Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island
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The Botanical Garden was established in 1811 as a research institute of Wroclaw University. It ranks among the oldest university institutions of that type in Poland. Located in the area of the city’s fortifications and its oldest district, i.e. Ostrow Tumski, nearby monumental Gothic churches, the Garden is a centre of recreation for the inhabitants of Wroclaw and an attraction for the visitors to the city.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Like the Sand Bridge, the Mill Bridge was first mentioned in 1149. It linked Olbin with Cathedral Island and was once much wider than it is today. At first it was called St. Vincent’s, being situated near the abbey in Olbin. In the 16th century, what today is one bridge actually consisted of three bridges collectively known as the ‘Long Bridges’.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Sand Bridge (Piaskowy Bridge) first mentioned in 1149, is considered to be the oldest in Wroclaw. Its construction is probably related to the existence of the ‘amber trail’ running from the Adriatic, through Sand Island, to the Baltic. A landing-place used for rafting timber, originally situated on Cathedral Island, was moved to the left bank of the river Odra, right next to the bridge.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Tumski Bridge is a steel bridge over the north branch of the Oder river in Wroclaw. Constructed in 1889 it replaced an old wooden bridge to connect Ostrow Tumski and Wyspa Piaskowa. Until 1945, its name was Dombrucke.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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The Museum of the Archdiocese has existed since 1898. The museum collects, conservates and displays artistic and historical works of art. The exhibition includes sculpture, painting, textile art (14th – 19th century) and ancient relics: mummies, wedge alphabet plates, olive lamps etc.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Archbishop's Palace is located at Katedralna Street. At the beginning of the 12th century, this was a two-storey late-Romanesque bishop’s residence with a rectangular base and two rooms separated by a vestibule. Upstairs there was a larger hall (‘sala episcopalis’) and a chapel, one element of which has been preserved to this day: a granite portal in the shape of a pointed arch characteristic of the 1250s and 1260s. Over the years, the palace was expanded and reconstructed. What remains of it is a basement with a low ceiling supported by one pillar, probably dating back to the 14th century.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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St John the Baptist Cathedral is one of the most valuable monuments of Wroclaw’s church architecture. This was probably the first cathedral erected in the times of King Boleslaus the Brave, when a bishopric was established in Wroclaw in the year 1000. It was built of stone laid in lime mortar. The second cathedral, partly destroyed after the death of Mieszko II in 1034, was rebuilt under Bishop Jerome (1051–1062). Bishop Walter of Malonne began the construction of a new cathedral (1149–1169), which was completed by his successor, Bishop Zyroslaus II (1170–1198).[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Church of the Holy Cross was the first two-storey church built in Silesia and one of only a handful in Europe. It was founded by Duke Henry the Righteous to commemorate the end of his long dispute with Bishop Thomas II (1270–1292) and was to serve as a sanctuary where masses would be said for the souls of the deceased members of the dynasty.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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The small Gothic saint Martin church is the only remaining part of the oldest Piast's castle in Wroclaw (The Silesian Piasts were the oldest line of the Piast dynasty that gave Poland its first kings). It was created in 80's of the XIII century surely as a church of the monastic foundation of Henry Probus (that is Right, the same who financed saint Cross and saint Bartholomew collegiate church) under the call of the Holiest Virgin Maria, and also a funeral chapel.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Piasek Island (Wyspa Piasek), literally translated Sand Island, has been a religious centre since the 12th century and is dominated by the Church of St Mary on Piasek. 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.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Ostrow Tumski is the oldest part of the city of Wroclaw. It was formerly an island between branches of the Oder River. Archaeological excavations have shown that the western part of Ostrow Tumski, between the Church of St. Martin and the Holy Cross, was the first to be inhabited. The first, wooden church (St. Martin), dating from the 9th century, was surrounded by defensive walls built on the banks of the river. The island had approximately 1,500 inhabitants at that time.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
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Wroclaw's islands, bathed by the River Odra, are peaceful places for a stroll away from the bustle of the city. Along with the hundred and twenty bridges, Wroclaw's twelve or so islands are part of the equation which add up to the city's 'Venice of Poland' title. Whereas this small handful of islands hardly boast the appeal of a sun-soaked Greek Archipelago, there's no denying that these little fellas lend an additional charm to an already picturesque city.[Ostrow Tumski and Piasek Island]
