Photo Daviidos, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia CommonsOld Town and Pasieka Island in Opole. In the Turi app, the same map shows your position, guides you from point to point and lets you tick off the places you’ve visited.
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Opole is the capital of Polish song and one of the oldest cities in the country. The walk starts on the Market Square beneath a town hall straight out of Florence, where singers' stars shine in the paving. Across the green Penny Bridge you reach Pasieka Island with the Piast Tower and the amphitheatre, then return past Opole's Venice to the cathedral. The route ends on University Hill, where you can sit down next to Osiecka, Grechuta and Niemen.
Photo SchiDD, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons1Opole's town hall looks as if it had come from Italy. It was built in 1864 on the model of the famous Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, with a tall tower topped with battlements. In 1934, during renovation work, the tower collapsed and had to be rebuilt. Around the square stand colourful town houses with decorative gables, rebuilt after the Second World War.
Photo Adaś17, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons2Opole is the capital of Polish song: a big festival has been held here every year since 1963. That is why stars with the autographs of singers, composers and lyricists are set into the paving of the Market Square. Among others you will find Anna German, Czesław Niemen and Maryla Rodowicz. Look for the star of someone whose songs you know.
Photo Zala, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons3Just behind the Market Square stands a Gothic church from the 14th century where the Piast dukes of Opole are buried. In the chapel you will see the dukes' stone tombs with reclining figures of knights in armour. It was the Piasts who ruled Opole for more than three hundred years. The Franciscans arrived here as early as the 13th century, and their first monastery was destroyed by the Tatars.
Photo Daviidos, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons4The green iron footbridge over the Młynówka was built in 1903. It owes its name to a toll: crossing once cost one grosz, a penny. Today you cross for free, and couples fasten padlocks to the railings, hence its other name, Lovers' Bridge. The Młynówka below is not a canal but the old bed of the Oder, where the river flowed until the great flood of 1600.
Photo SuperGlob, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons5The round brick tower is the symbol of Opole and one of the oldest defensive monuments in Poland. It was built around 1300 as part of the castle of the dukes of Opole, of which it is the only part left. Together with its pointed spire it is 42 metres high. Stairs lead to the top, and inside a multimedia exhibition tells the story of the Piasts. From the top you can see the whole city and the Oder.
Photo Krzysztof Popławski, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons6This is where the National Festival of Polish Song has been held since 1963, watched on television by the whole country. The architect designed the roof over the stage to look like a leaf that has fallen to the ground. The amphitheatre stands on the site of Opole's oldest settlement, a thousand years old. In the Museum of Polish Song you can listen to hits on headphones and record a song yourself in a booth.
Photo Pudelek, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons7Here the houses stand right on the water of the Młynówka, one beside another, and are reflected in it as in a mirror. That is why this corner is called Opole's Venice. The best view is from the bridge or from the riverside walk on the far bank. In the evening the houses are lit up in colour. In the past mills worked on both banks, and the Młynówka takes its name from them.
Photo SuperGlob, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons8The cathedral's two slender towers are 73 metres high each and are the tallest structures in Opole, so you can see them from afar. The Gothic church was built in the 15th century on the site of even older churches. Inside is the venerated painting of Our Lady of Opole, and in a chapel rests the last Piast duke of Opole, Jan II the Good.
Photo Daviidos, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons9On University Hill you will meet the stars of Polish song cast in bronze. Agnieszka Osiecka sits at a table, Marek Grechuta on a bench, and nearby stand Czesław Niemen, Jonasz Kofta and Wojciech Młynarski. There are also the two Elderly Gentlemen in top hats. You can sit down next to any of them and take a photo. It is a good place to end the walk: green, quiet and close to the Market Square.
Grouped as in the map legend. A star marks recommended points.
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