Wrocław University was established as an academy by Emperor Leopold I in 1702
and in 1811 became a university. Many of its alumni have gained renown. They
include eight Nobel laureates, among them the nuclear physicist Max Born
(1882–1970). Since 1945 it has been a Polish centre of learning and
university.

The centrepiece of this imposing Baroque building is the assembly hall, the
Aula Leopoldina, of 1728–41. The decoration includes stucco-work, gilding
and carvings by Franz Josef Mangoldt and paintings by Christoph Handke
glorifying wisdom, knowledge and science, and the founders of the
academy.

This church (Kościół Najświętszego Imienia Jezus), built for the Jesuits in
1689–98, is a good example of Silesian Baroque church architecture. The
modest exterior conceals a breathtaking interior, built in 1722–34 by
Krzysztof Tausch. The vaulting was decorated by the Viennese artist Johann
Michael Rottmayer in 1704–6.

The buildings in this square date from various periods. The Gothic Church of St Vincent  (Kościół św Wincentego), at No. 5,
was erected in the 13th to the 15th centuries. The late 17th-century Baroque
monastery is now part of the University of Wrocław.

The group of Baroque monastic buildings at No. 16 encloses the small
13th-century Church of St Clare  (Kościół św Klary). The
church was used by the Piasts as a mausoleum, and it still contains Gothic
ducal tombs. Next door, at No. 17, is the Gothic Church of St
Maciej  (Kościół św Macieja), which dates from the 14th and early
15th centuries and was once owned by the Knights Hospitallers of the Red
Star. The pavilion of the gallery at No. 8, on the opposite side of the
street, contains 13th-century walls of the House of the Nuns of
Trebnica , the oldest surviving secular building in the city.

The ground floor contains examples of Silesian and Gothic art, including the
tombstone of Henry IV, the Good dating from 1300. The first floor has a
collection of 16th- and 17th-century paintings, including works by the
Silesian artist Michael Willmann (1630–1706) and wooden sculptures by Thomas
Weissfeldt (1630–1712). The second floor is devoted to works by contemporary
Polish artists.

The Panorama of Racławice depicts the Battle of Racławice of 4 April 1794,
when the Poles defeated the Russians. It is 120 m (400 ft) long and 15 m (46
ft) high and took the artists Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak nine months to
paint. It was unveiled in 1894 in Lviv, in the Ukraine. Brought to Poland in
1946, it was finally put on display in Wrocław in 1985, in a specially built
rotunda.

This impressive group of monastic buildings (Kościół i Klasztor
pobernardyński) was constructed by Bernadine monks in 1463–1502. Having been
rebuilt from their wartime ruins, they now house Poland’s only Museum of
Architecture. The monastery is of interest for its late Gothic cloisters and
the Church of St Bernard of Siena, a towering Gothic basilica with a
typically Baroque gable.

The great Gothic Cathedral of St Mary Magdalene (Katedra św Marii Magdaleny)
was erected between about 1330 and the mid-15th century, incorporating the
walls of a 13th-century church that had previously stood on the site. Inside
the basilica is a Renaissance pulpit of 1579–81 by Friedrich Gross, a Gothic
stone tabernacle and tombstones of various periods. The portal on the north
side is a fine example of late 12th-century Romanesque sculpture. It was
taken from a demolished Benedictine monastery in Olbina and added in 1546.
The tympanum, depicting the Dormition of the Virgin, is now on display in
the National Museum.

The Kameleon store (Dom Handlowy Kameleon) is an unusual building on the
corner of Ulica Szewska and Ulica Olawska. Its semicircular bay, formed of
rows of windows, juts out dramatically. It was built by the German architect
Erich Mendelsohn as a retail store for Rudolf Petersdorf in 1927–8. Nearby,
at the intersection of Ulica Łaciarskiej and Ofiar Oświęcimskich, is another
interesting example of Modernist architecture, an office building of 1912–13
by an equally renowned architect, Hans Poelzig.

Wrocław’s Main Market Square is the second-largest in Poland, after that in
Cracow. In the centre stand the town hall and a group of buildings separated
by alleys. The houses around the square date from the Renaissance to the
20th century. Some still have their original 14th and 15th-century Gothic
vaults. The most attractive side of the square is the west, with the late
Baroque House of the Golden Sun , at No. 6, built in 1727
by Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, as well as the House of the
Seven Electors , its paintwork dating from 1672. Also to the south
is the Griffin House, at No. 2, built in 1587–9. It has a galleried interior
courtyard. On the east side, at Nos. 31 and 32, is the Secessionist Phoenix store  of 1904 and, at No. 41, the Golden Hound , a rebuilt town house of 1713. The north side was
rebuilt after World War II. Just off the corner of the market square,
fronting the Church of St Elizabeth (Kościół św Elżbiety), are two small
acolytes’ houses, the Renaissance Jaś, of around 1564, and the 18th-century
Baroque Małgosia.

