MUST SEE: St Johns' Cathedral

The construction of the cathedral started in mid – 13^th century and was continued in stages for over 200 years. It is the biggest and oldest of all town’s churches. Among its rich interior decorations, of particular importance are the main altar with Saint Wolfgang created in years 1502-1506, valuable wall paintings and baroque and rococo altars. There is also a medieval font in which Nicholas Copernicus was baptized. On the tower opened for sightseeing there is a gothic bell Tuba Dei and a clock called “rafters’ clock”, which shows time with only one hand.

Tuba Dei Bell (God’s Trumpet) was cast in 1500 in bronze with  an addition of silver and gold. It is the biggest medieval bell in Poland and it weighs about 7,5 tones. According to the legend, in order to place the bell on the tower, a 800 meter ramp was built over the roofs of houses and seven fine oxen pulled it up. In the old times, the sound of the bell welcomed monarchs visiting Torun. Nowadays, it honors all the most important church ceremonies.

9 Dec. 2013 - a bridge for people joins what's most important!

Opening Day - 7th of December 2013

First people crossing

View on the Old Town form the bridge

Torun's authorities

Basic issues of the system were regulated by the charter of Chelmno, granted in 1233 and renewed in 1251, as well as by the law of Magdeburg.

Initially, the most important decisions concerning the functioning of the city were made by the assembly of citizens, made up by the inhabitants of Torun, who had full city rights. Every year the community of burghers chose the judge, also called the city leader (soltys), and his candidacy was accepted by the Teutonic Knight Order. Soltys along with the jurymen made the jury. In Torun it was appointed in the charter of Chelmno probably soon after 1233, although the first mention about its functioning dates back to 1258. Since the beginning of the 14^th century the number of jurymen of the Old Town of Torun was set at 12. 

Firstly, it was the jurymen themselves who decided on the appointment of the new members of the jury. However, it was already at the turn of the 13^th and 14^th centuries that the city council got the decisive influence in this matter.

At first, gatherings of the jury were held in the open air on the biggest market place in the city. The gatherings were open and usually attracted a significant number of spectators. Most probably in 1274 the building of the court was erected. After the Town Hall had been extended in 1393, the gatherings were moved to its northern wing. The jury was responsible for adjudicating in all civil and criminal cases. In the Old Town of Torun the jury books had been kept since 1363, and previously so called jury lists, which apart from the list of jurymen contained court sentences. The jury of the Old Town of Torun comprised the city territory within the city walls as well as patrimonium (the land possessions of the city).

The city council of Torun came into existence most probably between 1233 and 1251. At the beginning of the city it was soltys with the jury who held the broadest range of power, however the council was gradually gaining more and more competences. The furthest going changes had place at the turn of the 13^th and 14^th centuries, when the council acquired a significant privilege of appointing the jurymen and soltys, and at the same time took over some of his competences. In the second half of the 13^th century it was the council which represented the city and delegated its representatives to meetings with the Grand Master and the Association of the Hanza Cities. As a result of these system changes the council had become the most important organ of authority. It held the supreme legislative, executive, and judicial authority. One of its most significant privileges was to issue "wilkierze", i.e. directives regulating the city life. The executive authority meant the general administration over the city. The council was also responsible for the implementation of orders issued by the state authorities.

Initially, the assembly of citizens had decisive influence on the election of the councilors. However, soon the council expanded its competences, and acquired the full right to elect its members. Election of new councilors was already held in a parish church on the 22^nd of February, when the Catholic church celebrates the holiday of the Cathedral of St. Peter. Since the beginning of the 14^th century the council of the Old Town of Torun had consisted of the incumbent council (the councilors currently holding the clerical posts in the city) and the council of the elders, namely the body consisting of the councilors of “previous terms”. As a whole the number of the councilors was not permanent, and varied between 24 and 25. The councilors originated most often from well off merchant families, and even though legally representatives of some crafts were allowed to held the post it happened hardly ever. Families that had direct influence on the authorities in the city made the patriciate, the group distinguished not only by its wealth but family and economic connections.

