The origins
The Biskupin archaeological reserve is an incredible testimony to the Lusatian civilization of the ancestors of the Slavs. The reconstruction of the original prehistoric city, which dates back to around 700 BC, reveals an art of building and town planning that was astonishing for its time, especially given that the site is in the middle of a lake. A surrounding wall, 6 to 8 m high and 3 to 4 m thick, protects an urban center whose wooden, thatched-roof dwellings, all built on the same model, were placed symmetrically on either side of streets lined with cobblestones. Another first-rate prehistoric site is the Krzemionki striped flint mining area. It's fascinating to see how a Neolithic community developed engineering treasures to establish extraction chambers, access galleries, conveyor corridors and reinforce the nearly 4,000 shafts and pits with supporting pillars. This work required the creation of flint processing workshops, communication routes and camps to house the miners. Authentic Unesco World Heritage treasures!
Vibrant Middle Ages
Excavations at Krakow's Royal Wawel Castle have revealed the existence of rotundas, buildings with a circular nave and symmetrically arranged apses. The most famous remains are those of the rotunda at Saint-Félix-et-Saint-Audacte, whose plan is reminiscent of a cloverleaf. The foundations of a Romanesque basilica with three naves and impressive dimensions for its time have also been found beneath the castle. Many buildings, especially religious ones, have preserved traces of this Romanesque past. TheChurch of St. Mary Magdalene in Wrocław, for example, retains a superb Romanesque sculpted portal, while in Stara Zagość, the entire facade of the Hospitaller Church retains this Romanesque sobriety. A period of unrest, the Middle Ages saw the rapid development of defensive architecture. Casimir the Great, who is said to have found Poland in wood and left it in brick, was the builder king par excellence. It was he who built a mighty fortress on Wawel Hill, while around Krakow you can see his Eagle's Nest Route. Don't miss the impressive ruins of Olsztyn Castle, with its solid walls and 35 m-high octagonal keep. But when it comes to defensive architecture, nothing seems able to match the might of the fortresses built by the Teutonic Knights. Nicknamed "the largest brick mountain north of the Alps", Malbork Castle is a superb example of a monastery-fortress divided into different areas: the fore-castle with the arsenal and church, the middle castle housing all secular activities, and the upper castle, reserved for the order and accessed via a drawbridge. The heart of the powerhouse houses some true Gothic masterpieces, such as the chapter house with its palm-vaulted ceiling resting on three columns symbolizing the order's three vows (chastity, poverty and obedience). The Teutonic Knights developed innovative building techniques and a style that combined military austerity (square plans, massive walls, defensive towers, moats and ditches) with ornamental richness.
The towns, also protected by imposing ramparts punctuated by gates, towers and barbicans, were organized around a large square, the Rynek. At 4 hectares, Krakow's Rynek is the largest medieval square in Europe. The Rynek Staromiejski, in Toruń, is lined with sumptuous merchant houses, recognizable by their elaborate gables and facade coats of arms. But it is of course Gdańsk that boasts the finest examples of the bourgeois and merchant architecture inseparable from the powerful Hanseatic League. During this period, the town hall (Ratusz) became the symbol of municipal power. Wrocław's town hall is a proud representative of ornamental Gothic, with painted vaults and facades decorated with friezes. This brick Gothic, or Backsteingotik, can also be recognized by its crenellated gables, spearhead windows, rosette-shaped stained-glass windows and astonishing dimensions, particularly in cathedrals and hall churches. The Basilica of Our Lady of Gdańsk is one of the largest brick churches in the world: 105 m long, 66 m wide, 29 m high... proportions made all the more impressive by the fact that the edifice, built on marshy ground, rests on oak stilts! The Church of Our Lady of Toruń also impresses with its 28 m-high nave. Frescoes, carved stalls and ribbed vaults adorn the interior of a building that, from the outside, is intended to reflect the modesty of the Franciscan order that originated it. It's interesting to see how the orders were quick to combine their religious values with the architectural and ornamental potential of the Gothic style. The historic heart of Poznań, with its Church of St. John of Jerusalem in Silesian red brick, or the picturesque little town of Kazimierz Dolny , with its cobbled Rynek and elaborate houses, are also not to be missed.
