Toruń (German Thorn, Latin Thorunia, Toruń) - a city with county
rights in northern Poland, the seat of the local government authorities
of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship - the marshal, board and
voivodeship assembly and their subordinate units, as well as one of the
best universities in Poland - the University of Toruń Nicolaus
Copernicus. It is also the seat of the authorities of the Toruń poviat
and the capital of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toruń, one of the
central cities of the Bydgoszcz-Toruń Functional Area and the center of
the Urban Functional Area. The second largest city in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is located on the Vistula and Drwęca
rivers. Its right-bank part lies in Pomerania, while the left-bank part
is located in Kujawy.
Toruń, with 198,273 permanent residents,
ranks 16th in terms of population in Poland (data from the 2021 census).
According to the data of the Central Statistical Office as of December
31, 2022, the city is inhabited by 195,690 inhabitants.
It is a
large economic and commercial center and an important road and railway
junction. The Pomeranian Special Economic Zone operates near Toruń.
Toruń is an academic, scientific, cultural and tourist center. The city
has a symphony orchestra as well as theaters, cinemas, numerous museums
and art galleries. On average, a hundred different cultural events take
place in Toruń every month, ranging from festivals, concerts,
exhibitions, theatrical performances, poetry and photography reviews, to
open-air historical shows. Toruń is also the seat of the Toruń Garrison,
a military band and several military units. There are 6 honorary
consulates here.
A number of national and international sports
events take place in Toruń. Motoarena Torun im. Marian Rose, Tor-Tor ice
rink. Józefa Stogowskiego and Arena Toruń, where the 36th European
Indoor Athletics Championships took place in 2021.
Toruń is home
to numerous institutions at the voivodeship level, e.g. Voivodship Labor
Office and Voivodeship Headquarters of the State Fire Service.
Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland (it was granted city rights
in 1232). In the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Toruń was
one of the richest and at the same time one of the four largest cities
in the Kingdom of Poland, a royal and Hanseatic city, which in 1365
obtained the right of warehouse. A city with autonomous political
powers, including the right to actively participate in the act of
electing the king. Citizenship of Toruń gave the privilege of owning
land. Toruń is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus.
In 1997,
the Old Town Complex was inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage
List. The patron saint of Toruń is St. John the Baptist, and the city's
feast is celebrated on June 24
Toruń is located in northern Poland, in the central part of the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is located on both sides of the
Vistula, in the confluence of the Vistula and the Drwęca, in the eastern
part of the Toruń Basin at the junction of three historical lands:
Chełmno Land (from the north)
Kuyavia (from the south)
Dobrzyń
land (from the east)
Geographically, the northern area of the
city belongs to the Chełmińskie Lake District, the eastern one to the
Dobrzyńskie Lake District, and the southern one lies in the Vistula
River valley, called the Toruń Valley, which is part of the
Toruń-Eberswald glacial valley.
The greater part of the city is
located on the right bank of the Vistula, historically, and thus
culturally and civilizationally, it belongs to Pomerania, and the left
bank to Kujawy.
The factors distinguishing Toruń in terms of tourism are: historic
architecture, rich history and the tradition of making gingerbread. The
biggest tourist attraction of Toruń is the Old Town, inscribed on the
UNESCO World Heritage List. The greatest tourist traffic is in spring
and summer. The tradition of baking gingerbread contributed to the
establishment in 2006 of the Living Museum of Gingerbread, the first
museum in Europe dedicated to gingerbread. Due to the brewing
traditions, birotourism has also developed. In 2019, the number of
tourists exceeded 2.5 million people. In 2020, as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, the number of tourists decreased to approx.
900,000. In 2021, the number of tourists was approx. 1.5 million.
The slogans promoting Toruń on the national arena are: "City of
Nicolaus Copernicus", "Gothic to the touch", "Gingerbread city".
Conservation supervision over Toruń's monuments is exercised by the
Municipal Conservator of Monuments. The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship
Conservator of Monuments is also based in Toruń. Moreover, in the city
there are: the Kuyavian-Pomeranian branch of the National Heritage Board
and the branch of the Society for the Preservation of Monuments.
It is worth adding that at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus
Copernicus University, there is the Institute of Historical Monuments
and Conservation, educating well-known and highly valued art
conservators.
