Greater Poland

Understand

History The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied throughout history. The region roughly coincides with the present-day Wielkopolskie voivodeship, although some parts of historic Greater Poland are within the Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubuskie and Zachodniopomorskie voivodeships. Originally, during the first decades of the Polish state the region was called "Poland" ("Polska" in Polish; the name comes from the word "pole" - a field, which means, that the tribe (Polans - in Polish "Polanie") forming the Polish state was an agricultural one. The name was changed to "Wielkopolska" ("Greater Poland") later on, during the reign of Przemysł II at the end of 13th century. Nevertheless, the region was the cradle of Poland - here the first cities were founded. The first capitals, Gniezno, Poznań, Ostrów Lednicki, are in Greater Poland as well. Cities like Biskupin and Kalisz in this region date back to the 7th century BC and 1st century after Christ, respectively. Greater Poland was also the core of the early medieval Kingdom of Poland and is often regarded as the cradle of Poland, as the Polish Piast Dynasty emerged in the 9th century in this region, conquering the other Polish provinces in the 10th century. The first Polish capitals and church centers were in Giecz, Gniezno and Poznań. However, Poland's capital moved to Kraków in Lesser Poland in 1040. When in 1138 Poland was divided in duchies united by the rule of the senior, Greater Poland became an independent duchy, and few decades later there were two small states with capitals in Poznań and Kalisz - for most of the time Gniezno - the third biggest city in the region at that time belonged to the Kalisz duchy. Greater Poland was also a core of the restoring of the kingdom in 1295 and for short time became again the capital of Poland, as the king Przemysł II came from the Greater Polish branch of the Piast dynasty. In the beginning of the 14th century Greater Poland became a voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland. In the

Getting there

By plane

Poznań-Ławica airport (POZ IATA) is the main international airport in the region with scheduled connections to many cities in Europe including hub in Frankfurt (FRA IATA) and flights to London Luton (LTN IATA) and Stansted (STN IATA) airports. It is mostly served by Ryanair and other low costs though some legacy carrier flights may be found, usually by LOT Airlines or Lufthansa. Airport is located inside city and thus easy to reach with transfer connection (lines 159, 148) to main train and bus station. Another options are Warsaw-Chopin (WAW IATA) and Berlin-Brandenburg (BER IATA) airports with both cities well connected to Poznań with both bus and train connections about 3 hour long ride away.

By train

The main railway hub in the region is Poznań Główny station, which is also one of the largest train stations in Poland thanks to its central position thus providing ample connections with virtually all larger cities in Poland including Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Kraków and Szczecin. Daily international connections to Berlin, Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam and Innsbruck with Deutsche Bahn are also available, however transfers may be unreliable due to delays in Germany. Domestic trains also usually stop in Leszno, Gniezno, Piła, Kalisz and Konin as well and these cities should be easily reachable. The fast (pospieszny in Polish) trains stop as well in smaller towns however it is best to consult timetables.

By car Wielkopolskie Voivodeship is easily reachable by car from any direction by (Berlin, Warsaw) and (Gdańsk, Wrocław) motorways. Note that motorway is quite expensive at about €12 to reach Poznań from either direction. Southeastern and northwestern parts of voivodeship including cities of Kalisz and Piła are trickier to reach and will require using narrow and congested regional roads.

By bus The bus station in Poznań is served by international connections from nearly whole Western and Central Europe including cities of Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich,

Getting around

By train

Trains are the basic mean of transportation in the region. Main regional carrier is Koleje Wielkopolskie which provide services to most major towns and cities in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship. Typical frequency is once in every 2-3 hours with furthest stations (Kalisz, Kutno) being reached after 1½ hour ride. Certain stations closer to Poznań are also part of PKM (Poznań Metropolitan Rail), these are served twice as frequently. Polregio is another regional carrier similar to Koleje Wielkopolskie however it often reaches outside voivodeship. Many larger stations can also be reached by PKP Intercity. It is more expensive and has more delays than others, however on some routes it may be much faster than regional rail. If station has open ticket booths you should buy your ticket there as operating company will incur additional fee at conductor for buying tickets. The main and the most important junction is Poznań Główny station, through which nearly all trains in the region pass. Other important junctions are; Leszno, Ostrów Wielkopolski and Piła which offer many good connections as well.

By bus Buses are mostly used for short to medium distance travel and usually connect small towns and villages with main cities of the region e.g. (Poznań, Kalisz, Konin, Piła, Leszno). Poznań and its suburbs (powiat poznański) are well served by municipal buses, including in night hours. In the rest of the region it is a patchwork of private companies with driver and a minibus, local municipal bus companies and leftovers of regional bus companies (PKS). There are few inter-regional connections between cities and towns and these are too unreliable and rare to depend on during travel. Often towns located as close as 5 km from themselves will be reachable only by train (if lucky), through larger city, or by foot/car. Connections between larger cities are also non-existent and you will have to rely on other modes of transportation for these.

By car Car is probably the most re

See

The pearls of the region are the first co-capitals (plural!!) of Poland from 10th-11th century with many monuments referring to the beginnings of the Polish State:

Two most important centres of the first Poland: Gniezno and Poznań other, which used to be important in early Middle Ages, nowadays - small villages: Giecz (40 km eastwards from Poznań) and Ostrów Lednicki – on the way from Poznań to Gniezno.

Smaller towns with interesting monuments, events and traditions:

Kórnik (18 km south-east from Poznań) with a neogothic castle with wonderful interiors and furniture and a dendrological park and - last but not least - with an extremely precious Library with manuscripts dating back to the 13th century Rogalin (16 km to the south from the city) with a baroque-klasicistic palace and its famous painting collection of Raczyński family, horse cabs and very famous oaks (in total: more than 500), including three well-known trees: Lech, Czech and Rus. Puszczykowo (15 km to the south very easi