The town hall in Wrocław is one of the most important examples of Gothic
architecture in central and eastern Europe. Its present appearance is the
result of an extensive period of rebuilding that took place between 1470 and
1510.

The town hall’s southern façade was embellished with Neo-Gothic stone
carvings in around 1871. Inside are impressive vaulted halls, the largest
being the triple-aisled Grand Hall on the ground floor, and several late
Gothic and Renaissance doorways.

Outside the entrance to the town hall is a plaque commemorating the prominent
poet and comedy writer Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876), who acquired fame with
his comedies about the Polish upper classes. The plaque was made in 1879 by
Leonard Marconi and transferred to Wrocław from Lviv in 1956.

The large tower dominating the market square is that of the Church of St
Elizabeth (Kościół św Elżbiety), one of the largest churches in Wrocław. The
Gothic basilica was built in the 14th century on the site of an earlier
church, although the tower was not completed until 1482. It became a
Protestant church in 1525. Since 1946 it has been a garrison church.

The church has suffered damage from a succession of wars, fires and
accidents. A fire in 1976 destroyed the roof and the splendid Baroque organ.
Fortunately, more than 350 epitaphs and tombstones have survived, forming a
remarkable exhibition of Silesian stone-carving from Gothic to Neo-Classical
times.

The Baroque palace, enclosed by a court of annexes, was built in 1719. After
1750, when Wrocław came under Prussian rule, it was a residence for the
Prussian kings. On the side facing Plac Wolności, only a side gallery
remains of the Neo-Renaissance palace built in 1843–6.

The Royal Palace contains two interesting collections: the Archaeological
Museum and Ethnographical Museum, the latter illustrating Silesian folk
history and art.

Dedicated to three saints, the Czech St Wenceslas, the Polish St Stanisław
and the German St Dorothy, this church (Kościół św Wacława, Stanisława i
Doroty) was built in 1351 to cement relations between the three
nationalities in Wrocław. The church’s unusually narrow interior is Baroque.
The Rococo tombstone of Gottfried von Spaetgen stands in the nave.

The rather forbidding bulk of the Church of St Mary on Piasek (Kościół NMP na
Piasku) dominates Piasek Island. The church was constructed for canons
regular in the second half of the 14th century on the site of a 12th-century
Romanesque building whose tympanum is built into the wall over the sacristy
in the south aisle.

The Church of St Mary suffered extensive damage in World War II, but some
impressive features survive. The asymmetrical tripartite rib vaulting over
the aisles is unusual. The church also houses a fine collection of Gothic
altars brought here from other churches in Silesia.

The first ecclesiastical building raised on the site now occupied by the
Church of St Martin (Kościół św Marcina) was a stronghold chapel erected at
the turn of the 11th century. The present church dates from the late 13th
century but was rebuilt after World War II because it had suffered major
damage. The present building consists of an octagonal nave and an unfinished
presbytery.

The two-tiered Church of the Holy Cross (Kościół św Krzyża) was established
in 1288 by Henry IV, the Pious. Building continued in the 14th century, and
the south tower was not completed until 1484. The lower church has been used
by Uniates since 1956. The upper church, a narrow nave with a transept, was
badly damaged during World War II, when most of its interior fittings were
lost. The tombstone dedicated to the church’s founder has been moved to the
National Museum, but the original tympanum, depicting the ducal couple
admiring the heavenly Throne of Grace, can be seen in the north aisle. The
15th-century triptych over the high altar comes from a church in Świny.

The present archbishop’s residence, once the home of the canons of the
cathedral, is a relatively plain building that was reconstructed from a more
splendid Baroque edifice in 1792. The old bishop’s palace, which stands at
Ulica Katedralna 15 nearby, is a fine Neo-Classical building dating from the
second half of the 18th century, although three 13th-century wings from the
earlier palace remain.

The Cathedral of St John the Baptist (Archikatedra św Jana Chrzciciela)
presents a combination of styles from different periods. The presbytery was
built some time between 1244 and 1272; the basilica was built in the first
half of the 14th century and the west tower was completed even later. Three
quarters of the cathedral were destroyed in World War II, and most of the
present building is the result of post-war reconstruction. The east end,
with its interesting chapels accessible from the presbytery, survives in its
original form. The Chapel of St Elizabeth in the south aisle was built in
the Roman Baroque style by Giacomo Scianzi in 1680. The interior of the
chapel is also the work of Italian artists: the tomb of Cardinal Frederyk, a
Hessian landowner whose burial chapel this became, is by Domenico Guidi. The
altar is by Ercole Ferrata.

The presbytery contains a late Gothic polyptych of 1522, which was brought
from Lubin, and Baroque choir stalls from a church of the Premonstratensian
order.