Old Town Complex
The Old Town Complex of Toruń
is one of the most valuable historic complexes in Poland. In 1997 it was
inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It includes the Old and New
Town with almost unchanged 13th-century urban layout and the area of the
Teutonic castle. The monuments of Toruń are on the European Route of
Brick Gothic. In this area there are about 1,100 objects entered in the
register of monuments.
The main and most valuable sacral monuments in the Old Town Complex:
Gothic churches
Cathedral of St. st. John the Baptist and Evangelist
Post-Franciscan Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Church of St. Jacob
Late Baroque church
post-evangelical church of
St. spirit
Neo-Romanesque church
post-evangelical church of St.
Trinity
Neo-Gothic churches
Church of St. Stephen from 1903
Garrison Church of St. Catherine from 1897
Evangelical-Augsburg
chapel from 1846
The main and most valuable secular monuments in the Old Town Complex:
Old Town Square
New Town Square
The Old Town Hall - is one of the
most outstanding and monumental achievements of medieval bourgeois
architecture in Europe. Erected at the end of the 14th century.
Currently, the seat of the District Museum.
ruins of the Teutonic
castle - the commander's seat, was erected in the 13th century and
expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was conquered and demolished
by the townspeople of Toruń after the victory of the uprising against
the Teutonic Order in 1454.
a gothic bridge, one of the few in
Poland, under Most Pauliński Street
a complex of bourgeois and
patrician tenement houses: Gothic from the 14th-16th centuries,
Renaissance and Baroque, including Copernicus House (15th century),
Esken House (14th century, rebuilt in the 16th and 19th centuries) and
tenement houses at ul. Chełmińska, Łazienna, Małe Garbary, Mostowa,
Szczytna, Szeroka, Szewska, Wielkie Garbary and Żeglarska, many of which
were transformed in the second half of the 19th century into
multi-apartment rentals.
Baroque city palaces: Dąmbski Palace, with a
richly decorated facade from 1693, Fenger Palace (1742, rebuilt in the
19th century), Meissner Palace (1739, rebuilt around 1800)
Tenement
House Under the Star, a house from the 15th century, briefly owned by
the well-known humanist Filip Kallimach, rebuilt in the 17th century,
façade with stucco decoration from 1697
granaries from the 14th-18th
century (including the best preserved Gothic granary in Poland)
Monument to Nicolaus Copernicus
Artus Court in Toruń, a monumental
Neo-Renaissance building (1889-1891, R. Schmidt) located in the southern
part of the Old Town Square - currently the Cultural Center
Theatre.
W. Horzycy - founded in 1904, neo-baroque-secession, the work of
Viennese architects specializing in the design of theater buildings, F.
Fellner and H. Helmer
seat of the Scientific Society in Toruń from
1881
building of the neo-gothic post office from the end of the 19th
century
Caesar's Arch
"Okrąglak" - a detention center erected at
the end of the 19th century
Planetarium - a former gas tank from the
late 19th century
The Golden Lion Pharmacy - comes from the Middle
Ages, partly rebuilt in the 19th century
former Piotr and Paweł
Hospital at ul. Great Garbary 7
Defensive walls
Remains of the
medieval city fortifications of the Old Town: fragments of walls, built
from the mid-13th century, extended and modernized until the 15th
century; sections along the Vistula River and Podmurna Street. Remains
of the town fortifications of the New Town at ul. Międzymurze,
Piernikarska and the area of the former Dominican monastery.
Gates and towers in the Old Town preserved to this day:
Mostowa
Klasztorna
Żeglarska
Krzywa Wieża
Monstrancja
Gołębnik
Żuraw
Koci Łeb
Wartownia
Toruń's granaries are among the most valuable and oldest monuments of
this type in Poland and are a testimony to the wealth of Toruń at the
time when it was a European trading center. At that time, there were
nearly a hundred granaries in the city, of which only 30 have survived
to this day. Some of them were rebuilt and adapted to new functions, the
most notable example of which is the Granary Hotel on Mostowa Street.
