Silesia

• 2.8m
• 141 000
• 1026 €
• 1789 h
• Katowice international Airport / 30 km

Nikiszowiec, Katowice

A decade ago the idea of spending a weekend in Silesia, a region with two hundred years of coal mining tradition under its belt, would seem outrageous, but now the whole area is re-inventing itself as a destination for the demanding tourist: from contemporary art and alternative music lovers to people who get their kicks from playing golf on derelict industrial sites

The train station in Katowice is one of the busiest in Poland. It sits right in the heart of the city. The neighbourhood south of it is a testimony to the inter-war period of prosperity when the city was the capital of an autonomous region rich in coal and steel: Upper Silesia (Górny Śląsk). The ambition and wealth of the ‘most American of Polish cities’ is reflected in the sheer size of the regional parliament building (Sejm Śląski) and Poland’s then second-tallest apartment tower. These achievements were to be dwarfed by the development undertaken north of the train station in the 1960s and the 1970s. Along Aleja Korfantego is the longest housing block in the city (superjednostka) and the masterfully engineered 11,500 seat arena, Spodek (the saucer). In a couple of years a new cultural district will be completed next to it, replacing the Katowice coal mine: with a concert hall of the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra (NOSPR), a convention centre and the partly underground premises of the Silesian Museum (Muzeum Śląskie) designed by the Austrian architects Riegler & Riewe.

	South of the train station is Katowice’s modernist centre, planned and built in the thirties, when the city became the capital of the autonomous region of Silesia.

If you feel like connecting with the region’s working class tradition, take a bus to the suburb called Giszowiec, founded a century ago by the Giesche brothers industrialists who used to own around one third of the present city area. Giesche’s miners were housed in a selfsustained community of red-brick houses, with a school, a church and other local facilities. Get there before it’s registered on the UNESCO heritage list and turns into a theme park.

On the other side of Katowice, in Chorzów, another version of a working class paradise was created fifty years later at the order of the much cherished local communist leader – Generał Ziętek. The 600 – hectare Park of Culture and Leisure is nearly twice as large a New York’s Central Park and was probably the earliest attempt at land reclamation in this part of Europe. With its charmingly retro attractions (a planetarium, a zoo, an open-air museum of vernacular architecture, a fun park, outdoor swimming pools and the valley of dinosaurs) it can be best admired from a cable car that hovers in the air.

	Osiedle Tysiąclecia, Katowice

Katowice may be the seat of local government, but the region is in fact polycentric. The second biggest – Gliwice, is equally successful to Katowice in its transition from industrial to a service-based economy. It is the seat of Silesia’s technical university which is the reason why it boasts a vibrant architect community. Bytom has unique cultural institutions: the region’s only opera house, a strong contemporary art collection and the most influential art gallery in this part of the country.

Until 1914 the industrial region was split between three empires: the Russian, Austrian and German. When Poland re-gained independence in 1918, Upper Silesia was divided again between Poland and Germany (the Weimar republic). In 1945 the whole urban region was for the first time brought together under Polish rule. The old divisions are still relevant to locals nonetheless, but for the untrained eye it is often difficult to tell where one city ends and the next one begins and the historical and cultural divisions are diminishing. It is perfectly likely for a student of the Silesian University in Katowice to get some culture and beer in Bytom in the evening, sleep over at a handsome stranger’s place in Gliwice and still make it back to school by train the next morning. Hundreds of thousands commute between the cities and it is technically possible to travel from Gliwice in the west to Dąbrowa Górnicza in the east on a tram. The length of this journey, compared to the 20-minute ride down the A4 motorway shows just how much the region could benefit from a bit of coordination. Common sense prevailed in 2007 when the 14 cities of the region formed the Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia (Górnośląski Związek Metropolitalny) – the first step towards creating a super-city of 3 million inhabitants.

Przemo Łukasik

Architect, lives and works in Bytom, in a house converted from a concrete coal mine building, co-founder of the acclaimed architectural practice Medusa Group

Bytom and Silesia are a hybrid of culture and industry. In Bytom there is Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej Kronika / the Centre for Contemporary Art Kronika, Śląski Teatr Tańca / Silesian Dance Theatre, opera, a ballet school and a music school. Bytom also boasts one of the most important collections of Polish art after 1989 – the collection of Muzeum Śląskie / the Silesian Museum.