At the head of the council was a mayor, who led its meetings, along with it represented the city outside, and was responsible for the city treasury and its seals. The post of the mayor was first mentioned in the document from 1303. Initially, two mayors were elected, since one was at the head of the incumbent council, and the other led the council of the elders. In the 40s of the 14^th century the number of mayors increased to four, because the posts of deputies were created. 

In 1264 another town was erected not far from Torun. The country Master ^th March 1454. Then the council of the New Town of Torun ceased to exist, yet the difference in judiciary system was still preserved.

Ludwik von Baldersheim granted the charter to the New Town of Torun. It was based also on the charter of Chelmno, and had similar system rules to the ones in the Old Town. Analogically, it was ruled by the council and the jury. However, its founder, namely the Teutonic Knight Order, granted itself a significantly bigger influence on the life of the city. The system differences were cancelled in the act of incorporation signed on the 8

Torun's development

In 1231 the Teutonic Knights set up a stronghold and a town near the crossing on the Vistula, where the village of Stary Torun is nowadays. These were, however, flood lands, which soon resulted in moving the town and the castle to their present locations. The main road of a newly established town was the street of St Ann (today ul. Kopernika). On the central square market facilities were built as well as a parish church, which was located on the area of the chancel of today’s church of St John’s. in 1239 the representatives of the Franciscan order came to Torun. Soon, they started the construction of their monastery in the northern-west part of the town. At the beginning of the second half of the 13^th century the idea of the town layout changed. Where the market square is today the merchants house was erected the earliest (1259), acting as cloth stalls, and later on bread stalls, the tower of the Town Hall, the house of weight, the building of the proper Town Hall, where the town council met. After the seat of jury court had been erected all of these buildings made a four-wing construction with a closed yard and two passages. In 1391 (the privilege from 1393) they began the construction of the new Town Hall. In 1399 the keys to the new Town Hall were passed to the mayor. From the side of the land the town was moated, with the double defense walls (low and high) and 4 gates and towers; from the side on the Vistula it was protected by a single high wall and 4 gates.

In the 50s of the 13^th century east of the town, on the post-Slavic site, the Teutonic Knights started to erect a castle. The walls surrounding it were in an unusual shape of a horseshoe, whose arms were directed towards the Vistula. Northwards of a stronghold was a forecastle, and eastwards was so called wola zamkowa, where firewood was piled, household animals were kept, and servants of the Order lived.

On 13^th August 1264, next to a fast developing town, the Teutonic Knights set up the New Town of Torun, surrounded with defense walls, with six gates leading to it. The regular line of buildings was disturbed by the Dominicans, who came to Torun in 1263 and erected their monastery in the northern-west part of the New Town of Torun. Similarly, the street called Wielkie Garbary was set according to the important trade route towards Dobrzyn.

Most probably not later than in 1309 the construction of a parish church of St. John began in the eastern part of the town. New Town had remained separated by 1454, when it got incorporated in the Old Town.

Patrimonium (land possessions) of the Old Town of Torun were determined in the charter. Primarily these were only five islands with a joint area of 10 łany, yet already in the renewed charter of Torun from 1^st October 1251 the Teutonic Knights Order had significantly expanded the lands of the town, which made a strip of land 1,6 km long down the Vistula from the lands belonging to the bishop of Włocławek, and 0,5 km wide from the river bank. Its area was 180 łany, which means 30 square kilometers. The extension of the land remuneration resulted from the dynamic development of the town, as well as from renewing its chart. In the following years the area of patrimonium had changed many times as a result of the negotiations between the citizens and the Order, and it was only at the beginning of the 14^th century that its limits had finally been fixed. The land possessions of the town covered the area of 335 łany, which is around 56 square kilometers. Part of this area was occupied by the suburbs.

The oldest of the suburbs of the Old Town, called the harbor suburb, stretched on the Vistula, along the town walls, and included Kępa Bazarowa. From the eastern as well as the western side it was limited by the branches of Postolsko channel. The development of this suburbs was strictly connected with the needs of  the harbor of the town. There were port facilities, cloth stalls, several granaries, baths, a tavern and hospital of Holy Spirit. The area was inhabited mainly by fishermen, sailors, porters, and shipwrights. To the west and north of this suburb, along the Vistula, were hardly inhabited areas. There were mostly vegetable gardens, limestone site, and shipyard and brickyard, around which a settlement of port makers, attic makers, and stone-workers arose. 