Other districts, around Toruń
Secular monuments outside the Old
Town Complex:
Bydgoskie Przedmieście
Modernist, classicist and functionalist
architecture
Mokre, Bydgoskie Przedmieście, Bielany, Chełmińskie
Przedmieście
Half-timbered architecture
Jakubskie Przedmieście,
Mokre, Bydgoskie Przedmieście, Chełmińskie Przedmieście
Zoobotanical Garden - the oldest in Poland (1797)
City Park in
Bydgoskie Przedmieście – this park was established in 1817. In 1997, it
was entered into the register of monuments
Monuments of nature – they
are located throughout the city (Monuments of nature in Toruń)
ruins of the Dybowski Castle – built in 1424–1428
ruins of the
castle in Złotoria - built in the mid-fourteenth century, one of the
most important strongholds in the zone of Polish-Teutonic conflicts
Bierzgłowski Castle - Gothic, erected in the years 1270-1305. Since
1992, the owner of the castle is the Diocese of Toruń
Castle in Mała
Nieszawka
Industrial architecture
Richter's mills
Born &
Schütze factories
Gothic church
Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross - Kaszczorek
Baroque church
Church of Saints Peter and Paul - Podgórz
Neo-Gothic churches
Post-Evangelical Church of St. Divine Providence
- Rudak
Post-Evangelical Church of St. Our Lady of Victory and St.
George - Wet
Half-timbered churches
Polish Catholic chapel
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Chełmińskie Przedmieście
chapel
st. Barbara - Barbara
Modernist church
Church of Christ the King -
Wet
Constructivist Church
Church of st. Joseph - Bielany
Wooden
church
Church of St. st. Nicholas - Wet
The 19th-century Toruń Fortress consists of over 150 buildings
(including 15 large forts). Toruń's fortifications are monuments of
military technology and form a unique system of fortifications on a
European scale. The Toruń Fortress was entered into the register of
monuments in 1971[173]. List of forts (Polish names):
Fort I - Jan
III Sobieski
Fort II - Stefan Czarniecki
Fort III - Stanisław
Jabłonowski
Fort IV - Stanisław Żółkiewski
Fort V – Jan Karol
Chodkiewicz
Fort VI - Jarema Wiśniowiecki
Fort VII - Tadeusz
Kościuszko
Fort VIII - Casimir the Great
Fort IX - Boleslaw the
Brave
Fort X - Coastal Battery
Fort XI - Stefan Batory
Fort XII
- Władysław Jagiełło
Fort XIII - Karol Kniaziewicz
Fort XIV -
Józef Bem
Fort XV - Henryk Dąbrowski
Railway fort
The
tallest residential buildings
The tallest residential building is a
14-storey block of prefabricated concrete slabs at the corner of Szosa
Lubicka and Ślaskiego Streets. The building together with the entire
complex of this quarter was built in the early 1990s. These were the
last tall buildings erected in the Na Skarpie district.
The
tallest residential building in the left-bank part of the city is a
modernist 9-storey water tower with 4 residential floors. The
construction was built in 1941–1943.
The second tallest building
on the left bank of the Vistula is a structure from the 1990s. In 2010,
its adaptation for residential purposes was completed (it is a former
office building after Droseda). It has 9 storeys and is as tall as the
Podgórze water tower.
Toruń is one of the largest cultural centers in northern Poland.
Several large cultural institutions operate here, e.g. Toruń Symphony
Orchestra, Dwór Artusa Cultural Center, Jordanki Cultural and Congress
Center, Center for Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu, Toruń Cultural Agenda,
Teatr im. Wilam Horzycy, Baj Pomorski Theatre, the Teutonic Castle
Cultural Center, the Municipal Cultural Institution Dom Muz, art
galleries, cinemas, several museums and the only Center of Modernity in
the voivodship - the Mill of Knowledge.
On average, a hundred
different cultural events take place in Toruń every month, ranging from
festivals, concerts, exhibitions, theatrical performances, poetry and
photography reviews, to open-air historical shows.
Toruń has a drama theater - Teatr im. Wilam Horzyca - one of the
oldest, most famous and awarded institutions in Poland, hosting several
large theatrical events (Festiwal Kontakt or Festival Pobocza Teatru).
This theater is a provincial cultural institution.
Toruń also has
three children's stages - the Baj Pomorski Theatre, the 'Enchanted
World' Puppet Theater and the traveling Vaśka Theatre. The most famous
of them, Baj Pomorski, apart from dozens of performances for children
and the organization of the International Toruń Puppet Theater Meetings,
is also another Toruń stage for adults. The Enchanted World Theater was
established as a state-owned theater in 1950 (in private hands since
1990). It is famous primarily for its characteristic room with 182
seats, including 122 intended exclusively for the youngest in the shape
of animals, and in its history it has prepared over 200 premieres.
