Wednesday, September 17 - Gdansk

Wednesday, September 17 - Gdansk

Busy day

Gdansk is a port city. Earliest records say it began in the year 999 as a fishing settlement that grew into a trading town, then eventually to the biggest port in Poland and the biggest port on the Black Sea.

Enjoyed breakfast at the hotel in the Old Town district. A lot of this city was damaged or destroyed in WWII, but less so than Warsaw. As it was there, it has been rebuilt to maintain the old look.

Walked down a beautiful pedestrian mall named the Long Market that ends at the Motlawa River. This was the main waterway around which all the port activity happened.

The spire in the distance looks like a church but is actually City Hall.

Me on the bridge over the Motlawa River. You can see the Crane over my right shoulder - it's the dark brown building overhanging the river.

Gdansk is famous for (I'm told) the big Crane used to load/unload ships, basically a large derrick overhanging the river, capable of lifting two tonnes to a height of 25 meters (82 feet). (Wikipedia entry: Gdańsk Crane ). It was built maybe as early as 1372, and records show it was rebuilt in 1442 after a fire. It was the largest port crane in medieval Europe. The winches were powered by large hamster wheels operated by people.

See the Crane behind us. You can also see the top of the Bell Tower of St. Mary's Cathedral right in the center of the photo (more on that later).

There were two "draw bridges" across the Motlawa. One was a single hinged span that raised and lowered:

The other bridge turns 90 degrees to allow water traffic:

Bridge is turned to connect the opposite shores to allow pedestrian traffic.

Bridge almost finished turning to allow water traffic.

Both bridges move every half hour - water traffic starts at the top of the hour, then pedestrian traffic starts at the half hour.