The most important suburb, when it comes to population and economy, was on the north of the walls of both Old and New Towns of Torun, along the road to Chełmno. It was already in the first half of the 14^th century that in Chełmińskie suburb a lot of craftsmen settled down. The area was most densely populated around two churches: of St. Laurance and St. George. On the northern east of this suburb two ponds were made, on which watermills, a sawmill and a copper mill were built. At the Chełmińska gate two markets were located: horse and cattle and numerous stalls. There was also a second brickyard in Toruń. 

To the north and northern east of the suburb there was so called Wielkie and Małe Mokre, including mainly vegetable gardens, vineyards as well as farmlands. 

To the east of the New Town of Torun a small suburb of St. Catherine appeared. Life focused there around the chapel of St. Catherine, erected around 1360 and around a slaughterhouse. Eastwards, along the Vistula, a scarcely populated suburb called Jakubskie arose. There timber was piled and a shipyard and carpenter’s shop were set up. Around in there were gardens and vineyards. 

MUST SEE: The Leaning Tower

According to the legend, this medieval fortified tower was built by a Teutonic knight from Torun as a penalty for committed sins. The building, with a vertical deviation of 146 cm, was a part of old Torun’s fortifications. After it ceased to play a defensive role, it was a seat of a locksmith, a prison for woman, now it is an important point of eve
ry sightseeing trip. Inclined more than the tower in Piza.

MUST SEE: Saint Mary’s Church

This gothic church was built by Franciscan friars in 14^th century. According to the severe principle of the convent, which demands a life in poverty, the church does not have a tower nor rich architectural decorations. It is one of the most outstanding sacral and architectural achievements in Poland. In the 14th century it was the highest church in Central Europe with the naves almost 30 meters high.

Inside there are wooden stalls from early 15^th century, intricately crafted pulpit, organs, medieval paintings and epitaphs of fine Torun families. In 1636, Anne Wasa, a sister of a Polish king Sigmund Wasa III, was buried there.

The guilds of craftsmen

The first guilds of craftsmen appeared in Torun soon after it had received its charters. The first to set up their guilds were food craftsmen: bakers, butchers, as well as still merchants, and shoemakers, including tanners. Between 1235 and 1255 there were four guilds of craftsmen in the Old Town of Torun.

In 1259 a merchants house was built in the place where the western wing of the Old Town Hall is today. It was a one-floor building, which served as a cloth stall. It is at this time probably that the guild of cloth makers emerged. Soon afterwards (1274) the burghers of Torun acquired the right to build stalls and bread stalls. ^th century the cloth makers one. A guild was to protect the economic interest of its members. Guilds also controlled the quality of production as well as the education of craftsmen. Additionally, they also provided supplies for workshops. Moreover, guilds had the role of religious corporations and mutual aid organizations. Richer  guilds owned their  chapels or altars. Town authorities made guilds. In 1398 in the Old Town of Torun there were already 41 guilds, including for example leather makers, comb makers, needle makers, hatters, sausage makers, wheel makers, pot makers, blacksmiths, belt makers, bakers, brewers, linen makers, glove makers, butchers, saddle makers, shoemakers, glaziers, locksmiths, purse makers, and goldsmiths. Being a member of a guild started from apprenticeship. Approximately it lasted from 2 to 5 years. Master’s son was released from the lowest level of training. An apprentice didn’t get any pay for the period of training, however got bed and board.

Then, most probably, the guilds of linen craftsmen, furriers, shield makers, and leather workers emerged. The process of establishing guild structures in the New Town of Torun was similar. There the first to emerge were the guilds of butchers and bakers, and at the end of the 13^th century the cloth makers one. A guild was to protect the economic interest of its members. Guilds also controlled the quality of production as well as the education of craftsmen. Additionally, they also provided supplies for workshops. Moreover, guilds had the role of religious corporations and mutual aid organizations.

