the Medical University of Białystok, the palace is surrounded by a vast park and a baroque French-style garden. Białystok’s other landmarks are a far departure from the pre-industrial idyll of the residence. At the opposite end of Lipowa Street, on a small hill, there is the St. Roch church with its 78-metre tall spire. The building, equally inspired by gothic cathedrals and Manhattan’s skyscrapers, was designed in the 1920s and is said to be one of the finest churches built in Poland in the last century. Set to become a new icon of the city is the new opera house south of Lipowa Street.
The monumental edifice, designed by Marek Budzyński, architect of the acclaimed university library in Warsaw, will be covered with lush vegetation. It seems very fitting for a city that recently stunned the rest of the country when a survey showed it had the highest standard of living among the 12 biggest Polish cities. This is largely due to the clean environment, the abundance of parks and the proximity to nature. As early as 1993 Białystok became the first Polish member of the Healthy Cities Network set up by the WHO. It is no surprise that a historically multicultural place, now located just off the eastern border of the country, has the highest percentage of non-Catholic and non-Polish population of all the big Polish cities. Long gone is the Jewish population that made up nearly a half of Białystok’s population before the Second World War, but Belarusians and Tatars are large minorities, as evidenced by the onion domes of modern Orthodox churches, a construction site of the Islamic cultural centre and the soft local accent. The surrounding countryside is one of the most culturally diverse areas in Poland.
Tykocin is a minuscule town with a grand Market Square and a well preserved ancient synagogue. In some villages, ethnic minorities are the majority. In the Tatar village of Kruszyniany you will find a beautiful wooden mosque. The villages south east of Białystok are almost uniquely Belarusian. And a mere 90-minute drive away from the city there is the Holy Grabarka hill – the most important Orthodox sanctuary in Poland, surrounded by a forest of crosses. Travelling around Białystok is a journey in time, back to the days when Poland was one of the most diverse countries in Europe, where Poles made up no more than two thirds of the population.
Branicki Palace
Monika Szewczyk
Director of Białystok’s acclaimed Arsenał Gallery
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Branicki Palace ul. Jana Kilińskiego 1, tue – Fr, 3:30 – 5:30 pm, sat – sun: 9 am – 5 pm. A historical palace in Białystok, one of the best-preserved aristocratic mansions from the Saxon period on Polish territory. Built in the late-Baroque style and often referred to as the Versailles of the Podlasie region, the Versailles of the North or the ‘Polish Versailles’. Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok Few traces remain of the Jewish presence in Białystok. Among those that survived to the present day are three synagogue buildings, a few tenement houses, some architectural details, memorials and memorial plaques and a cemetery. All the more reason to preserve the memory about the city’s once vibrant and sizable Jewish population, present in Białystok between 1658 and 1939 (until the outbreak of World War II). The trail leads visitors to sites connected with the history of Białystok’s Jews, |
presenting the Jewish population in the context of the multi-cultural society of pre-war Poland and promoting elements of Jewish culture and tradition. The city’s pedestrian zone encompasses Kościuszko Square as well as Suraska and Kilińskiego streets. The hungry and thirsty will find a few inexpensive eateries there serving Polish cuisine such as Społem Podlasiak (ul. Rynek Kościuszki 15) and Astoria (ul. Sienkiewicza 4, opening hours: 1 – 10 pm mon – sat, 12 – 10 pm sun) – with a terrace overlooking the Market Square. Białystok Manufacturers’ Trail Presenting the history of the city’s industrial prosperity and of local companies, run by Nowik, Hasbach, Becker, Trylling, Moes and Janowski, the trail leads to factory buildings, mansions and villas that have survived to the present day. The functions they had served may have changed repeatedly over time |
but the edifices themselves testify to the industrial heyday from the turn of the 20th century. Metro Club ul. Białówny 9a, thu – sat:7 pm – 2 am, tue – wed: 7 pm – 6 am Since its opening in the mid – 1990s Metro’s DJ deck and stage have seen performances by a host of artists from various parts of Poland and the world. The venue boasts a great sound system and interesting dewcor, with two bars, a dance hall and lounge area. Rynek Antiquarian Bookseller Rynek Kościuszki 13, mon – fri: 10 am – 6 pm The bookshop offers a journey to the East through its extensive offer of Central and Eastern European literature from Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Russia and Serbia. Additionally, the shop boasts an impressive selection of vinyl records. |
Ignacy Karpowicz
Writer, winner of the 2010 Polityka Passport Award in the literature Category
When visiting Białystok it is worth getting to know three tourist routes. The first is the wooden architecture trail. I recommend a walk to the district of Bojary, with beautiful old wooden houses. Here you can see and feel the pre-war climate of an Eastern Polish borderland town. It also becomes evident that brick or concrete is not necessarily better or more beautiful than wood. The next is the Esperanto and Zamenhof trail. It is worth starting from the newly-opened Ludwik Zamenhof Centre (ul. Warszawska 19), which, as a new institution, is vibrant and not yet fossilized. It’s a good place to see and understand the place in which Esperanto was born. Although an artificial language, Esperanto had noble intentions and a very interesting history.
I would take my guests to the Cechowa café (ul. Warszawska 4/6). Firstly, because they serve kiszka ziemniaczana (potato sausage) (a regional delicacy based on potatoes), and secondly, because you can still sense the old communist era. Though unattractive, Cechowa is not pretentious. Such establishments are already a rarity with the world flooded with restaurant chains and smart restaurants with sophisticated cuisine. Eating excellent food in a flashy restaurant for a lot of money has become so easy that it’s not worth recommending. But Cechowa is different.
Locals recommend a stroll around Bojary – a neighbourhood composed of old wooden working class homes.
