A Day in Wroclaw

With walking guide and map in hand we set out to see the sights of Wroclaw. We started at St. Elizabeth’s Church, which is just off the main square. It’s absolutely huge, but the inside is not nearly as spectacular. We did climb the church tower, 302 steps, for the view of the city, which was pretty spectacular!

After that we went to an area that was once the butcher’s quarters. There are some cast iron animals in that part to remember its history.

We walked through the university grounds and stopped in at a church which is right in the middle of the university. It was so ornate that we had to sit for a few minutes and enjoy it.

We crossed the river to the Ostrow Tumski area which is full of churches and also has a botanical garden. There were a few rain showers but somehow we managed to stay mostly dry thanks to the shelter of some very large trees. The garden was beautiful and we even had our lunch there. It also had some whimsical little garden gnome sculptures which the girls enjoyed finding.

We made our way back across the river again in search of the Raclawice Panorama. We weren’t really sure what to expect, but it was really amazing.

The Raclawice Panorama is a painting that is about 15 metres high and makes a complete circle of 140 metres circumference. We walked up into the centre of the circle and it was like being in the middle of a famous Polish battle scene from two hundred years ago. The artists blended the bottom edge of the painting in with solid three dimensional form so it felt like we were standing at the top of a hill and could see “real” objects at our feet which then blended in the distance into the painting. A totally surreal experience!

CM