Richer  guilds owned their  chapels or altars. Town authorities made guilds. In 1398 in the Old Town of Torun there were already 41 guilds, including for example leather makers, comb makers, needle makers, hatters, sausage makers, wheel makers, pot makers, blacksmiths, belt makers, bakers, brewers, linen makers, glove makers, butchers, saddle makers, shoemakers, glaziers, locksmiths, purse makers, and goldsmiths. Being a member of a guild started from apprenticeship. Approximately it lasted from 2 to 5 years. Master’s son was released from the lowest level of training. An apprentice didn’t get any pay for the period of training, however got bed and board.

Having completed the training an apprentice was qualified as a journeyman. From that moment on he had the right to get  paid for his work. Besides, he could be judged and punished by guild authorities only, while an apprentice was totally subordinated to the judgment of his master.

The differences when it comes to wealth were not only visible within a particular guild, but also between trades. At the turn of the 14^th and 15^th centuries brewers, goldsmiths, and leather makers were the most affluent ones.

MUST SEE: The ruins of the Teutonic Castle

The castle was built in 13^th century on site of former fortified settlement. That was why it was an unusual horseshoe shape. The inhabitants were 12 order knights and a commander representing the Teutonic Order power on these lands. In 1454 the inhabitants of Torun instigated an uprising against the Teutonic Order; they took over the castle and pulled it down. Nowadays, the only remains of the castle are Gdanisko, w former lavatory tower, and picturesque ruins. The ruins serve as a background for many concerts, and tournaments.

MUST SEE: Planetarium and Orbitarium

The planetarium is situated in a 19^th century building of former gasworks. Shows popularizing the knowledge

of the universe are displayed on a dome of a diameter of 15 m. Thanks to dozens of projectors one can experience a polar night on the pole, see Earth from the Moon or even from the borders of the Solar System, while sitting comfortably in an armchair. In the orbitarium hall, there is a set of interactive devices and models through which visitors can get to know phenomena present in the space.

MUST SEE: The House of Copernicus

This magnificient gothic house is considered to be the birthplace of Nicholas Copernicus. It is a perfect example of a old merchant’s house with typical arrangement of rooms and fittings.  At present, it houses a museum devoted to life and work of the great astronomer. There is a scale of a 15^th century Torun with audiovisual presentation accompanying it. In the basements, there is an exhibition devoted to the history of Torun’s gingerbreads. Gingerbread baking and tasting accompany the exhibition.

Nicolas Copernicus was born in Torun on 19 February 1473 in a rich merchant family. At the age of 18 he went to Cracow to study, and afterwards he continued his education in Italy. He studied Law, Medicine and Mathematics with Astronomy. For many years he was a canon in Frombork and the administrator of church properties in the Warmia region. In the scientific dissertation “De revolutionibus”, he presented new, revolutionary theory of the construction of the universe in which he proved that the Sun is the centre of universe.

Torun – the Hanza city

Torun acquired its city charter in 1233, which resulted in the great increase of its population. Settlers were coming from Kujawy, Mazowsze, faraway Silesia, as well as German lands. The arrival of merchant families to Torun initiated the development of commerce. The newcomers, frequently originating from the merchant families of important cities, almost immediately started commercial contacts with their native cities, beginning the development of thriving in the following centuries commerce in our city. The merchants of Torun acted as middlemen in commercial activities between the southern-east and northern-west parts of Europe. Torun was located at the intersection of the main land and water trading routes, on the main route of Mediaeval Poland, leading from Hungary towards the north to the mouth of the Vistula, and further on to Flanders (currently Belgium, Netherlands and France). The Vistula route, joining Cracow with the markets of Europe Via the city of Copernicus, was of great importance too.

