Wroclaw Poland description, location, history. Poland map.

Wroclaw Poland description, location, history. Poland map.

Wrocław is one of the oldest and the biggest city in Poland and at the same the historic capital of the Silesia Region. It is situated in the Silesian Lowland, on the both side of the Odra River. Five big rivers flow across the city - Odra and its 4 tributaries which supply the river: Bystrzyca, Oława, Ślęża and Widawa.

Wrocław is a municipality with county status as well as the capital city of the Dolnośląskie Voivodeship (Lower Silesia Province).

Before World War II there were 303 bridges, yet only 220 of them are still present today.

During the first post-war years, due to the slogan "the whole Poland rebuilds the capital," Wrocław was robbed of works of art, bricks, metal sheets and roof tiles which were driven away to Warsaw (in fact, like the rest of the cities of country restored, it was plundered of everything of value).

Despite the war destruction, as 70% of the buildings were damaged, many designs have stood the test of war either in their original state or they have been rebuilt or restored. Among those which stand out are: the monumental Gothic Town Hall in the Old Town Market Square, Gothic Cathedral of St. John the Baptist situated on Cathedral Island (so called Ostrów Tumski) with its Baroque Electoral Chapel designed by Fischer von Erlach, the Gothic Church of the Holy Cross, the Gothic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Church of NMP) located on Sand Island, the complex of Baroque buildings adjacent to the University of Wrocław in which one finds the splendid Leopoldina Hall, the neo-Gothic Central Railway Station, and finally the modernistic buildings: Centennial Hall (Hala Ludowa) designed by Mark Berg, Petersdorff Shopping Centre designed by Erich Mendelsohn (today known as Chameleon), and the buildings of the "Living and Working Space" Exhibition (WUWA) designed by Hans Scharoun.