8 Best Sights in The Baltic Coast and Pomerania, Poland

Behind the Fontanna Neptuna on Długi Targ, one of the more significant of the grand houses was constructed over a period from the 15th through the 17th centuries and is now a museum. The mansion was named for mythical English King Arthur, who otherwise has no affiliation with the place. This and the other stately mansions on the Długi Targ are reminders of the traders and aristocrats who once resided in this posh district. The court's elegant interior houses a huge, 40-foot-high Renaissance tiled stove, possibly the world's largest, a mid-16th-century masterpiece by George Stelzener. The mansion's collection also includes Renaissance furnishings, paintings, and holy figures as well as hunting trophies and models of tall ships suspended from the ceiling. The building was the meeting place of the Gdańsk city nobles.

One of the city's most distinctive landmarks is the elaborately gilded, 17th-century fountain at the western end of Długi Targ. The fountain itself is perhaps the best-known symbol of Gdańsk, emphasizing its bond with the sea. It was sculpted by Peter Husen and Johann Rogge. The general conceptual design was developed by Abraham van den Blocke. The magnificent surrounding fencing was added in 1634. Between 1757 and 1761 Johann Karl Stender remade the fountain chalice and plinth in the rococo style and added a whole array of sea creatures.

The district of Oliwa, northwest of the Old Town, is worth visiting if only for its magnificent cathedral complex. Originally part of a Cistercian monastery, the church was erected during the 13th century. Like most other structures in Poland, it has been rebuilt many times, resulting in a hodgepodge of styles from Gothic to Renaissance to rococo. The cathedral houses a museum as well as one of the most impressive rococo organs you're ever likely to hear—and see. It has more than 6,000 pipes, and when a special mechanism is activated, wooden angels ring bells and a wooden star climbs up a wooden sky. Demonstrations of the organ and a brief narrated church history are given almost hourly on weekdays in summer (May through September), less frequently on weekends and the rest of the year.

The largest brick church in the world—and the largest church of any kind in Poland—St. Mary's is on the north side of ulica Piwna. The sanctuary can accommodate 25,000 people. This enormous, breathtaking 14th-century church underwent major restoration after World War II. Although it originally held 22 altars, 15 of them have been relocated to museums in Gdańsk and Warsaw. The highlight of a visit is the climb up the hundreds of steps to the top of the church tower. The church also contains a 500-year-old, 25-foot-high astronomical clock that has only recently been restored to working order after years of neglect. It keeps track of solar and lunar progressions, and it displays the signs of the zodiac. One of the loveliest features inside is a group of baroque statues of angels playing musical instruments.

Three huge and somber crosses perpetually draped with flowers stand outside the gates of the former Lenin Shipyards, which gave birth to the Solidarity movement. The crosses outside the entrance to the shipyards are the Pomnik Poległych Stoczniowców (Monument to Fallen Shipyard Workers), where striking workers were killed by the military police and soldiers in December 1970. On the monument, you will find fragments of Psalm 29 and a poem by Czesław Miłosz: "You who wronged a simple man." There are also plaques that commemorate the struggle, and a quotation by Pope John Paul II inspired by his visit to the monument in 1987: "The Grace of God could not have created anything better; in this place, silence is a scream." The monument stands close to the Shipyard's historic Gate No. 2 and the BPH room, where the Gdańsk Agreements were signed, starting the avalanche of political and economic transition in Poland. Somewhat ironically, it was the same transition—and a series of controversial decisions—that led to the shipyard's bankruptcy and downsizing. Now a private company, the shipyard is a fraction of what it used to be; however, there are some good ideas for revitalizing the land and the buildings. Part of the postshipyard area, referred to as "the Young City," is designated for housing, services, shopping, and entertainment functions. Already standing is the impressive European Solidarity Centre, telling the story of the Solidarity movement and Polish transformation.