Commercial activities required privileges, in which kings, dukes or feudal lords would allow merchants to perform commercial activities within their territories. The privileges described in detail routes that could be used by merchants, or customs house, i.e. places where they paid custom taxes for commodities. Torun knew well the significance of privileges, so from the very beginning it was striving for them insistently, leading a skillful and cautious policy at the same time. It wasn’t that hard since it was the merchants, mainly wealthy ones, who held the reins of government in the city. Both foreign and transit commerce was in their hands. Initially, having little significance, the city couldn’t exist without the protection of its sovereign – the Teutonic Knight Order, which procured particular privileges of Polish rules providing influence on the trading routes. The first privilege of that kind concerned the route from Prussia, called droga wielkopolska, and was leading via Inowroclaw, Gniezno and Poznan to Gubin, and further westwards. Soon the city acquired numerous privileges from the dukes of Mazowsze and Kujawy. Every year the territories controlled by our merchants reached further. At the end of the 13^th century they got to Krakow, Wlodzimierz, Lwow and Silesia. At this time the city itself applied for privileges.

The numerous merchants of Torun visited Polish territories, where they brought imported commodities – salted herrings, dried cod and other sea fish, wine from the South, olive, spices for mass customers. They also traded copper, lead, iron, furs (mainly Russian) and wax. They also promoted the city selling the goods made by the craftsmen of Torun, such as fine tanned leather or haberdashery. Silver, copper and lead came from Cracow, large amount of timber and forest products from Podkarpacie, and from Malopolska yew used by the English to make their bows. 

Joining Hanza, the merchant association, already around 1280 was of great significance for the commercial activities. Apart from Torun also Chelmno, Braniewo, Elblag, Gdansk, Krolewiec, as well as German, Dutch, Pomeranian, Livonian and Swedish cities were the members of the association. Also Cracow and Wroclaw could take advantage of the privileges of the association. The policy of Hanza had been created since its origin by the assemblies of the cities that were its members.

The commercial power of Torun was at its peak in the 14^th century. The wealth of merchants and their participation in the development of the city were reflected in the great Gothic architecture of Torun. Thanks to the amassed capital the most affluent merchants embellished the city with more and more beautiful buildings, gaining authority and respect. It was them who made up the patriciate, which held the reigns of government in the city. At that time the merchants of Torun were known in almost whole Europe, from Russia, Hungary, Silesia and Malopolska, to Sweden, England, Netherlands and Flanders. Commercial companies created by merchants to obtain a particular aim or for longer time were not rare either. The trade with western countries was thriving and developing, bringing great profits to the merchants. The honesty of merchants was occasionally undermined by complaints concerning rotten fish, not fresh eel, or pieces of cloth shorter and narrower than required.

In such wide commercial activities it was significant to avoid mistakes or unintentional swapping of commodities, and most of all recognized them in case of shipwrecking and casting them away, packed, on a shore. The system of branding commodities worked perfectly. Since the very beginning merchants had branded them with the marks of possession called gmerki. They had the role of trademarks, and very often stood for signatures. Their shape reminded geometrical figures. Firstly used rather seldom, later on they became heraldic signs of merchants and their families.

MUST SEE series: The Town Hall

The gothic Town Hall is a symbol of past glory of the town. It was built on the Old Market at the end of the 14th century, with the consent of Konrad Wallenrod – the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. The Town Hall was seat of town authorities and court; its representative halls played host to Polish kings. The Town Hall also housed stalls, bread benches, town weight, and its cellars there was a beer and wine license. Especially worth seeing is the Town Hall Museum, with extensive collection of gothic art., ancien craft and Polish paintings. From the top of 40 meter high tower one can admire the entire old town complex of buildings.

From the MUST SEE series: THE OLD MARKET

For centuries this almost square marketplace has been the main tourist attraction of Torun. It was a site of trade, knights' tournaments and parades, announcements of sentences and performance of public executions. A monumental Town Hall occupies central place on the market. Nearby there is an eye-catching Hall of Artus - a medieval seat of the Assossiation of Saint George, today - a cultural center where many concerts and exhibitions take place. There is also the most beautiful Torun's house - a baroque House under the Star - nowadays a Far East Art Museum. The western frontage of the market is closed by the jesuit Church of th Holy Spiritand a neo-gothic post office building. Over 150 year ago, a monument of Nicolaus Copernicus was placed on the market, alongside a monument of a violin-playing rafter surrounded by frogs - a hero of the Torun's most famous legend.

