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Szczecin lies in north-western Poland, 10 km from German border and 65 km from the Baltic shore. It' a capital city of West Pomerania Voivodship (Region) and its biggest city with a population of over 400.000. It lies among overflowing arm of river Odra. When looking on map, you can clearly see that the city consists of two parts: the one that lies at the left bank of the river and "The Right Bank", the main parts of which are Dąbie, former self-dependent city that use to compete with Szczecin and huge districts of blocks of flats, often called the "bedroom of the city".

Szczecin is quite a strange city. During the war many districts were devastated by bombs, such as magnificent Old Town, which hasn't been, in fact, rebuilt until now, as you can't call "rebuilding" placing a few houses that in mot cases don't even look similar to the ones that used to stand there.

But, on the other hand, Szczecin is a beautiful city. You can find many wonderful places there, such as Pogodno, Łękno or Głębokie districts. You'll find wide avenues amazing, especially when you come to realize they were designed on the turn of XIX and XX century, a if the designers had predicted that there'd be so many cars in the future.

(this text is taken, as well as the photo, from my own website: www.szczecin.xt.pl)

* Szczecin is the 3rd vastest city in Poland - its area is 301 square kilometres (0,1% of the area of Poland)

* Medieval Szczecin was widely known as the castle that can't fall. There used to be a saying in Denmark, "You aren't safe unless you're protected by the walls of Szczecin".

* Szczecin is often called "a green city" due to the large number of parks and other green areas.

* Vast post-glacial lake Dąbie is the 4th largest lake in Poland

* Szczecin was the place where the tsarina katherine (Yekaterina) II was born.

* Karl Loewe, the great German composer used to live in Szczecin. His heart is buried in Szczecin's Cathedral

* The layout of the city was based on the one you can see in Paris. Some say that 3 main star-shaped squares and river Odra's layout is similar to three pyramids in Gizah, Egypt, and river Nile's.

* The best known place of Szczecin - Wały Chrobrego - was built where massive Prussian fort used to stand.

* The most famous Szczecin's legend is a tale of Sidonia von Borke, who was accused of sorcery and sentenced to death. It can be said Sidonia made an international "career" - you can find a painting of her even in Tate Gallery, London.

* Central Cemetery (Cmentarz Centralny) is one of the biggest burial-grounds in the whole Europe.

* Szczecin's magnolias are widely known due to the fact that Szczecin is the only one large city in Poland where you can find so large amount of magnolia trees growing on the streets and in parks.

* Szczecin's "Pioneer" (Pionier) Cinema was established in 1909 which makes it the oldest still working cinema in Europe.

* The most popular associations Poles think of while hearing the word "Szczecin" is paprykarz (canned minced fish with tomato sauce, mixed with rice and spice) and herrings. Some think that Szczecin lies at the shore of the Baltic Sea, but it's definitely not true.

* In 2007, the final stage of Tall Ships' Race will be taken in Szczecin.

* There is a vast tunnel system under the streets of Szczecin. They were built by the Germans and there's even a highway and unfinished railway station in these tunnels. You can cross river Odra and river Regalica while walking them. Unfortunately, this undoubtful attraction still hasn't been fully explored. Some say it's possible the famous "Amber Chamber" from Petersburg, Russia, robbed by the Germans, lies somewhere, buried in those tunnels.

* It was Szczecin, not Gdańsk, where the first agreement between striking workers from "Solidarity" and the authorities was signed in 1980.

(this text is taken, as well as the photo, from my own website: www.szczecin.xt.pl)