Interesting historical curiosities for traveling to Poland

When you travel for the first time to a country whose history If you are not knowledgeable, it is advisable to make an approximation to it, as it will be the way to appreciate the importance of the monuments and historical places what are you going to visit

In addition, this way you will also be able to understand the characteristics and concerns of their society.

This is the case of Poland, a country that I recently had the opportunity to visit almost for the first time, except for a quick getaway I made a few years ago to Krakow.

you will know that Poland It is one of the countries that have joined the European Union after the fall of the communist regimes in the late 80's.

And possibly you know the harsh vicissitudes of Poland during the Second World War, but you will know little else about its history.

I hope you find them interesting Historical facts y curiosities of Poland which I will detail below.

Curiosities of Poland

To begin with, although Poland is a member of the European Union since 2004, when traveling to that country you have to take into account that it is not located within the territory of the currency of the euro.

How and where to change currency in Poland

Therefore, you will encounter the initial annoyance of having to change your euros its local currency, Zloty (PLN), whose change is about four Zloty for euro.

To do this you must go to exchange offices calls Cantor where no commission is charged, which you find in the main streets and shopping centers of their cities, some even open 24 hours.

As an initial tip, avoid changing at airports, banks or hotels as you will have a less favorable exchange rate since they will charge you a commission.

Is Poland an expensive country?

However, a big advantage of Poland not being integrated into the euro The thing is that, compared to Spain, it is a cheaper country, especially if you are used to the usual prices in large cities like Madrid or Barcelona.

As I was able to confirm during my trip, in Poland they think that if they integrate into the euro, prices will increase substantially.

What's more, the Poles are especially concerned about not committing the mistakes that have been made in Spain, which led us to suffer especially harshly from the economic crisis of 2008 with the "bubble” real estate.

Keys to the history of Poland

From a historical point of view, there are four factors that you must take into account and that have conditioned the feeling of current Polish society, in addition to being reflected in the monuments and corners that you will see in its cities and towns.

Legend of the birth of Poland

First, the history of poland has always been conditioned by the future of its neighbors, especially Russia and what we know today as Germany.

In the Poznan visit I knew the legend that describes the birth of Poland, when three brothers ((Lech, Czech and Rus) arrived with their tribes to the lands located between the Vistula and Oder rivers.

The first of them, Lech, decided to stay in those lands, and created the country of Poland; Czech decided to settle further south, and gave way to the birth of the Czech Republic; and, for its part, Rus settled in the east, and thus was born Russia.

This legend conveys the idea of ​​brotherhood between Poland and its neighbors, which in reality has not always been the case.

Although the origins of what is considered Poland As a country they date back to the 1035th century, it was in XNUMX when the first Polish king was established, and throughout the XNUMXth century is when that monarchy reached its fullness, having as its residence the Wawel Royal Castle en Krakow.

However, this period of strength began its decline at the end of the 16th century, when the Republic of the two nations, a federation between the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

This peculiar situation continued until 1795 when the neighboring empires, Russia, Prussia and the Austro-Hungarian, divided up the territories of what had been Poland, so that the Polish state disappeared from the map until 1918, when it was restored again. .

Religions in Poland

Another factor that you have to take into account is the importance of religion in Poland.

It is precisely considered that it was Christian sentiment that allowed the spirit of Poland as a country during those 123 years in which the State disappeared.

On your trip you will be able to see the great importance that the Catholic religion in Poland, where among one of its great historical figures is Karol Wojtyla, Whoever it was Pope Juan Pablo II.

The fact that Poland is a majority catholic country It has not been an obstacle to the fact that there has always been great coexistence between the different religions.

Poland has hosted from the 13th century until the Second World War la largest Jewish community in all of Europe.

En Poland they also coexist the Protestants, and a curious example of this is the church of the holy cross in the Cathedral Island (Ostrow Tumski) en Wrocław.

It is a building whose central nave has two floors, so that until 1997 the temple was shared by the Orthodox and Catholic rites, now being exclusively a Catholic church.

In the same Wroclaw There is a neighborhood that is an exponent of coexistence between Catholics, Lutherans and Jews.

And in other places in the country you can see the existence of Muslims and Orthodox.

Second World War in Poland

But both historical factors that have left the greatest mark on modern-day Poland, as you will see on your trip, have been the german occupation during the Second World War and Communist regime which came next.

Warsaw Uprising Museum

Regarding the first, it will undoubtedly be in the visit of the Museum of the Insurrection from Warsaw where you will have dramatic evidence of what this war meant for Poland.

A consequence of this was the enormous destruction produced in the cities, so that now on your trip what you will see are reconstructions of their historic centers.

The fact is that, after the war, 90 percent of the city of Warsaw was completely destroyed.

Reconstruction of the historic center of Warsaw

Now during your visit you will be able to check , how the artistic works of Canaletto, court painter of the last king of poland During the 18th century, they were of great help in obtaining the most reliable reconstruction of the historic center of the Polish capital.

Memorial of the former Auschwitz concentration camp

Of course, from the dramatic persecution of Polish Jews by the Germans you will have the best exponent during your visit of the ancient Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp near Krakow, now converted into a memorial.

Communist period in Poland

And as for the Communist regime, I remind you that Poland It was the first country where the old one began to weaken soviet bloc after the emergence of syndicate Solidarity in the city of Gdańsk.

That was the milestone that marked the beginning of the liberation process from the communist regime, which finally led to the first democratic elections in 1989.

The feeling that I extracted from me trip to poland is that the Polish people consider the Communist regime as a period of Russian occupation, and a gray stage from which they are now emerging.

In the Current PolandThe large skyscraper Palace of Culture and Science Built by the Russians in Warsaw at the beginning of the communist era, with its great contrast to the modern skyscrapers that have emerged in recent years, it remains a reflection of a stage that the Poles want to overcome.