"TORUN" a Torun Travel Page by Kinia

Torun is one of the most beautiful Polish cities. I live in Bydgoszcz which is close to Torun. These two cities are close to each other but still thay are so different. They are not so big ( about 700.000 people together ). Bydgoszcz is more modern and it has more inhabitants. Torun is smaller but more beautiful, full of histotical bouldings, with a great atmosphere, lots of tourists and students..I love it :-) i was studing and living there for 5 years :-) I forgot: Torun is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Now I live in Bydgoszcz but visit Torun frequently.

Torun is the town where Nicolas Copernicus was born. So now everything there is called after him: we have University of Copernicus, Copernicus street , cinema Copernicus, gingerbread "Kopernik" and many other things..

Talking of gingerbread .. MMMMMM :-) thats the other thing Torun is famous for. Gingerbread has been produced here for centuries and they say "gingrebread from Torun is the only genuine one" . I am not the expert but the true is that buying gingerbread is a must when you are in Torun. There are so many kinds. Some are really cute so they are just perfect for present. But Im not sure if they eatable ;-)

Architecture
Torun is the second Polish city, after Cracow, with the greatest number of buildings in the Gothic style and the best retained complex of Gothic residential architecture in Northern Europe.

Astronomy
There is one more thing that Torun has after Nicholas Copernicus - long tradition in astronomy studies. One of the biggest tourist attractions in Torun is Planetarium.

Teutonic Knights
Torun used to be the seat of Teutonic Knights in XIII and XIV centuary. They build the castle in there. Nowadays its ruins are one of the tourist attractions. And still some people call Torun inbabitants "Krzyzacy" which mean Teutonic Knights in Polish.

and..."Mohair Berets"
;-) just take seat when reading it. Torun is very popular destiantion for old Polish women. They never show up in the city center. The reason why they come to Torun is their beloved Radio Station that is located in Torun. Its nationwide catholic radio station which is very powerful even in politics - that can happen just in Poland ;-). So this special pro-catholic group of old women is called "Mohair Berets". Why? Here is the photo click here
Easy, they stay in special Pilgrims Houses :-)
One more thing: these ladies hate when they call them "Mohair Berets"

for more about Torun click here
or here
or here if u feel like virtual walk through Torun

see the map of the city center