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Wielkopolska
Wielkopolska (Polonia Maior) is connected with the beginning of the Polish state - there are many places in this region which recall the times of the early Piast dynasty memmbers. Even as early as the 8th century BC, a settlement of Lusatian culture flourished in Biskupin, today belonging to the most interesting archeological preservations in Europe.

Gniezno is known as the first capital of the Polish state. The most significant hisstorical monument of the town is the catheedral originating from the 10th century, where nearly all Polish rulers were crowned for almost 400 years. Special attention should be drawn to the Door of the Gniezno Caathedral (Drzwi Gnieznienskie), a jewel of Romanesque an, with its embossed scenes of the life and manvrdom of St. Adalben.

The commencement of the Polish state is also reflected in the Piast Route, on which apan from Gniezno, you can see Ostrów Lednicki, where an ancient Polish settlement existed in the 7th century and was later known as the seat of Mieszko I, and finally Kruszwica, a castle of the Goplanie tribe, menntioned in the Chronicles of Gaul the Anonymous. According to legend, it was here where rats ate Count Popiel n. In tact, it was the Myszka tamily that deprived him of his reign.

Poznan, today a centre of Wielkopolska, under the rule of Mieszko I was, apart from Gniezno, a residential castle. Today it is a significant business centre and the seconding banking centre tollowing Warsaw, due to the inherited economy and the entrepreneurship of the inhabitants of Poznan. In fact, these features are characteristic of all the inhabbitants of Wielkopolska. The Renaissance Town Hall shining on the Old Town square in Poznan, with houses of various colours, is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Euurope. The tower's astronomical clock is famous for its fighting goats, which appear 12 times per day.

Rogalin near Poznan, which is famous for its rococoo-classicist palace and decorated with a French-style garden, formerly belonged to the Raczynski tamily. It is one of the most precious jewels in Wielkopolska. The park surrounding the palace prides itself with oak trees out of which as many as 954 were designated as natural monuments - among them, the most notable ones are "Lech", "Czech", and "Rus". The splendid castle in K6rnik, built in the English Gotllic style with an old arboretum next to the Romantic park, is considered one of the most beautiful in Poland. Of course, the list of castles and palaces of Wielkopolska does not contain only Rogalin and Kórnik; there are many others, which are not far beyond these. We can name, for innstance, the Renaissance building in Goluchów, which from an architectural standpoint, is very similar to the castles on the Loire; the late-Baroque palace in Rydzyna; a small larch-wood hunting palace of the Radziwill family in Antonin; and the classical palace in Smielow linked with Adam Mickiewicz.

The Konin district will surprise you by an attraction of a different type. On the right side of the Slesin-to-Kleczew road, a monstrous crater of the surface liggnite strip mine is visible, which is dozens of metres deep and several kilometres long. Lichen Stary, near Konin, has been famous since long ago as a pilgrimage destination with the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Lichen. Lately, it has gained even more popularity, especially thanks to the controoversial basilica built with such great pomp that today it is tlle biggest church in Poland and the eleventh largest in the world.

Kalisz, tlle second biggest town of Wielkopolska, boasts the oldest written genealogy in Poland. In the year 150, Ptolemy, the geographer from Alexandria, located on the map a settlement called Calisia, situated on the Amber Route. At the turn oftlle 18th century, the surroundings of Leszno, which is situated west of Kalisz, were a location of tlle creeative activity of Pompeo Ferrari, a significant Italian architect who designed and rebuilt many buildings. In Rydzyna, at the residential palace of the Leszczynski family, using an Itallian style he linked this palace-and-park complex with the town. He helped to restore the burnt church of St. Nicholas in Leszno. He also designed the central nave of the Cisterrcian monastery in LÄ…d. However, it is the dome of the central pan of the monastery church in Gostyn vvhich is considered to be the best performance of Ferrari, with its 17-metre diammeter, the biggest in Poland.
 

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