These are the first impressions that lie in store for visitors who arrive in Kalisz by train, on a miserably wet Mayday. But hey, cheer up! You can always find sustenance with...

... a bowl of Żurek (rye soup) which has record-breaking slices of sausages in it. And while you're tucking into that you can soak in the atmosphere of 'Restauracja Staropolska' (Ye Olde Polish Restaurant)...

... which has quaint old-folksy decor that takes you back to Olden Polish times.

Some Grim History

A Memorial Plaque in honour of 'The Heroes of The Greater Poland Uprising

After the outbreak of the Great War, the proximity of the border proved disastrous for the city, as it was one of the first destroyed towns of that war. After a series of border clashes, the German army bombed the city with artillery. During the heavy fights that lasted from August 7 to August 22, 1914, the town was destroyed almost completely. Upon entering the city, the German units led by Hermann Preusker took revenge for the defence of the city by the Russian army on the civilians. 800 men were arrested and then decimated, while the city was set on fire and the remaining inhabitants were expelled. Out of roughly 68,000 inhabitants in 1914, only 5,000 live in the city the following year. However, by the end of the Great War much of the city centre was more or less rebuilt and many of the former inhabitants were allowed to return to their town. After the war and the Greater Poland Uprising, Kalisz became part of the, once again independent, Republic of Poland. [1]

enlarged image

In Memory of Children Who Were Subjected to Germanisation in the Nazi Camp located in this Monastery 1941-45

In Honour Of Poles Who Were Murdered, Imprisoned and Used as Slave Workers 1939-45

Until 1939 the town had roughly 89,000 inhabitants. After the outbreak of the Polish Defensive War of 1939, a Polish-German conflict that sparked World War II, the proximity of the border proved once again disastrous. Although the town was captured by the Wehrmacht almost instantly and without much fight, the city was directly annexed by the Nazi Germany. Until the end of World War II approximately 30,000 Poles of Jewish faith from the town and its area were murdered. Additional 20,000 local Catholics were either murdered or expelled to the General Government or to Germany as slave workers. In 1945 the city had only 43,000 inhabitants, that is roughly half of the pre-war population. [2]

Obligatory Touristy Stuff

The Town Hall

The Cathedral

The Theatre

A Rather Tatty Looking Small Theatre

... but look! Those doors were done by none other than Vahan Bego!

You see!

So be sure to remember that for your next visit to Kalisz.

Far From Home: The Russian Cemetery

Down By The River Prosna

A fine example of how to be direct: The Dentist 'Without Pain'.

Gołuchów - the sun has got his hat on

The Goluchow Castle, originally a defence structure, was built for Rafal Leszczynski around 1650, to be turned into a stately magnate residence by Rafal's son, Waclaw, one of the Republic of Poland - Lithuania's most prominent citizens. Two and a half centuries later Izabela of the Czartoryskis Dzialynska, who then owned the Castle, had it restored in the style of the French Renaissance, as was then the fashion. The restoration, modelled on the chateaux on the Loire and, partly, on Italian palaces, was the work of the French architect Maurice August Ouradou, assisted by Zygmunt Gorgolewski, a Pole. French artists were employed to decorate the Castle walls and interiors, and many of the sculptures which adorn the courtyard to this day were brought from France and Italy. [3]

The Leszczyński family was a magnate family. The family name derives from Leszczyna, now a suburb of Leszno, Greater Poland. The family had its greatest importance in the 17th century when they were aredent supporters of Calvinism and turned their estates Leszno and Baranow Sandomierski into major centres of Polish Protestantism. [4]

The Castle is surrounded by a landscape park established in the nineteenth century. The largest such park in the Wielkopolska region, it has oaks reaching five meters in perimeter. Visitors may also see a neo-Renaissance chapel - the Czartoryskis Mausoleum - and the Castle's outbuildings housing Poland's only Forestry Museum. [5]

In Honour of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy 1794-1918-1939-1945
Memorial at The Bus Stop in Gołuchów