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122 GDYNIA SIGHTSEEING
Almost everything to see in Gdynia has a salty seaside
theme. Lacking Gdańsk’s historic sites and the charm of
Sopot, the city does at least provide one or two quirky
things to see, as well as an absolutely stonking new
museum dedicated to the city.
Churches
Church of St. Michael the Archangel (Kościół
Św. Michała Archanioła) ul. Arciszewskich 2
(Oksywie), tel. (+48) 58 665 00 63, www.parafia.
oksy.net.pl. Originally built by nuns of the Norbertine
Order in 1224, this church is now part of museum dedicated
to Polish sailors and seafarers. On the northern wall
is a plaque engraved with the names of Polish ships that
sank during World War II. Also commemorated are Polish
naval officers executed by the communists in 1952. The
neighbouring graveyard is the resting place of Kashubian
activist Antoni Abraham. Find it on the very northern tip of
Gdynia, past the ferry harbour. Q Open during mass only
and by prior arrangement.
Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Kościół
Najświętszego Serca Pana Jezusa) N-1, ul.
Armii Krajowej 46, tel. (+48) 58 661 51 92, www.
nspjgdynia.pl. Built between 1957 and 1966, this at first
glance rather ugly-looking church on closer inspection
reveals a story and a beauty that encapsulates so much
of the modern Polish religious psyche. A drab concrete
exterior betrays a marvel of treats inside, among them
Gdańsk artist Bogusław Marszal’s extraordinary and
colourful mosaics from 1974, including astonishingly large
renditions of The Last Supper, The Holy Spirit and The Ten
Commandments. Also of interest is the organ, as big as the
one in Oliwa Cathedral and the Shipyard Workers’ Chapel,
allegedly the only one in Poland, and dedicated to the events
of December 1970 when the Militia opened fire and killed
18 of Gdynia’s shipyard workers as they made their way
to work. Of particular interest inside is a blood-stained
flag, used to carry the body of the 18-year-old shipworker
Janek Wiśniewski (real name Zbigniew Godlewski) through
the city’s streets. The name Janek Wiśniewski is the Polish
equivalent of John Smith, and is the title of a famous
ballad of the same name, whose author didn’t know the
young man’s real name. QOpen 06:00 - 19:00. No visiting
during mass please.
St. Mary’s Church N-1, ul. Armii Krajowej 26 (entrance
from ul. Świętojańska), tel. (+48) 58 620 05
52, www.nmp-gdynia.pl. Centrally located St. Mary’s was
completed in 1924, when local residents helped to furnish the
new church via donations. The main alter, which was built by
a local carpenter, features a large gold three-masted ship to
reflect Gdynia’s seafaring history. Today the small church is
flanked by a bookstore (loaded with Pope John Paul II goods),
a newer and more modern church and a primary school, which
makes for a lively spot crawling with uniformed students and
nuns. The bells at noontime are especially vibrant and can
be heard as far away as the beach. Q Open 06:00 - 18:00.
From July open 06:00 - 18:00, Sun 06:00 - 20:00.
Tour guide
Agnieszka Syroka, tel. (+48) 502 55 45 84, www.
tourguidegdansk.com. Tours offered in English by a
certified local tour guide. Tours are prepared to suit the
client and should be booked in advance. QOpen 09:00
- 22:00. Prices are negotiable.
Monuments
Joseph Conrad Monument O-1, Al. Jana Pawła II 1.
The work of Danuta and Zdzisław Koseda and Wawrzyniec
Samp, and unveiled in 1976, Gdynia’s tribute to Poland’s
most famous sea-faring author (born Teodor Józef Konrad
Korzeniowski, 1857 - 1924), who hailed from Białystok and
who as far as anyone can tell had no connections with Gdynia,
sits splendidly opposite the city’s Oceanographic Museum
adding a touch of class to the pleasant concrete spit of land
on which it’s placed. The delightfully stylised monument is
allegedly the only one in the world dedicated to the great man.
Monument to the Victims of December 1970
(Pomnik Ofiar Grudnia 1970) N-2, Al. Piłsudskiego.
Designed by Ryszard Semka and unveiled on December 17,
1993, the Monument to the Victims of December 1970 is
an impressive 25 metre cross commemorating 18 year old
Zbyszek Godlewski, killed during the anti-government shipyard
protests which took place on the streets of Gdynia in that year.
Monument to the Victims of December 1970
(Pomnik Ofiar Grudnia 1970) Al. Solidarności. One
more monument commemorating the death of 18 year old
protestor Zbyszek Godlewski, this one unveiled on December
17, 1980 - the tenth anniversary of Godlewski’s death.