The newest theater in Toruń is founded in 2014 on the initiative of
the self-government of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Impresaryjny
Musical Theatre, which is a provincial cultural institution. The theater
is the only state entity in the voivodship focused on strictly musical
performances. It is not limited only to performances, it also organizes
a number of concerts, recitals, film screenings and theater workshops.
The premiere performance was "The Parry Sisters" on June 13, 2014. Only
in less than a year (since May 2014) the Theater organized 167 events
attended by a total of over 19,000 people. viewers.
There are
also many alternative theaters in Toruń. The most famous is the Wiczy
Theatre, existing since 1991. It presents performances on theater stages
as well as in unconventional places. Their performances have been at the
famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
In 2016, eight cinemas were open in Toruń. From intimate club cinemas
to large multiplexes. In total, they have 26 rooms.
Centrum Cinema
(studio) – located in the Center for Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu
Cinema City - multiplex (12 screens)
Cinema City Toruń Plaza –
multiplex (8 screens)
Blue Blanket - located in Od Nowa Student Club
Tumult Cinema - located in the former Holy Trinity Church, run by the
Tumult Foundation
Diocesan Cinema - located in the basement of the
Church of St. Joseph
Artus Art Cinema - located in the basement of
the Artus Court
Among the theater festivals, the most famous in the country is the
International Theater Festival "Kontakt", held since 1991. Student
theater is represented by the Klamra Academic Theater Meetings,
alternative - the National Theater Festival of Theater Roadsides, street
theater - Summer Meetings of Street Theatres, International Meetings of
Folk Bands and the Festival of Urban Folklore. Children's theater is the
International Meetings of Puppet Theaters in Toruń. Cinema and film
represent the International Film Summer Festival (2006 and 2007) and
Tofifest.
The events and festivals of classical music include the
International Festival "Nova Music and Architecture" and the
International Handel Festival. The Festival of Music and Art of the
Baltic Countries Probaltica takes place outside Toruń, also in Warsaw
and Grudziądz, as well as the European Art Meetings - apart from Toruń
in Przysiek and the Bierzgłowski Castle. The St John's Festival of Organ
Music lasts for two whole summer months. Contemporary music festivals in
Toruń included Jazz Od Nowa Festival, Toruń Blues Meeting, CoCArt Music
Festival - organized by the Center for Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu,
Africa Reggae Festival and Toruń-Bydgoszcz Harmonica Bridge. The
International Festival of Christian Music Song Of Songs gained the
greatest publicity. Poetry is represented by the National Poetry
Competition "For a lily of the valley" named after Zbigniew Herbert.
As far as scientific events are concerned, there is the Toruń
Science and Art Festival, the oldest in the region, and the university
event, Promotion of Education, presenting the offer of universities from
all over Poland, and in November - the Toruń Book Festival. Fine arts
are represented by one of the world's largest graphic events, held in
several cities - the International Print Triennial Color in Graphics,
the National Competition of Advertising Publishers IDEA, the oldest
regional ZPAP Work of the Year Competition, as well as the unique
International Competition of Children's and Youth.
Mass and
popular events include the Polish Open Microlight Championship - Wind
Festival, the annual edition of Gingerbread Avenue of Stars, Music
Festival, Toruń Days and Gingerbread Festival. For two years, the
Festival of Angels Meetings has also been held, a festival of volunteers
under the slogan "Toruń is the city of angels".