The Archdiocesan Museum (Muzeum Archidiecezjalne) stands among a group of
buildings dating from three historical periods. The earliest is the
Gothic-Renaissance chapterhouse built in 1519–27, which has fine portals and
arcades. The later Baroque chapterhouse was completed in 1756. The
purpose-built Neo-Gothic museum, libraries and archives of the archdiocese
were built in 1896. The museum contains an important and growing collection
of Silesian religious art going back to the Gothic period. In addition to
altars and sculptures, it has on display one of the earliest cabinets in the
world, dating from 1455.

Wrocław boasts the most attractive botanical gardens in Poland. They were
established in 1811 by two professors from the University of Silesia in
Katowice, and after being totally destroyed in World War II were reverently
re-created. The gardens’ central area contains ponds fashioned from what was
an arm of the River Odra when Ostrów Tumski was still an island. The gardens
contain palms, an alpine garden, cactuses and a 19th-century model of the
geology of the Silesian town of Wałbrzych. On a walk through the gardens
7,000 plant species can be seen and a bust of the Swedish botanist Carolus
Linnaeus (1708–78), dating from 1871, stands among the greenery. A branch of
the gardens, with an extensive arboretum, has been established in
Wojsławice, near Niemcza.

A vast building in a style typical of the German Third Reich houses two
interesting museums, both run by departments of the University of Wrocław.
The Geology Museum contains a wealth of different rocks and fossils
specimens from different geological eras, while the Mineralogy Museum
delights its visitors with its colourful displays of minerals collected from
all over the world.

This museum, which is extremely popular with children, has a substantial
collection of animals and plants from all continents. The collections of
tropical butterflies, shells and mammal skeletons are the largest in Poland.
Some date back to the 18th century, and formed the beginnings of the
University’s Zoological Museum, which was set up in 1820. Since 1904 the
exhibits have been displayed in a purpose-built wing of this Art Nouveau
building.

Wrocław has one of the largest and best laid-out zoos in Poland, thanks to
its long-standing directors Hanna and Antoni Gucwińscy, who for many years
presented a TV programme on animal photography. The zoo, founded in 1865, is
situated above the River Odra opposite Szczytnicki Park. While walking among
the animal paddocks, it is worth taking a look at the old pavilions, which
feature a variety of architectural styles.

The People’s Hall (Hala Ludowa), originally known as the Century Hall, was
intended to be the centre-piece of an exhibition commemorating the centenary
of the coalition’s victory over Napoleon at Lipsk. It was designed by Max
Berg and built in 1911–13. At the time of its construction, it was regarded
as one of the finest modern buildings in Europe. The centre of the hall is
covered by a reinforced concrete dome with a diameter of 65 m (200 ft). It
is lit by a sophisticated method – the openwork design inside the stepped
tambour consists of rows of windows that can be shaded or uncovered as
required. The auditorium can accommodate up to 5,000 people. The hall has
functioned as a concert hall and theatre, and today is used for sports
events and trade fairs. Around the hall are some of the pavilions of the
Historical Exhibition. It is also worth walking through the old exhibition
grounds and seeing the oval pond, which is surrounded by shady pergolas. A
steel needle 96 m (316 ft) in height made by Stanisław Hempel, stands
outside the main entrance. It was erected here in 1948.

North of the exhibition area is an extensive park whose history dates back to
the 18th century. It was originally the site of the residence of Duke
Friedrich Ludwig von Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, but that building was destroyed
during the Napoleonic Wars (1799–1815), after which the area was remodelled
as a landscaped park.

One of Szczytnicki Park’s distinctive features is its delightful Japanese
garden, which has been painstakingly restored with the help of Japanese
gardening experts.

The footbridges and pathways that run among the pavilions and plants make a
charming setting for a leisurely walk. Look out for the rose garden and a
small 12th-century wooden church that was brought over from Stare Koźle and
reconstructed.

The Mieszkanie i Miejsce Pracy housing estate is a unique landmark in the
development of residential architecture in the 1920s. The houses were
examples of different residential buildings designed for the Exhibition of
Living and Working Space organized by the Deutscher Werkbund movement in
1929. Many prominent German architects took part in the project. The most
impressive building is an apartment block (at Ulica Kopernika 9) designed by
Hans Scharoun, architect of several buildings in Berlin, including the
National Library and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s Concert Hall.
Modern architecture enthusiasts should also visit Sępolno, which was built
in 1924–8 and is a fine example of a garden city.

This is one of the very few Jewish cemeteries in Poland that escaped
destruction at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Originally opened
in 1856, it was the burial place of many celebrated citizens of Wrocław,
including the socialist politician Ferdinand Lassalle, the painter Clara
Sachs and the parents of Sister Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, who was born
in Wrocław as Edith Stein.