Museums
City of Gdynia Museum (Muzeum Miasta Gdyni)
O-2, ul. Zawiszy Czarnego 1, tel. (+48) 58 662 09 10,
www.muzeumgdynia.pl. Impressively modern and well
run, the City of Gdynia museum takes visitors through the
chronological history of the town beginning with its origins
as a fishing village through its evolution as an important
international port during the inter-war years. Displays of
fishing shanties and vintage diving suits bring these different
periods to life, and photographs of the growing port and the
ships that called it home emphasize the city’s maritime history.
Keepsakes from defunct hotels and old vessels mingle
with faded documents and countless Navy uniforms, which
can keep visitors wandering for ages. The revolving temporary
exhibits are equally as intriguing, including a recent
display that recounted the career of popular Polish filmmaker
Krzysztof Kieślowski. Around the back of the museum you’ll
find retired vessels that will become part of the city’s Naval
Museum when it opens. QOpen 10:00 - 17:00. Closed Mon.
Admision 7/4zł, Fri free.
Dar Pomorza O-1, Al. Jana Pawła II (Nabrzeże Pomorskie),
tel. (+48) 58 620 23 71, www.cmm.pl. Reopening
on January 17, this three-masted Polish training ship has
visited 383 ports and travelled more than 800,000km in her
time at sea. Constructed in 1909 in Hamburg to train cadets
for the German navy, she was after World War I given to the
French who, in turn, gave her to an Englishman in French service.
The ship was subsequently bought by the Pomeranian
National Fleet. Since 1972 she has taken part in numerous
sailing competitions, winning the Cutty Sark Trophy in 1980.
A year later she was bestowed the highest Polish State decoration:
the order of Polonia Restituta. Q Open 10:00 - 16:00.
Closed Mon. From July open 09:00 - 18:00. Last entrance
30 minutes before closing. Admission 8/4zł. Y
Domek Abrahama (Abraham’s House) N-1, ul.
Starowiejska 30, www.muzeumgdynia.pl. Possibly the
smallest museum you’ll have the chance to visit, your time
spent here is liable to extend to all of fifteen minutes. One
of the oldest cottages in Gdynia, this served as home for the
Kashubian activist Antoni Abraham from 1920 up until his
Gdynia In Your Pocket gdynia.inyourpocket.com
death in 1923. Fighting for the reincorporation of Pomerania
into the Polish state, a few details of his life have been left
in this reasonably fascinating diorama. Among the curiosities
are prosthetic limbs, a bed pan under the bed, sewing
machines and clunky bits of farming equipment. QOpen
10:00 - 16:00. Closed Mon, Sun. Admission 2/1zł. Guided
tours by prior arrangement 10zł.
Gdynia Aquarium (Akwarium Gdyńskie) O-1, Al.
Jana Pawła II 1, tel. (+48) 58 732 66 01, www.akwarium.
gdynia.pl. A perfect post-sunburn hideout or rainy day escape,
the Gdynia Aquarium is stuffed with over 1,500 animals
spread over 68 different exhibits, and pint-sized guests will
delight in seeing every one. New features like the dwarf crocodile
- which often can’t be bothered to look anything less than
dead - keep the exhibits fresh, and children will beg to adopt
a frisky Chinese softshell turtle of their own. Exhibits cover
marine life from across the globe, like Australian spotted jellyfish
and Amazon-dwelling giant arapaima, but also delve into
the evolution of submersible technology through the decades.
The third floor Baltic Room is devoted to understanding the sea
literally right outside the Aquarium’s windows, but a history of
the sea will take a backseat to the giant 44 kg cod - the largest
creature ever caught in the Baltic - dangling over your head.
English placards are spotty at best, so parents be prepared
to make up origins for the colorful tomato clownfish and the
pancake-like moonfish. A large open-air deck offers the idea
place to take in aquatic views and have a snack. Q Open
09:00 - 19:00. From June open 09:00 - 20:00. Last entrance
30 minutes before closing. Admission 24/16zł.
Motor Museum (Muzeum Motoryzacji) ul. Żwirowa
2c (Chylonia), tel. (+48) 58 663 87 40, www.gdynskiemuzeum-motoryzacji.pl.
A real labour of love this place.
The owner first started collecting old motor bikes when he
was 8, saving the money he should have been spending on
his school lunch to pay for them. Since then his passion has
not waned and following his studies at mechanics school
and with the help of the local government and some private
sponsors he has now managed to put this collection together
which he now displays to the public. On show a collection of
vintage motor-bikes, sidecars, cars and a classic Mercedes-
Benz. QOpen 09:00 - 17:00. Closed Sun. Admission 7/3zł.