There are over 20 museum institutions in the city. The District
Museum is undoubtedly one of the oldest institutions of this type. It
originates from the Municipal Museum founded in 1861 and the Museum of
the Toruń Scientific Society opened in 1876. Its branches are:
Old
Town Hall - permanent exhibitions include Gothic Art Gallery, Former
Toruń. History and artistic craftsmanship 1233–1793, Toruń mints and
coins 1233/1238 – 1765, Burghers' Hall with a gallery of 16th-18th
century bourgeois portraits, Royal Hall. A group of Polish kings
Toruń History Museum in the Esken House - permanent exhibitions are:
Toruń and its history, Toruń 3D Book
Toruń Gingerbread Museum -
located in specially adapted 19th-century buildings of Gustaw Weese's
gingerbread factory. It presents over 600 years of history of the famous
Toruń spiced pastries
Tenement House Under the Star - Museum of Far
Eastern Art
Copernicus House - permanent exhibitions are: Nicolaus
Copernicus - life and work, Model of medieval Toruń
Museum of
Travelers Tony Halik - presents memorabilia of this traveler
The
others are:
ethnographic Museum
open-air ethnographic museum at
the Ethnographic Museum (the only open-air museum in the country in the
city center)
a branch of the museum in Toruń-Kaszczorek - Fishing and
Agricultural Farm
Museum of Municipal Engineering in Toruń (in the
historic water tower)
The Center for Contemporary Art "Znaki Czasu"
(National Center for Culture, built as part of the National Culture
Program "Znaki Czasu")
The Living Gingerbread Museum in Toruń
University Museum in Toruń
Artillery Museum in Toruń
Natural
History Museum in Toruń (Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences of the
Nicolaus Copernicus University)
Automotive Museum in Toruń (at the
Automotive School Complex in Toruń)
Museum of Armored Fortifications
of the Toruń Fortress - Battery A.B. IV, guided tour, exposition of the
history of Toruń Fortress and fortifications
Fort IV - a 19th-century
artillery fort, available for guided tours, exhibition of the history of
the Toruń Fortress
Diocesan Museum in Toruń
House of the People's
Republic of Poland
Speedway Sports Museum
Toruń Fortress Museum
Museum of Knights and Soldiers
Museum of Memory and Identity them.
st. John Paul II (under construction)
The cultural offer in Toruń is complemented by institutions related
to culture and its popularization, including student clubs,
out-of-school work centres, community centres. The largest facility of
this type is the Mill of Knowledge Center for Modernity, which was
opened in 2013. It is the first such institution in Toruń, as well as in
the province, and one of the few in the country. It has the longest
permanently installed Foucault Pendulum in Poland
Other cultural
institutions include:
Toruń Cultural Agenda Toruń Cultural Agenda,
planetarium Władysław Dziewulski
Orbitarium
Observatory
Cultural Center "Artus Court"
New Student Club
International Youth
Meeting Center
Center for Contemporary Art "Signs of the Times"
Cultural Center "Castle of the Teutonic Knights"
Out-of-School Work
Center "Dom Harcerza" with four branches: at the School Complex No. 24,
the Secondary School Complex No. 2, the School Complex No. 15 and the V
LO
Municipal Cultural Institution "Dom Muz" - has branches in
Podgórze and Rudak
Youth House of Culture
Provincial Center for
Culture Animation
Mill of Culture (under construction)
Space
EduHUB Toruń (under construction)
Toruń's musical life takes many forms. One of them are classical
music performers, i.e. the Toruń Symphony Orchestra, which was founded
in the 1978/79 artistic season as the Toruń Chamber Orchestra. It
obtained symphonic status in 2006. It is worth adding that already at
the end of the 1930s, the then city authorities, together with the then
existing Conservatory, made an attempt to create a symphony orchestra in
the city and build a philharmonic. The outbreak of World War II thwarted
these plans. The second ensemble is Multicamerata, a chamber ensemble
operating since 1991.
In addition to instrumental ensembles,
there are several choirs in Toruń, including: the "Lutnia" Choir (since
1898), the Academic Choir of the Nicolaus Copernicus University (since
1979), the Toruń Teachers' Choir "Con Anima" (since 1985).
In the
1980s, Toruń was jokingly called a breeding ground for youth music
talents. Such bands as: the rock Republika, Kobranocka, Bikini, the punk
rock Registration, the blues Nocna Zmiana Bluesa and Tortilla Flat were
founded at that time, and later: Butelka, SOFA and Manchester and the
Organek formation. The vocalist Sławomir Uniatowski also comes from
Toruń.
There are several galleries in Toruń. The most important and largest
are the state galleries. This group includes: the oldest, operating
since 1950, the Wozownia Art Gallery, which presents the achievements of
contemporary artists at individual and collective exhibitions, the
Children's Art Gallery and Center established in 1964 - an institution
conducting art classes with children and youth, initiating art actions
and educational programs and presenting various exhibitions, and the
Center for Contemporary Art "Znaki Czasu" - the newest (2008) and the
largest museum of contemporary art in the city.
In addition, in
Toruń there are:
Galeria Rusz – presents art on billboards in public
space
Gallery "Na Piętrze" ZPAP - run by the Toruń branch of ZPAP
Gallery of the House of Muses and Photogallery
Forum Gallery -
Gallery of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus
University
Gallery Love
Small Gallery of Photography - Gallery of
the Kuyavian-Pomeranian District of the Association of Polish Art
Photographers
Dworzec Zachodni Gallery – opened in 2012
Toruń is an important transport hub in northern Poland.