BIKE RENTAL IN TORUN! WE CAN CHOOSE LOCATIONS

Toruń is getting even more tourist - friendly and ecologic! The city is installing a chain of self-service bike rentals. There are 20 places sugessted and we can vote for 10 of them. Which locations do you think are the best?

http://www.torun.pl/pl/miasto/wybierz-10-lokalizacji-dla-rowerow

MUSEUM OF TRAVELLERS IN TORUN

Our Museum of Travellers in Torun entered a competition Poland Grows Beautiful. Let's vote! 

http://www.polskapieknieje.gov.pl/projekt/ot_3

TORUN's BRIDGES

In this post I'm going to give you an interesting view on the little known story of the Torun's existing bridges. Let's start with the oldest one - the iron railway bridge.

It was built between 1870 and 1873, as an important part of the Prussian communication system (Berlin-Poznan-Olsztyn-Wystruć in East Prussia). In addition to communication functions, at the end of the XIX century, it served a vital role in the fortifications of the Lower Vistula.

Postcard:

View of the railway bridge from the city, about 1915, MT/HN/1368/478, 485

Above the main stream of the river it was built of five large spans, and above he banks eleven smaller ones. It contained a railway track, a narrow street and a sidewalk for pedestrians.

Postcard:

View of the entrance of the bridge, before 1920, MT/HN/1368/492

Bridge was strengthened as part of the fortifications – it had watch rooms and closing gates. It also had decorations in the form of 20-meters high symetrical towers on both ends. The towers were adorned by four big statues - of Prussian king Frideric II and ceasar Wilhelm I on one side and Teutonic Masters Herman Balk and Hermann von Saltza. These sculptures - symbols of Prussian rule - were dismantled in 1920, and well as the towers in the 50s of the XX century.

During the II World War it was blown up by retreating Polish troops in 1939, rebuilt by the Germans using the work of Polish prisoners, only to be blown up by the Germans in 1945. Reconstructed in 1948.

In 1999, the bridge was named after Ernest Malinowski – the creator of the Peruvian railway track placed on the highest altitude in the world.

The second bridge - iron road bridge

The idea of building a new road bridge was established in 1913. Due to the difficult economic situation the decision to build a bridge, using materials from the demolition of a bridge in Opalen, was taken not until 1927. The elements were brought by ships and over 300 workers participated in the construction. It consists of 3 big spans and is 898 meters long.

Photo of the construction period, 1930-1931, MT/HN/1446, MT/HN/1445

The bridge was given the name of Józef Piłsudski (a Polish independence activist from the I World War) and launched for Christmas 1932.

Postcard:

View of the road bridge destroyed in 1939, MT/HN/1368/510

During the II World War it underwent the same story as the railway brigde, however this suffered more serious damage. 

Reconstruction of the railway bridge, source: OrbiTorunPL

That's why, after the first blown up, only a detour bridge was built and the proper brigde was reconstruted only in 1946-49.

Picture:

Torun - road bridge, Kalina, Otto, 1943, MT/M/141/SN

Today the bridge is used heavily, with about 40 000 vehices crossing it daily. That is why a new brigde is being now build close to the existing ones, which will make the city more accesible. I'll cover more on that soon!

Photo:

Current view ot the Pilsudski bridge

(bibliography: material prepared by Katarzyna Kluczwajd

from the Regional Museum in Toruń and archives of the Museum)

2013 - the year of Nicolaus Copernicus This year will be widely celebrated in the Cuyavian Pomerania and other northern voivodeships of Poland. What is inetersting, in 2013 fall three important anniversaries related to the life and scientific activity of Nicolaus Copernicus - 540th anniversary of his birth, 470th anniversary of his death and the 470th anniversary of the first edition of "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" - a revolutionary book about the breakthrough helicentric theory, that was unbelievable for most people of his epoque.

A really nice information to begin with -
Toruń is the winner as the Travellers' Choice Destination 2012 on Tripadvisor

• TripAdvisor travelers voted Torun a top destination