PIOTRKOWSKA STREET (ULICA PIOTRKOWSKA)

This is Poland's longest street. It stretches for almost 4 km, and it takes an hour on foot to cross it from end to end. A city of this size stretching along a single street is a unique phenomenon, due to the particular history of this industrial city: textile magnates lined up their mansions lengthways, while factories and workers' houses were often adjacent in width, giving rise to a structure of immense courtyards one after the other. Today, this is where almost everything happens in the city (and until the opening of Manufaktura, this was entirely true); it's said that everything Łodź is located on Piotrkowska, because this is always where everyone finally lands. This elegant cobbled pedestrian avenue is one of Europe's longest and richest commercial thoroughfares. You'll go up and down it, on foot or by bicycle cab, enjoying its unique atmosphere and admiring its neoclassical and neo-baroque facades, which rival each other in splendor. You'll also find statues of the city's leading figures, including Arthur Rubinstein playing the piano, writer Władysław Reymont, author of The Promised Land, or poet Julian Tuwim. You can also see the stars of Polish cinema embedded in the pavement, in homage to the greats of the genre (with, among others, actors Zbigniew Cybułski or Daniel Olbrychski, Polański, Wajda, Kieślowski...). Among the street's points of interest:

Piotrkowska 86. The building at no. 86 Piotrkowska Street was built in 1896 and belonged to the printer Jan Petersilgy, owner of the city's first letterpress printing works. It's one of Łodź's most beautiful mansions for its structure and architectural details (including a statue of Gutenberg). Today, it houses two art galleries (Galeria 86 - temporarily closed - and ZPAP), a large bookshop and a gallery pub in the cellars where jazz concerts are held.

Unexpected statues. As in other Polish cities, the Poles expressed their joy at regaining freedom of expression in the 1990s by populating the streets with unexpected characters! Take a stroll down Piotrkowska Street and you'll be sure to meet some very interesting characters. Starting from Plac Wolnosci, you'll first come across (at no. 87) the latest in this series of sculptures, which recently found its home here. This is Miś Uszatek, the Uszatek Bear, a Polish cartoon hero, who is simply there to greet visitors to the street. A little further on, at the corner of Narutowicza Street, you'll see the three pals from Wladyslaw Reymont's novel The Promised Land (and Andrzej Wajda's film of the same name) sharing Łódź and the proceeds of their cruel textile capitalism, a nod to the town's origins. Then, along a sidewalk, you'll meet maestro Arthur Rubinstein playing the piano. You can sit next to him and touch his nose, as it's said to bring good luck (you can clearly see that the tip of his nose is more worn than the rest). Finally, the man you can come and keep company with on a bench while he smokes his cigar is Julian Tuwim, the great Polish poet, a Jew from Łódź. We haven't mentioned them all, so it's up to you to open your eyes and find those who populate Piotrkowska Street.