By
plane
Bydgoszcz International Airport (IATA: BZG) is located around
50km west of Toruń. However, there are no non-stop connections from
German-speaking countries.
Busier are Warsaw Modlin Airport
(IATA: WMI) (about 175 km, east), Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport (IATA: GDN)
(about 175 km, north) and Poznan-Ławica Airport (IATA: POZ ) (about 190
km, southwest). It is approximately 220 km from the major Warsaw Chopin
International Airport (IATA: WAW).
By train
Toruń Główny Main
Railway Station is located on the southern side of the Vistula, opposite
the Old Town. Trains from Poznań (journey time 1½–2 hours), Olsztyn
(2–2:40 hours) and Warsaw (around 3 hours) stop there eight times a day;
five times a day from Łódź (2:20–3:20 hrs); three times from Gdansk (2½
hours) and Gdynia (about 3 hours). From nearby Bydgoszcz, TLK and
regional trains run several times an hour, taking 40-45 minutes; A
regional train runs from Włocławek approximately every hour (journey
time approx. 50 minutes). Regional trains leave Grudziądz every one to
two hours, the journey takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Regional
trains also stop at Toruń Miasto station, which is closer to the Old
Town, as well as in Toruń Wschodni (both on the Toruń–Grudziądz line),
Toruń Kluczyki (on the Toruń–Bydgoszcz and Poznań lines) and Toruń
Czerniewice (on the Toruń–Włocławek line).
By bus
Long-distance buses and regional buses stop in the city center.
In the street
Coming from Poznań leave the A2 A2 motorway and take
state roads 5 and then 15, or continue east along A2 and symbol: AS take
the exit to Września to enter state road 15.
From Łódź (from the
south) or Gdańsk (from the north), take the A1 A1 motorway that runs
just east of Toruń.
The S10 expressway runs from Szczecin through
Stargard, Suchań, Recz, Kalisz Pomorski, Mirosławiec, Wałcz, Piła,
Miasteczko Krajeńskie, Łobżenica, Wyrzysk, Nakło nad Notecią, Ślesin,
Bydgoszcz and Solec Kujawski to Toruń and further through Lipno, Płock
and Nowy D wor Mazowiecki to Wołomin/Płońsk/Warsaw.
National road
15 leads from Trzebnica through Milicz, Krotoszyn, Koźmin Wielkopolski,
Jarocin, Mieszków, Września, Gniezno, Trzemeszno and Strzelno to Toruń
and further through Brodnica, Nowe Miasto Lubawskie and Lubawa to
Ostróda.
National road 80 connects Toruń with Bydgoszcz.
National road 91 leads from Gdańsk through Pruszcz Gdański, Tczew,
Gniew, Nowe, Świecie and Chełmno to Toruń and further through Włocławek,
Kowal, Lubień Kujawski, Łęczyca, Ozorków, Zgierz, Łódź, Rzgów, Tuszyn,
Piotrków Trybunalski, Kamie ńsk, Radomsko , Częstochowa and Koziegłowy
to Siewierz.
By boat
Excursion boats operate on the Vistula.
A limited number of berths for pleasure boats are available in the small
harbour.
By bicycle
The place is on the Vistula long-distance
cycle path.
On foot
The city is on the European long-distance
hiking trail E11.
The old town is less than a kilometer in diameter. You can explore
them very well on foot. It is best to leave the car outside the old town
with its narrow streets and pedestrian zones.
Public transport is
operated by MZK Toruń. There are five tram lines and 39 bus lines.
450 rental bicycles from Stadtwerke Torvelo can be rented at a total
of 45 stops. The city has a network of more than 100km of cycle paths.
There are three breakpoints that have tools for repairing bikes.
Toruń is located in the forested Toruń Valley, on both sides of the Vistula River, surrounded by forests on almost all sides. Further from the river basin, the terrain rises (50–60 m above sea level), often steeply (e.g. the Na Skarpie estate), becomes hilly, creating picturesque terraces, with sandy soil (V, VI class). The area around Toruń is described as hilly.
The climate in the city is characterized primarily by high variability caused by the clash of continental air masses from the east and oceanic air from the west. This is influenced by the geographical location of the city - the Toruń Valley from the south and the Vistula River valley from the north.