Alternativ turistic project maps are available at the Kronika Gallery. You can use them to explore individually or join a group and travel around Śląsk in a more organised, yet still very alternative way. More than a dozen bicycles are available for trips during which tourists can venture out to the venues to date accessible only to miners, steelworkers and factory workers; venues unfamiliar event to most inhabitants of Silesia. With Alternativ Turistic you can also see the remnants of the Szobierki mine as well as Huta Katowice / Katowice Steelworks – once the boldest industrial achievement of socialist Poland. In Zabrze, the project Kopalnia Guido / Guido Mine offers the possibility of going down into the mine (with a ticket). Other attractions include turbo golf tournaments on the slagheaps or in the halls of closed-down factories.

Turbo golf tournament

Roman Łój

President of the board of the Katowice Coal Holding company responsible for 18% of Poland’s coal production

In Zabrze, it’s worth going down the historic mine Guido (ZKWK Guido ul. 3 Maja 93, Zabrze, tue – sun. Hours of underground sightseeing tue: 9:00 - 18:00, wed – fri: 9am – 2.30 pm, sat – sun: 12 am – 4 pm, www.kopalniaguido. pl). In Tarnowskie Gory – Historic Silver Mine (ul. Szczęść Boże 52, Tarnowskie Góry, mon – sun, 9 am – 3 pm, www.kopalniasrebra. pl) is much older and was exhausted long ago, available for tourist groups. An amazing show used to be held there – the lights were turned off, with only several point lamps left in the main pit, shining like miners’ oil lamps. This was intended to teach respect for the people who used to work underground. Fans of architecture should definitely pay a visit to the Nikiszowiec neighbourhood (a district of Katowice, www.nikiszowiec. pl), almost a separate town built 100 years ago for the workers of the present-day Wieczorek mine. Apart from this, take a look at the architecture in the centre of Mikołow, the palace at Pszczyna – Castle Museum in Pszczyna, (ul. Brama Wybrańców 1, Pszczyna, tue – sun: 10 am – 3 pm, www.zamek-pszczyna.pl), the brewery museum in Tychy (Tyskie Browarium, (ul. Mikołowska 5, entrance from ul. Katowicka), Tychy, mon – sat, 10 am – 8 pm, www.tyskiebrowarium.pl ).

Restaurants

An exclusive restaurant at the Hotel Monopol at ul. Dworcowa 5, It is definitely worth a visit hotel and restaurant Marysin Dwór (ul. Pukowca 17a, Katowice, www.restauracja-katowice.com.pl ). And traditional gatherings at the restaurant Pod Kasztanami in Giszowiec (ul. Radosna 35, Katowice-Giszowiec), closer to the city centre at Gwarek (ul. Przemysłowa 2, Katowice), Or next to the Wieczorek mine at the restaurant of the division of the Association of Mining Engineers and Technicians. The last of these venues is easy to overlook, but this might be the reason why it has preserved its traditional atmosphere. Just like the old-fashioned Karczma Pod Młynem, renowned for its cuisine and hidden among furniture stores. (ul. Dytrycha 3a)

Stach Ruksza

Curator, art historian, director of the celebrated Kronika Centre for Contemporary Art in Bytom

Both the fine arts and applied design have had a very positive impact on the character of Silesia. And this should be understood not only as product design, but also engaged design, or critical design. These trends are very interestingly articulated in initiatives carried out by the Katowice Academy for Fine Arts and in the Castle of Art and Entrepreneurism in Cieszyn (ul. Zamkowa 3), a unique institution in Poland.

Castle of Art and Entrepreneurism, Cieszyn

Places to go out in Katowice’s city centre include Złoty Osioł (ul. Mariacka 1), with its good and affordable vegetarian fare, and Karma (ul. Św. Jacka 1). Bigger portions of (not necessarily) veggie dishes are too be found in Bytom at Hipnoza (Jazz Club Hipnoza, Plac Sejmu Śląskiego 2) and Fantom (ul. Żeromskiego 27). Fantom and Hipnoza are both places to hang out, as are the following: Fanaberia (corner of ul. Wita Stwosza I Juliusza Ligonia, Bytom), Przedświt (Księdza Konstantego Damrota 6, Katowice), Archibar (ul. Dyrekcyjna 9, Katowice), Galeria Inny Śląsk (ul. Karola Miarki 2, Tarnowskie Góry).