Naval Museum (Muzeum Marynarki Wojennej)
O-2, ul. Zawiszy Czarnego 1b, tel. (+48) 58 626 39 84,
www.muzeummw.pl. The large front doors of the modern
building on the seafront that promises a wealth of fascinating
sights and sensations for visitors continues to remain locked
and despite earlier assurances that it would open shortly, and
the latest gossip suggests entrance will be no earlier than
summer 2012. Even the jumbled collection of arms, cannons,
medieval gun carriages, planes, helicopters and submarines
from early Slavic times to WWII in the museum’s back garden
cannot be visited until April or May. Of note (when they reopen)
are 18th century cannons, shells from the Schleswig-Holstein
(the ship that kicked off WWII), and a canon recovered from a
German U-boat sunk in Gdynia harbour in 1945. We’ll be back
to see how this long awaited addition to Gdynia’s sightseeing
options stacks up before the summer issue. QOpen 10:00 -
17:00, Mon 12:00 - 18:00. Last entrance 30 minutes before
closing. Admission 4/2zł. Mon free.
Tourist information
Tourist Information Center N-1, ul. 10 Lutego 24,
tel. (+48) 58 622 37 66, www.gdyniaturystyczna.pl.
QOpen 09:00 - 18:00, Sat, Sun 09:00 - 16:00.
gdynia.inyourpocket.com
GDYNIA SIGHTSEEING
Błyskawica
Błyskawica O-1, Skwer
Kościuszki 12, tel. (+48)
58 626 36 58, www.navy.
mw.mil.pl. With the Treaty of
Versailles a done deal Poland
found itself a nation state once
more, granted access to the
sea via what was to become
the infamous ‘Polish Corridor’.
For the first time in a century
Poland had coastline and her
own waters, the only thing
missing was a navy to guard it. Polish defensive bods
designed a new fast attack class of destroyer, and the
tender was won by the JS White firm based in Cowes on
the Isle of Wight. Their s.p was to build two such destroyers,
the Błyskawica (Lightning), and a sister ship, ORP
Grom (Thunder). A fledgling navy it might have been, but
this pair were no laughing matter. Measuring 114 metres
in length, weighing 2,782 tonnes and powered by turbines
rated at 54,000hp, these were to become the fastest
destroyers in the world when launched in 1936. Armed
to the teeth and boasting a top speed of 39 knots the
two were to serve a dual purpose: both as fast surface
attack craft and submarine chasers.
Both boats were spirited to England on the eve of
war as part of the Peking Plan, and from there on the
Polish craft came under the command of the British
Royal Navy. Based in Cowes the Błyskawica saw action
several times, including in the Mediterranean,
Normandy and as an Atlantic convoy escort. However,
her finest moment was to come in Cowes. Captained
by Wojciech Francki, it was on the night of the 4th May
1942 that the British town came under attack from up
to 160 Luftwaffe bombers. Anticipating an attack Capt.
Francki had sneakily ensured the Błyskawica was wellarmed,
despite a ruling stating the vessel should have
been decommissioned while in port. In a further breach
of regulations Francki ordered his crew to fight off the
waves of bombers, and what followed was a ferocious
battle between sea and air - such was the rate the boats
guns were firing the crew were compelled to continually
douse them with seawater in a bid to cool them.
The heroic defence and the smokescreen that was lit
was enough to thwart the Luftwaffe, and the captain
and crew were hailed as the ‘saviours of Cowes’. Less
forthcoming in their recognition were the pedants in
the British Admiralty; conscious of condoning a blatant
violation of the rules they sent a tight-lipped dispatch
commending the good work done by Francki.
At the end of the war the Błyskawica returned to Poland,
though without its captain and many of its crew. Francki
chose a new life in Australia, away from the suspicions
and hostility of the new communist government, and it
was a lead followed by many of his ratings. In 2004 the
actions of the Błyskawica were formally acknowledged,
and a plaque unveiled in the port of Cowes by Francki’s
daughter. The ship itself was retired from service in
1969, and has since served as a museum ship held in
the sort of regard the Brits reserve for the HMS Victory.
It’s the only boat to be awarded Poland’s highest military
decoration, the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari Order,
and other points of interest include a three barrelled
torpedo launcher, a torpedo cross section, scale models,
weapons and uniforms.QOpen 10:00 - 12:30, 14:00 -
16:30. Closed Mon. Admission 8/4 zł.
May - July 2012
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