The largest river is the Vistula, which divides the city into two
parts, thanks to which the Old Town Complex gains a picturesque
location. The second largest is Drwęca, and the third is Struga
Toruńska. Part of its course flows under the Old Town Complex, where its
fragments are exposed in buildings and sidewalks. The largest water
reservoir in Toruń is the Nagus pond on Rudak, later Kaszownik next to
the old town and several smaller ones.
In the post-war period,
the highest level of the Vistula in Toruń was 867 cm in June 1962, while
the lowest was in 2015 and was 108 cm.
Toruń is surrounded by forests on almost all sides, which are
recreational areas - Barbarka, Bielawski, Bielański, Łysomicki, Papowski
Forests, Ciechocińskie Forests, Bydgoszcz Forest, and three reserves:
the Piwnicki Forest reserve from 1924; the longest ichthyological
reserve in Poland - the Reserve on the Drwęca River from 1961 (with the
endangered river lamprey) and the uniquely located in the city center
Kępa Bazarowa forest reserve from 1987, on the Vistula island, opposite
the Old Town Complex.
There is a large amount of green areas in
Toruń, and the city is one of the greenest in Poland (about 30% of the
area). The total forest area is 2,755 ha; they constitute almost half of
the green areas in the city. The main parks are concentrated in the
center on the so-called Planty around the Old Town Complex (e.g. Valley
of Dreams, Alpinarium), where after the liquidation of medieval
fortifications in the 19th century, a green zone around the Old Town was
created, significantly expanded after the modern and 19th-century
bastion fortifications were demolished in the 1920s.
In addition,
there are several parks in Toruń. The largest recreational areas are:
Barbarka, with a forest school, recreational facilities, playgrounds;
the recently developed Błonia Wisły [30] and three nature reserves.
Parks cover less than 3% of the city's area, ie 346.7 ha. The oldest
green areas are:
City Park in Bydgoskie Przedmieście - One of the
oldest public city parks in Poland. It was founded in 1817 as an English
type park. In 1997, it was entered into the register of monuments
Park in Bielawy - established in the 18th century
Zoobotanical Garden
- was founded in 1797 by G. Schultz. Since 2007, the Garden belongs to
the European Association of Zoos
Park na Jarze - founded in 2019 next
to the Jar Housing Estate under construction
The area of today's city in prehistoric times was located at the
junction of three geographical regions, had access to a river and a
convenient crossing (ford) over the Vistula, which meant that settlement
in the area of today's city and its vicinity developed from the
Palaeolithic, approx. years B.C. The amber trail also ran through Toruń.
Around 1100 B.C.E. in the area of the present Teutonic castle, there was
a Lusatian settlement.
In the period from the 9th to the 13th
century, the original Slavic stronghold of Toruń stood in this place,
surrounded by wooden and earth ramparts, guarding the crossing over the
Vistula. A settlement originally in the Piast Kingdom of Poland from
966. As a result of the division of Poland in 1138, the stronghold of
Toruń found itself in the Polish Duchy of Mazovia, as a district, until
the Teutonic Knights seized these lands in 1228.
In the State of
the Teutonic Order (1228–1454)
The beginning of the modern city was
given by the Teutonic Knights in 1230, for whom it was the starting
point for the conquest of the Prussian tribes and the creation of the
Teutonic state. The first historical mention of Toruń is contained in a
location document from December 28, 1233, issued by Herman von Salz, the
master of the Teutonic Order.
In 1236, due to frequent floods in
these low-lying areas, the city was moved upstream to its present
location. The original city has been searched for since the 1970s, but
it was only based on research published in 2018 that it was established
that the original location of the city was located about 10 km west of
the current old town, at a convenient crossing over the Vistula River,
south of the modern village of Stary Toruń. The original city occupied
an area of about 500 by 200 meters. Probably some of the inhabitants
stayed in the current place, because the farm and the church were
destroyed only during the Thirteen Years' War, and in the 17th century
human skulls were found in the fields in this place. The new territory
of the city was defined by the renewed Chełmno privilege from 1251,
issued in place of the old one, destroyed in a fire. On August 13, 1264,
the second settlement was granted city rights - Nowe Miasto, adjacent to
the Old Town from the east. In 1454, both cities were connected, but the
defensive walls separating them were preserved.
