Classic Tour
The trip is enriched by the fact that its programme contains cities, monuments and spots which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The capital is a destination to start with. The Old Town of Warsaw is on UNESCO list since 1980. During the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, more than 85% of Warsaw's historic centre was destroyed by the Nazi troops. After the war, a five-year reconstruction campaign by its citizens resulted in today's meticulous restoration of the Old Town, with its churches, palaces and a market-place. It is an outstanding example of a near-total reconstruction of a span of history covering a period from the 13th to the 20th century.
The trip is to be continued into Zamosc with its famous Town Hall (on the UNESCO list since 1992). Zamosc was founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoysky on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Modelled on Italian theories of the “ideal city” and built by the architect Bernando Morando, a native of Padua, Zamosc is a perfect example of a late-16th-century Renaissance town. Departure for Cracow. En route guided visit of the Lancut Palace. Continue for Cracow. A stop-over in Lipnica Murowana Village (on the UNESCO list since 2003). The wooden churches of the southern Lesser Poland represent outstanding examples of the different aspects of medieval church-building traditions in the Roman Catholic culture.
Continue for Cracow. The historic centre of Cracow (on the UNESCO list since 1978), the former capital of Poland, is situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The 13th-century merchants' town has Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with their magnificent interiors. Further evidence of the town's fascinating history is provided by the remnants of the 14th-century fortifications and the medieval site of Kazimierz with its ancient synagogues in the southern part of the town, Jagellonian University and the Gothic cathedral where the Kings of Poland were buried. The visit includes St Mary’s Church and Wawel Royal Castle. Our next step will be Wieliczka and a visit in the Salt Mines (on the UNESCO list since 1978). The tourist route open for visitors reaches 135 m under the surface. Along the route, you can admire numerous chambers with interesting interiors consisting of the sculptures in salt carved by many generations of the miners-sculptors. The most beautiful one is the chapel of St. Kinga with the astonishing relief sculptures, salt alter, chandeliers made of salt crystals and the figure of Pope John Paul II made from a single block of salt. The microclimate of the salt mine is used for the treatment of asthma, allergies and other illnesses in the Rehabilitation and Treatment Centre organized underground. Heading to Wroclaw, en route guided visit to Kalwaria (on the UNESCO list since 1999). Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is a breath-taking cultural landscape of a great spiritual significance.
Continue for Auschwitz. Guided visit of Auschwitz Museum on the UNESCO list since 1979. The fortified walls, barbed wire, platforms, barracks, gallows, gas chambers and cremation ovens show the conditions where the Nazi genocide took place in the former concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest camp in the Third Reich. Departure for Wroclaw.
Visit in Wroclaw including the Centennial Hall on the UNESCO list since 2006. The Centennial Hall, a landmark in the history of reinforced concrete architecture, was erected in 1911-1913 by the architect Max Berg as a multi-purpose recreational building, situated in the Exhibition Grounds.
Our next step will be Swidnica and a visit to the Church of Peace (on the UNESCO list since 2001). The Churches of Peace Swidnica, the largest timber-framed religious buildings in Europe, were built in the former Silesia in the mid-17th century, amid the religious strife that followed the Peace of Westphalia. On the way back to Warsaw, a stop-over in Czestochowa with guided visit of Jasna Gora Monastery. One of the most important places of the religious worship in the Christian world, with a tradition of pilgrimages that goes back to the 14th century.
