Gdańsk is dotted with popular sites instantly identified with the city. The symbolic silhouettes certainly include e.g. the massive brick bulk of St Mary’s Basilica towering over the city, the rich Renaissance facades of the houses around the Long Market and the statue of Neptune there reigning over what is acclaimed one of the most beautiful market places in Europe. The symbols also certainly include the Medieval Crane dozing off stooped on the Motława bank. This thousand-year old city on the Baltic coast has been the hometown of Hevelius, Fahrenheit, Schopenhauer, Grass, and Wałęsa. Above all, however, it ranks high on the list of top tourist attractions. Gdańsk stuns visitors with the multitude of its listed sites of residential,sacral, military, and port functions, its heritage of one hundred centuries of fascinating culture and turbulent history, and its uncommon air of a location where history and modern times merge in perfect harmony to create an unmatched cityscape.
