Technical Monuments in Poland

Monuments, tourist attractions rarely bring term technology to our minds. Usually, when we think about sightseeing we think about architecture and natural attractions. Still, some regions offer the most fascinating technical monuments that stay with us, in our memory, for a long time. This is why we want to grab your attention with these very unusual and unique tourist attractions. In terms of them Poland has lots to offer, especially in its southern part.

Technical monuments in Poland are still undervalued sights. They are rarely the main aim of the trip and are also visited just on the way to somewhere else. It is a real mistake and we will try to prove it here.

Technical monuments can be subdivided into:

• Technical attractions
• Industry attractions
• Agriculture and gastronomy attractions

Technical attractions

Technical attractions are very varied category. In this group we can advise science and technology museums such as Copernicus Centre in Warsaw, Experiment Museum in Gdynia, Hewelianum Centre in Gdańsk, Leonardo da Vinci Centre in Chęciny or Hydropolis Museum in Wrocław. Here we can also qualify interesting historical buildings and constructions such as for example machinery of Augustów and Elbląg Canals visited by thousands of tourists every year who join cruises along this technical marvels. Other attractions of this type include for example the Historic Ironworks in Chlewiska, Paper Industry Museum in Duszniki Zdrój, Central Marine Museum in Gdańsk, Weaving Museum in Kamienna Góra, Central Textile Museum in Łódź, the oldest welded bridge in Europe in Maurzyce, Narrow Gauge Railway Museums in Sochaczew and Wenecja, Railway Museum in Warsaw, Gas Industry Museum in Warsaw and Dętka Museum in Łódź. In this group we can also recommend visiting unusual brine graduation towers in Ciechocinek and Inowrocław and modern thermal resorts that can be found in Zakopane area such as Bukovina, Bania and Chochołów that use thermal waters of Podhale region.

Industry attractions

In this category Poland has 4 UNESCO World Heritage List attractions such as:

- Krzemionki Prehistoric Striped Flint Mining Region

- Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine and its underground water management system

- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines

Still, there are also many other interesting mines open to public such as: Kłodawa Salt Mine, Guido Mine in Zabrze, Queen Luiza Drift Museum in Zabrze, Uranium Mine in Kletno or Złoty Stok Gold and Arsenic Mine. Some other industry attractions include Baranów Sandomierski Museum of Sulphur Basin, Bóbrka Open Air Museum of Oil Industry, Artistic Metalurgy Museum in Gliwice, Copper Museum in Legnica and Old Polish Industry District Museum in Sielpia Wielka.  

Agriculture and gastronomy attractions

In this category we can heartily recommend brewery museums in Tychy and Żywiec and also interesting agriculture museums in Ciechanowiec and Szreniawa. Both of them include also open air museums of village buildings. Another interesting example in this category is Fishing Museum in Hel or Apiarian Museum and Open Air Park in Swarzędz. To this group we can also add visits in wineries in Kraków and Topolno.   

The above mentioned highlights are just a fraction of all technical monuments in Poland. Still, they can give you the idea of what we can encounter in terms of this tourist attraction category. Summing up, technological monuments in Poland are very interesting sights that can be combined with sightseeing of more popular traditional architecture and natural tourist spots. They are very interesting and definitely stay in tourists memory for a long time. \

Author: Agnieszka Szwedzińska 

Date: 5.10.2020