There are no castles, palaces and monuments of ancient times in Katowice. That is, there are no old buildings. The city survived the destruction during World War II. After many years of approval of the redevelopment plan, extensive building work was carried out in Katowice. Now it is a modern European city with cultural parks, entertainment centers, bars and busy streets. In the article you will learn a lot about Katowice in Poland, sights (photo with a description below) of the city and a bit of history.
Infrastructure
Katowice in Poland became a growing business and cultural center in the post-communist era. Although there was a time when the city was not popular with tourists, times have changed a lot. Today, Katowice's city center is filled with modern architecture, with many cafes, restaurants, pubs and clubs to suit all tastes.
One of the best museums in southern Poland is the Silesian Museum, located on the site of the former Katowice coal mine, which today forms a culturalcity zone. Outdoor enthusiasts can visit the Valley of the Three Ponds, which has everything from beaches to bike paths, or head to the Silesian Park, which is full of family attractions (including an amusement park and a zoo), the infrastructure of the city offers great views via the Elka cable car.
In Katowice, sights can be seen in one day. Much of the city is characterized by its total lack of conformity to the standard template for European tourist destinations (castle, town square, promenade, etc.).
Upper Silesian Ethnographic Park in Katowice (Poland)
This open-air folklore park presents Silesian rural life through architectural monuments. Since the late 1960s, "skansen" Chorzow has been rescuing endangered, forgotten Silesian structures in this makeshift village spread over 20 hectares of idyllic countryside. Grouped into six ethnographic regions, visitors explore some 100 buildings dating from the late 18th to early 20th century, including traditional thatched houses, granaries, historic stave churches, roadside shrines, and windmills (Mondays the park is closed). Many of the buildings are open with indoor exhibitions and informative staff. There is even an old tavern where you can have a bite to eat and drink beer. One of the farms has several goats.
Silesian Park
Upper Silesia, and in particular its capital Katowice, has always been associated as the region of Poland most affected by the communists. Scars were, unfortunately, everywhere, from the once brutal, unsophisticated architecture of Katowice's city center to the overpass that leads to Chorzow's market square, not to mention giant chimneys, abandoned mines, and dilapidated mountain complexes. However, the Polish communist regime was not completely devoid of foresight, and just a few years after “inheriting” the devastated industrial waste of Upper Silesia after World War II, party leaders set aside a vast area of 620 hectares, a plot on the border of Katowice and Chorzow, with the intention of creating the largest urban park in Europe. Like many PRL development projects, the party's vision was not just to provide some open space for public use, but also to create a high-end park that would be applicable in the arts, education, culture and sports. Under the leadership of local hero Jerzy Zentek, a Silesian revolutionary and eventually politician, work began in 1950 on what became the provincial park of culture and recreation.
The working class was urged to participate in the creation of this "People's Park". The support for the construction of the Katowice Landmark has been overwhelming, and indeed everyone from industrial workers to schoolchildren participated in building the park and planting 3.5 million trees and shrubs.
Silesian Zoo
Located in the Silesian Park and Recreation Area, PL's largest zoo is a huge 50-hectare extravaganza that houses 2,465 animals from 390 species from all over the world, including visitor favorites such as hippos, rhinos, Siberian tigers and cheetahs. When visiting this place, children are delighted with the zoo and the valley, which has several dinosaurs built from concrete. In Katowice, this attraction (photo above) is very popular. Feeding times for red pandas are daily at 12:00 and for pelicans 09:30 and 17:00.
City Botanical Garden
The city botanical garden is located on the territory of 6.5 hectares. With the serenity of a stream, several picturesque ponds lined with willows, a palm house, a cactus house, English gardens and a children's playground, this is a great place to spend your holidays. Great place for weddings and photo shoots. You can get there by bus from the city center, number 32, 932 or 720.
Katowice Forest Park
Occupying 420 hectares of land between railway tracks, highways, coal mines, airports, tenements and other Silesian developments that form its borders, this predominantly wooded area south of the city center is considered the best place in Katowice. On the territory of the protected natural area of Forest Park, which includes the Valley of Three Ponds, you can see many marked trails, deer and wild boars live in the forest. ATThe forest park has ponds where you can swim or fish, places to eat, a campground, dozens of sculptures, gardens and many other places. This is an ideal place for outdoor activities at any time of the year. To get there, you need to take buses 674 or 910 and get to the shopping center Osiedle Paderewskiego Trzy Stawy, which is located near the Valley of the Three Ponds.
Wilson Gallery
To the north of the center is the contemporary art gallery, which is arguably the best art space in Katowice. This attraction is one of the main in the city.
The buildings currently occupied by the gallery date back to 1918 and were designed by Zillman behind the Nikiszowiec residential area. The dilapidated mine shaft, where excavations began as early as 1864, can still be seen in ruins behind the gallery buildings, excavations were stopped in 1997. The gallery is owned by Pro Inwest, which is responsible for the exhibition and office space. The area around Wilson's Val is filled with brightly colored outdoor sculptures, in stark contrast to the industrial environment, and also has an entrance wall full of colorful icons (making it hard to miss). The gallery itself consists of 2500 square meters divided into three halls. Full of high-quality sculptural, graphic and installation works by both local and international artists, exhibitions are regularly replaced by permanent installations - some disturbing, some playful, some political. Gallery entrancefree, with a mini-buffet on site, great for breakfast or lunch.
There are many attractions in Katowice, come to this beautiful city and see for yourself!
