Toruń Stream and Pauline Brigde

The slow waters of the Vistula which lies much below the level of the buildings of the Old Town, were not suitable for the craftsmen’s work­shops, for driving the mills or for moats. Therefore, as early as in the 13^lh century a man-made canal of more than 8 kilometres, called Struga Toruńska, was built. Still today it supplies the city with water from one of the tributaries of the Drwęca River. Within the boarders of the Old Town the stream ran in a corridor between the walls of the Old and New Town, and flowed into the Vistula near the Teutonic Knights’ castle. In the 14^th century, on the Struga, by the Prison Gate (Brama Więzienna) and the Dominican monastery, whose mem­bers were called Paulers in Toruń, a wide bridge was built. With the pas­sing of time it became surrounded by houses. Today’s remnant of it is the name of the street Pauline Bridge (Most Pauliński) as well as the re­maining brick construction that is hidden under the stone cobbles.