Koszalin

Koszalin is the second largest city of Pomorze Zachodnie, which is located at the junction of three regions – The Słowińskie coast, the Białogradzka Plain and the Słupsk Plain. Although it has no access to the sea, it is still inseparably associated with water and can easily compete with the neighboring resorts.

Why should you visit Koszalin? This is a city that constantly keeps changing – for the better, of course, and can offer its guests an interesting cultural offer and many diverse attractions.

Koszalin – a city associated with water
Koszalin is inseparably associated with water, but not only because of the close proximity to the sea, which is located 11 kilometers away from here. The city is located upon two lakes – Jamno and Lubiatowo Północne and upon the river Dzierżęcinka.

Lake Jamno
Lake Jamno is a water reservoir, which was created from a sea bay and is still connected to the sea (through Jamieński Nurt). This is a place were people do intensive water sports – sailing, kayaking, windsurfing and kitesurfing. Here, many water equipment rentals and sailing harbors ae functioning. What’s more, lake Jamno also attracts fishermen, who can catch here, among others, pikes, crucians, perches and roach.

The Jamno Flow
While visiting the lake, it is worth checking out an interesting attraction, which is a ride on a „Koszałek” water tram. It is a ferry flowing across lake Jamno, and more exactly from Koszalin to Unieście. The trip lasts about 20 minutes and is a great alternative for driving a car, because during the summer vacation, the road leading to the sea is often quite crowded. This year, the „Koszałek” ferry ride was openedon June 16th. The ships will be flowing until August 26th, four times daily on normal days and five times daily on the weekends. You get to the harbor by specially marked courses of bus number 6.

The Wodna Dolina Lagoon in Koszalin
However, the sea, lakes and the river is not all. There is alo an artificial water reservoir in Koszalin

the Wodna Dolina Lagoon.This is mostly a place to relax, which is excellently developed. Here we can find, aomng others, a protected swimming area, a sandy beach, a playground for children, an outdoor gym for grownups and a beach volleyball field. Tourist can obviously take advantage of sanitary facilities and places to eat. People who are fans of active vacation, are guaranteed to enjoy a kayak rental and wakeboard lift.

What is wakeboard? It is a water sport, dedicated to swimming on the water surface on a special board, while holding to a line pulled with the help of a lift. Unlike windsurfing, kitesurfing or regular surfing, you can easily ride a wakeboard no matter what weather conditions there are right now. It doesn’t take much effort or time to learn this sport – all it takes is a few moments under the eye of an instructor to take your very first ride and stay on the water surface.

Koszalin – one of the greenest cities in Poland
More than 40% of the surface of Koszalin i covered by forests and parks – there are 4 parks located in the city centre itself. The most popular one, which is also considered the most beautiful, is the Pomeranian Princes Park. Its surface is 10 hectares, which extends from Rzeczna street to Kutrzeba street. It is also worth mentioning that the parj was created between 1602 and 1816, and its development was finished around 1934.

The Pomeranian Princes Park, Koszalin
Currently there are more than 120 species and types of trees and bushes growing at the area of the park. The most interesting individual is the oldest tree in Koszalin – the sycamore maple. (known as „The Tree of Witches”), which is about 300 years old, and is a remaining of a former castle garden. Although the tree wqas destryed by a storm in 2011, but the trunk that survived began to give birth to new shoots, allowing to form a brand new tree.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady the Thrice Wonderful, Chełm Mountain
While walking through the city, it is also worth visiting the Park by the amphitheatre and the nearby Chełm Mountain, where numerous walking trails were created. On the highest elevation of the Chełm Mountain – Krzyżanka, there is a monumental observation tower – from there you can admire the beautiful panorama of the surroundings (on clear days you might even see the Baltic Sea coast) and a small chapel – the Sanctuary of Our Lady the Thrice Wonderful, which in 1991 was visited by pope John Paul II during the pilgrimage to Poland.

Koszalin – the cultural capital of the region
Let’s start with the fact, that Koszalin is the place that can be proud of the largest covered amphitheatre in Poland. At the audience of the Amphitheatre by the name of Ignacy Jan Paderewski there are 4500 places for the crowd. In the city you can also visit the Koszalin Philharmonic and the Baltic Drama Theatre by the name of Juliusz Słowacki.

There are many interesting cultural events each year in Koszalin, which attract viewers from all around the country. These include, among others, Poland’s oldest and greatest Festival of youth cinema – the „Młodzi i Film” Koszalin Movie Debut Festival, the Integracja Ty i Ja Europeanm Movie Festival, the Cabaret Festival in Koszalin and the Hanza Jazz Festival.

Koszalin – what monuments should you pay attention to?
Despite the long history of Koszalin, there are not many surviving monuments. Even so, there are still a few places that you cannot miss during the visit.

The Town Hall
The modernistic Town Hall, located by the Old Town Market Square, has an equal amount of enemies and fans. Built in the 1960s, it stands out with quite a characteristic structure and you can definitely consider it a symbol of Koszalin. What’s especially interesting is the fact that acording to first plans, such a town hall was supposed to be built in Szczecin.

In close proximity from the Market Square you can find the gothic cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, built in the early 14th century. It is one of the very few objects in Koszalin that survived the fires torturing the city. The greatest fire of them took place in the 18th century and destroyed almost the entire city. The interesting thing is the fact, that at the time, part of the town walls were destroyed and used as the material for creating new buildings.

It is also worth paying attention to several gothic stonehouses located by Bogusław II street. Another interesting thing is the so-called Executioner’s House, which was named after the job of the last person who ever lived here. Currently, the building holds the headquarters of the „Dialog” Proposition Theatre.

The Koszalin Narrow Gauge Railway
The Koszalin Narrow Gauge Railway is a monumental, 120-year old narow gauge railway, riding mostly in the summer season between Narrow Gauge Koszalin and Narrow Gauge Rosnowo. The trains ride every Saturday and Sunday – this year from June 29th to September 3rd. The trail of the ride leads through picturesque areas – first along the Dzierżęcinka river, and later through a thick forest, although the final station is not located by the seaside itself, there is a swimming area here.