The Golden Age
In contrast to the brick Gothic style, the Renaissance reintroduced stone, particularly under the impetus of Italian artists and craftsmen, who came to exercise their talents at the request of the wife of King Sigismund I, of the Sforza family. The Italian influence can be seen in the arcaded courtyards and loggias, carved wooden ceilings and fine stonework. The wealthy families of the period built veritable urban palaces, where spiral or double-revolving staircases became symbols of power. In Krakow, the Montelupich and Potocki palaces are fine examples. The city is also home to Bartolomeo Berecci's Sigismund Chapel, nicknamed "the pearl north of the Alps" for its harmonious proportions. The same quest for perfection can be found in Zamość, nicknamed the "Padua of the North". This is an astonishing example of a private town created ex nihilo. At the request of Chancellor Jan Zamoyski, architect Bernando Morando drew on Renaissance ideals to imagine an ideal city combining the functions of residential palace, urban complex and fortress. This clear, functional plan was also accompanied by fine formal and decorative research. Sgraffito decorations (decoration obtained by impregnating the surface with color, then coating it with a white mortar that is scraped and incised to reveal the underlying color according to the desired design), very popular at the time, as at Krasiczyn Castle, were also Italian-inspired.
The Renaissance then gave way to a more Mannerist decorative style, now associated with extremely elaborate landscape architecture. The finest example of this blend of genres is Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, the first of Poland's great calvaries, designed by Feliks Żebrowski, mathematician, astronomer and geometer, who created a unique measuring system to transpose a new Jerusalem into this rugged landscape. Paths and alleys serve churches and convents. This mannerism heralded the theatricality and profusion of decoration characteristic of the Baroque period. In Warsaw, the wealthy built sumptuous mansions with facades adorned with frescoes and bas-relief sculptures, such as the Krasiński Palace, one of the city's largest. The churches, meanwhile, take their model from the landmark buildings of the Counter-Reformation, including the famous Gesù church in Rome. Colorful facades, walls entirely covered with frescoes, paintings and gilding, domed chapels with rich marble and wrought-iron decorations... everything was designed to edify the faithful. Among the finest examples of this religious Baroque are the parish church in Poznań and the royal chapel in Gdańsk, the work of Tylman van Gameren, architect of Warsaw's great palaces. A century of nobility, this Golden Age also saw the birth of Sarmatian fashion, enabling the noble class to unite around a mythologized past. In terms of architecture, this is reflected in the massive use of heraldic motifs meant to establish the lineage of these nobles. Krzyżtopór Castle is a fine example. The 18th century saw the development of a style influenced by French classicism and Italian Palladianism, giving pride of place to harmonious proportions and symmetry inspired by Antiquity. Kozłówka Castle, with its formal garden, was inspired by the Château de Versailles. The same inspiration can be found at Wilanów Palace, nicknamed "Poland's little Versailles". Part Italian villa with superb loggias and colonnades, part sober French palace, the palace also impresses with its sumptuous garden, whose skilful play on perspective brings nature and architecture into dialogue.
19th century-early 20th century
Although the 19th century was still military in character, with French and Austrian troops building new barracks and bastioned fortresses, it also saw the advent of new urban planning ideas that tended to remove the constraints of these defensive systems. Numerous fortifications were dismantled to allow cities to grow, while at the same time encouraging the creation of large green spaces. In Krakow, this led to the creation of Planty Park, the city's green belt. But the most fascinating of the time was Muskau Park, designed by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau. He envisioned his park as a "tableau de verdure" extending into the town of Muskau, with green zones framing the urbanized areas. In terms of style, neo trends were favored by architects of the period. Warsaw is home to some fine examples of this eclecticism. Not to be missed: Bank Square and its neoclassical palaces, or the Łazienki Palace and Royal Park with its incredible marble, Delft earthenware and marquetry decorations, an eclecticism also found in Łódź. Thanks to the capital of the great textile magnates, the city was adorned with sumptuous bourgeois buildings featuring a decorative mix of scrolls, sculpted cornices, shell-shaped windows, circular tympanums, columns and caryatids. But this Europeanization of architecture didn't sit well with the young architects who created the Young Poland movement, which "revisited national history and popular arts in the light of modernity". The leader of this movement is Stanisław Wyspiański. A native of Krakow, this genius artist is famous for his polychrome and stained-glass windows featuring religious scenes and floral motifs. Another key figure in this movement was Stanisław Witkiewicz, famous for his style that blended traditional wooden architecture with formal Art Nouveau novelties, and which came to be known as the "Zakopane style". A popular tourist resort, Zakopane attracted visitors in droves. Witkiewicz wanted to offer them an alternative to the fashion for Swiss and Austrian chalets, inspired by the wooden cabins of the Tatras. The Villa Koliba, with its carved lambrequins and friezes, is the finest example. Along the railroad line between Warsaw and Otwock, another style of wooden villa has developed, known as Swidermajer (a play on the word Swider meaning village and the classic bourgeois Biedermaier style). A cross between traditional Polish architecture, Swiss chalets and traditional Russian houses, this style was highly decorative. The turn of the century also saw the rise of seaside tourism. Sopot thus became the "Polish Deauville", with its impressive wooden pier and resolutely eclectic mansions (bow-windows, half-timbering, etc.). Another major seaside resort, Gdynia, is a symbol of modernity. Organized according to an orthogonal plan with all axes directed towards the sea and clearly defined zones, the town is renowned for its functional housing. Simple geometric volumes, dazzling whiteness and the use of concrete illustrate this Art Deco-influenced style, whose Streamline variant can be recognized by the portholes and balusters adorning the facades. Another superb example of this modern style is the Centenary Hall in Wrocław. At the time of its construction, this circular building flanked by four symmetrical lobes boasted the world's largest reinforced concrete dome.
