Today post will be about those three days that I’ve spent in Szczecin on 4th-6th August. It’s a beautiful port city (but established under the Magdeburg Law) with a long history, castle and I hope you’ll love what I got to share with you.

The first place that I went to was the Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle in Szczecin. The history of this place starts in 12th century and the House of Pomerania (dynastia Gryfitów) lasted ever since then until 17th century when the last prince died without issue. Oh, and they had Slavic roots.

Ok, now look at the castle! After World War II when the castle was destroyed in 60%, it was rebuilt returning its greatest glory in Renaissance style.

The first exposition that you’ll see here is about the Protestant religion (Lutheranism) that was established as the State religion in 16th century. But also, pay attention to the vaults that remind me about medieval architecture… Oh, and I loved those wardrobes…

There was no more expositions because of renovation. So, yes, there is more to see than what I’m showing today!

There are also princes’ sarcophaguses. And other interesting things!

Then I went to another wing of the castle and there was a carriage and the exposition about Pomeranian cities. Here I’m only posting the model of Szczecin but there were more such things.

I could also enter the carriage for the first time in my life! Because it was made for educational purposes. It means that I had to go in there and take a selfie, you know…

This map shows how huge this country was.

The next part was the tower and a little tour with the guide after that. Here you can see the foundation of the previous tower that was a part of the church once and views from the top of it.

This is where the first day ends but let me give you some random photos that I’ve taken during the tour with the guide at first.

That’s the greatest duke and his wife who was also Polish-Lithuanian king’s sister. Bogusław X and Anna Jagiellonka. It was 15th-16th century.

That’s the ducal horse riding school.

That’s the biggest church in Szczecin now. It was right in front of my hotel but on the other side of the street.

And these are views from the footbridge that I had to cross to get to my hotel.

Now I will show you photos taken the next day. I went to three National Museum in Szczecin buildings and the day ended with the sunset on the ship. I obviously mean the 2h cruise.

That’s the Port Gate that could’ve been seen from the footbridge.

And that’s the Old Town Hall. That’s where you can learn about the history of this city. I personally loved it so much because the arrangement of this exposition was so aesthetically pleasing to me.

You can also see such houses there tell what kind of jobs people had here centuries ago. All those leather shoes was my fav part.

And now the second floor that is not about Middle Ages anymore. When the Duchy of Pomerania stopped existing in 17th century, it was the Sweden city and then Prussian/German until 1945.

I have never seen marzipan molds! There were also gingerbread molds (just the half of it) downstairs… And you can see more such fascinating objects there.

And that’s it. The next place will be the Museum of Regional Traditions. But at first let me show you two more random places…

The Hay Market.

White Eagle Square.

So, this little palace below is where the second museum I’ve been to that Saturday. The first exposition that I’ve seen is about ancient times – in other words – it’s about all those tribes that lived in West Pomerania before 12th century.

You can see such little houses there and they are… Urns. There are also amazing jewels… And glass. When you see glass… You can be sure it’s Roman, and it got there thanks to trade.

You can also see there such things like reliquaries, a stone that looks like an alien, boat, etc.

The exposition ends. where pagan times end and the history related to the castle starts. And this is what the next exposition was about. You can see there clothes and jewelry that belonged to Pomeranian dukes. It’s all 16th-17th century. Amazing, I know!

The third exposition is about old silver.

The last exposition is about stamps, coins and banknotes. I really liked the order there. I starts in Middle Ages and shows coins related to selected rulers. I mean it was my fav part… Treasures in other words!

This is where my adventure with this museum ends. Then I walked past the Port Gate again and went to the Center of Dialogue Przełomy. It’s the place where you can learn about the latest history of Szczecin that starts in 1939 and ends in 1989. It looks like a square on the ground and the whole building is actually underground. You need to walk around it to find the entrance.

Let me be random now again! In some places you can find such old-fashioned bells and whistles like below. I found this one in my way back to the hotel near the church I’ve already mentioned.

I needed to change for the cruise! This is how it all looked like:

This little river was one of my fav things about it.

And then you can see me again and the sunset by the lake. It was my second favorite stage of this cruise.

The port and the shipyard at night from the water.

Boulevard and those lights looked like magic! The 3rd of my fav things during the cruise…

Also, this red building is the Maritime Center of Science. This is where I went to during the last day. It’s a perfect place for children but I also took few photos of things that adults may enjoy.

I was on the upper deck. Just saying!

Maritime Center of Science was the next place. It’s three floors + there is the planetarium where I went as well.

You can play there with children all day, but there are also few nice places for adults like… The kayak that crossed Atlantic thrice! Or learn more about engines used in ships…

There are also the models of shipyard and of the port in Szczecin. You can even go into Captain’s Quarters!

Do you know that Vikings were there too? I mean they lived among all those tribes of Pomerania in Middle Ages… You can see the reconstructed Slavic/Viking settlement in Wolin. I would love to go there one day too!

You can also see how the yacht looks like from inside there, learn more about few famous catastrophes, travelers/discoverers and even lighthouses.

Oh, I’ve also never been so close to Olymplic boat before…

So, this is how the first part of my summer trip looked like… I hope I encouraged you to go and see Szczecin one day!

The next part about Międzyzdroje is coming soon. Stay tuned!

A.A.