The earliest mention of Gdańsk occurs in 997. For more than 300 years it was the capital of a Slav duchy in Pomerania, and in 1308 it was taken over by the Teutonic Knights. Under their rule, the city grew.

In 1361 Gdańsk became a member of the Hanseatic League (a trade association of Baltic towns), further bolstering its economic development. From 1466 until the Second Partition in 1793, the city belonged to Poland; it was the country’s largest Baltic port and an important centre of the grain and timber trade between Poland and the rest of Europe.

A wealthy city, Gdańsk played a pivotal role in the Polish Republic. It also became a major centre of the arts – goldsmiths fashioned fine jewellery for the royal courts of Europe, and the city’s gemstone and amber work-shops won great renown. From 1793 it was incorporated into Prussia, only becoming a free city under the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. It was almost totally destroyed during World War II, but a post-war rebuilding programme has restored many of the city’s finest buildings and much of its historic atmosphere.

Today Gdańsk, attractively set between the coast and wooded hills, is renowned for its mercantile traditions and its openness to the world. Together with the coastal resort of Sopot and the port of Gdynia, it forms the conurbation known as Trójmiasto (“the Tri-city”).