Wloclawek (Włocławek) is a city in central Poland. It's best known for its many interesting historical monuments, museums, nature parks and clubs. The city’s famous landmarks include:

Copernicus Square

The famous Diocesan Museum with artworks by Guercino, Caravaggio and Dürer

The Gothic Cathedral – one of the oldest (1340) and highest in Poland at 87 meters

Vistula’s Boulevards

The Museum of the Kujawy and Dobrzyn region (tin-glazed pottery and art treasures of Anthony van Dyck or Rembrandt van Rijn)

The Water Dam on the second largest artificial lake in Poland.

Wloclawek is also known as “the city of active holidays”, because there are many possibilities for cycling, pony trekking, walking in the many forests, hunting, fishing and water sports on lakes. Many notable people have lived in Wloclawek, including the great astronomer, Nicolas Copernicus, who studied here at the Cathedral School in 1488-91.

The Copernicus Code ?

It was here that his affection for astronomy started. Today, we can undoubtedly say that the Da Vinci Code is a myth, but maybe the Copernicus Code is real? If so, some clues could be found in Włocławek, especially on the Sun Watch on the cathedral in Copernicus Square. It's said that Copernicus built the Sun Watch. The history and further information about the Copernicus Code is in 'The Solar Mystery' by Professor Jeremi Wasiutynski.

Also, the chemist and Nobel laureate, Tadeusz Reichstein lived in Wloclawek. As did Jan Nagórski who was the first man to fly over the North Pole.

The city's history stretches over 3,000 years. First the settlement belonged to the Lausitz and, later, the Pomeranian culture. Wloclawek received its own Diocese (bishop) in 1123 and its town rights in 1255. It received its town status in 1255.

During the 14th and 15th centuries the Teutonic Knights captured and destroyed it several times. Over 27 granaries were here and the city was the second best after Gdansk. After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 Wloclawek became part of Prussia and, since 1831 the Russian Empire. Wloclawek was the area of battles during World War I, the Polish-Soviet War in 1920 and World War II. Construction of a dam finished in 1969 to regulate the water level of the Vistula river, forming the Wloclawek Reservoir.

Wloclawek is also a place of pilgrimage and religious tourism. Destinations include the Cathedral, All Saints Church of Franciscan-Reformers and the Crucifix at the falling stage on the Vistula.