Green Velo

The historic capital of the Warmia region is located on the Łyna and the Symsarna rivers. The city received town privileges in 1308, and today over 17,000 people live here.

Among the town’s most precious monuments is a Gothic castle, home to the bishops of the Warmia, built in the 14th century using a square layout, with every side being 48 metres wide. Among its attractions is an arcaded courtyard and representative halls, a refectory, a Baroque chapel on the first floor and vast, multi-floor cellars. Many notable people from the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth used to live in the castle, among others including Nicolaus Copernicus – astronomer, doctor of medicine, as well as Jan Dantyszek – a secretary to the king, a bishop and a poet, Marcin Kromer – a historian, and Ignacy Krasicki – a famous Polish poet. Currently the castle houses a museum with exhibitions about the town’s most notable residents, as well as works of art. Part of the castle has been transfomed into a hotel. On the castle hill you can also find a Classical conservatory built in the times of bishop Krasicki. Other monuments that are worthy of attention are the Gothic Tall Gate and fragments of the old defensive walls, the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, built in the Gothic style, and another big wooden church that was built in 1818-1823 for the Lutherans, according to a project inspired by the works of Charles Friedrich Schinkel, which today serves as an Orthodox church. There is a historic water plant that was built in 1908 on the River Łyna. At the edge of town, in the direction of Olsztyn, is the Cross Hill (Krzyżowa Góra, 133 metres elevation), a beautiful viewing point, from which a wide panorama of the city and the surrounding areas can be seen. A modern recreational complex was built at the foot of the mountain, which operates under the name of Termy Warmińskie.