Since 1945
During the Second World War, Poland suffered destruction on an unprecedented scale. Warsaw, 85% of which was destroyed, set up an Office of Reconstruction, which used archives and reproductions of the 18th-century city to rebuild it identically, adapting the buildings to the new standards in force. A success story that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Socialist realism, so dear to the Soviets, was soon on display everywhere, especially in Warsaw. It's hard to miss the Stock Exchange, once dubbed the "White House", with its blend of ancient classicism and Stalinist massiveness, or the Palace of Culture and Science, whose facade is adorned with sculptures representing the great heroes of socialism (miners, workers, soldiers) and whose 237 m height was to rival the tallest American skyscrapers. But the greatest urban project of the period was Nowa Huta, Stalin's dream city on the outskirts of Krakow. It is the epitome of these "ideal cities", whose urban planning should guarantee workers' happiness... a notion difficult to envisage in this forest of concrete bars, whose streets and buildings were designed to destroy any hint of uprising. And yet, the importance given to green spaces and community areas was not entirely negative... a reflection of the complex relationship that many Poles still have with this communist heritage. Another astonishing building is the French Embassy in Warsaw. Built in 1969 by Bernard Zehrfuss, it is an archetype of the radical modernist architecture of the time, with its five large metal porticoes, a defensive aspect that reminds us that we were at the height of the Cold War. Renovated, the "new" embassy was inaugurated in 2004. While the country preserves its heritage, it is also open to contemporary innovations. In Warsaw, Finnish architect Rainer Mahlamäki designed the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews, a glass parallelepiped all curves and light, split by a breach that symbolizes both the crossing of the Red Sea by the Chosen People and the Jewish history shattered by the Shoah. The capital is also home to the Metropolitan, whose elegantly curved glass façade is the work of Norman Foster. In Krakow, Arata Isozaki designed the beautiful Maggha Centre, whose undulating roof lines are inspired by the waves of the Vistula. Another of the city's flagship buildings is MOCAK, the contemporary art museum designed by Claudio Nardi. Here, the architect has achieved a moving fusion between the pre-existing historic site, Oskar Schindler's factory, and a modern structure with a beautiful glass façade and a metal roof echoing the traditional form of stepped roofs. Soon, Łódź will also be attracting attention with the realization of the large-scale architectural project Nexus 21 initiated by native Daniel Libeskind. Among the project's flagship buildings: an architectural center made entirely of glass and green roofs. The project is not without its critics, as was the case with Złota 44, Libeskind's 192 m skyscraper that towers over Warsaw. The capital is due to get a new airport by 2027, on which some of the UK's leading architects (Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw Architects) are already working.
Vernacular riches
Listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, wooden churches are authentic Polish treasures. The Churches of Peace in Jawor and Świdnica are the two largest wooden churches in Europe. In the 17th century, Protestant Silesia was in the hands of the Catholic Habsburgs, who authorized the construction of three Lutheran churches... but these had to be built outside the cities and without using stone or brick. Ignoring this constraint, the brilliant Albrecht von Säbisch designed complex structures of wood and cob. Inside, everything is made of wood, including the pillars, which you might think are made of marble or stone, but are in fact painted with astonishing trompe-l'œil! The Carpathian region is famous for its tserkvas, built using the horizontal log technique with elaborate corner joints. You'll recognize them by their wood-shingled walls and roofs, and their three-part plan topped with domes. And don't miss the churches of southern Little Poland. While they use the same technique of assembling horizontal logs, they innovate with their system of roof trusses linking the nave and choir structures. Rural architecture is also very rich, particularly in Zalipie, where the tradition of painted houses is still alive today, with whitewashed walls covered in floral or geometric motifs. In Lemkos, to the east of the Carpathians, astonishing longhouses with rough-hewn log walls and thatched roofs still survive (cut logs and tiles are used in more modern versions). In Upper Lusatia (Silesia), it's not uncommon to come across vast half-timbered houses whose roof is separated from the living area by a wooden support system. Summer houses and small wooden palaces, barns, granaries and mills all bear witness to a vernacular richness proudly displayed in skansen or open-air museums. Not to be missed: Poland's largest open-air ethnographic museum, located in Sanok, brings together almost two hundred buildings and keeps Polish traditions and crafts alive.