Before 1280,
Toruń became a member of the Hanseatic League. The 13th–14th century is
the first period of rapid development of the city. Toruń became a large
trade center in Prussia, with as many as 20,000 inhabitants.
On
February 1, 1411, the First Peace of Toruń was concluded in Toruń,
ending the so-called the great Polish-Teutonic war of 1409–1411. In
1440, Toruń was one of the main organizers of the Prussian Union and the
seat of its Privy Council.
In 1454, an anti-Teutonic uprising broke out, and the Teutonic castle
was demolished. It was the beginning of the Polish-Teutonic Thirteen
Years' War. To strengthen the support of the nobility, the Polish king
in 1454 granted the famous noble privileges. It happened at the Dybowski
Castle, in the suburban settlement of Nieszawa (now a district of
Toruń). On March 6, 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon, at the request of
the embassy of the Prussian Union, issued an act of incorporation of
Prussia into the Kingdom of Poland and incorporated Toruń into Poland.
During the war, Toruń financially supported the Polish king with huge
sums of money (estimated by historians at almost 200,000 fines, i.e. an
amount equal to the income of then Krakow for 80 years, and Poznań for
270 years). On October 19, 1466, the Second Peace of Toruń ended the
Thirteen Years' War. As a result of its provisions, Toruń together with
Royal Prussia re-entered the Polish state, obtaining a privileged
position in it together with Gdańsk and Elbląg.
Already during
the Thirteen Years' War, Toruń received the so-called privilegia
Casimiriana (especially the so-called great privilege of 1457), which
defined the principles of the political separateness of Toruń and the
legal and political basis for its independence and strong economy until
the partitions of the Republic of Poland and its incorporation into the
Kingdom of Prussia in 1793. In this way, Toruń (similarly to Gdańsk and
Elbląg) stood out from other cities of the Commonwealth.
Period
16th and 1st half The 17th century was a time of rapid development of
Toruń. The city grew rich on the Vistula trade, the salt and salted
goods warehouse, and the great annual international fairs. In 1576,
there were 102 inns in the city and its suburbs[36]. On June 15, 1528, a
royal mint was opened at Mostowa Street, replacing the former Teutonic
and city mints. In the first half of the 16th century, the Reformation
spread in Toruń and a large part of the townspeople joined it. In 1557,
Toruń officially became a Lutheran city for the German minority (Poles
remained Catholic) and one of the most important centers of
Protestantism in the Commonwealth. In 1568, the Academic Gymnasium was
opened, and in 1594, it was solemnly elevated to the rank of a semi-high
school (one of the first in the country). In 1595, on the initiative of
mayor Heinrich Stroband, efforts were made to establish a university in
Toruń.
In the first half of the 17th century, Toruń, as one of
the largest and richest cities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
was inhabited, depending on estimates, by about 12,000. up to 20
thousand inhabitants. Thanks to its privileges and economic position,
Toruń and its patrimony - despite being located in the Chełmno
Voivodship and being its largest city - were excluded from the
voivodeship administration, constituting a self-governing autonomous
unit.
In the 17th century, 50 to 60% of the city's male
population could at least read, and 45 to 60% of the inhabitants spoke
Polish. The second main language in the city was German.
The
second half of the 17th century was the time of the weakening of the
city due to the wars taking place in its area. In 1629, the city
repulsed the first Swedish siege. The construction of bastion
fortifications began, thanks to which Toruń became one of the most
powerful fortresses in the Commonwealth. In 1645, the Colloquium
charitativum, the only ecumenical meeting in the world to reconcile
Catholics and Protestants, was held in the city. In 1658, the army of
King John Casimir, after the siege of the Swedes occupying the city,
regained Toruń.
From September 24 to October 9, 1703, there was a
catastrophic, most severe bombardment of the city by the Swedish army
led by Charles XII. A large part of the Market Square, the town hall and
churches burned down. In 1708, the city's population was decimated by a
great plague epidemic. In 1737, almost the entire population of the city
fell ill with an unknown plague (probably influenza).
Against the
backdrop of intensifying religious conflicts in the Commonwealth, on
July 16, 1724, the so-called tumult in Toruń, ended with a harsh
sentence of the royal court and the beheading of the Protestant mayor of
the city, Jan Gotfryd Rösner, which resonated widely beyond the borders
of the country.
The First Partition of Poland in 1772 left Toruń
with Poland; then, for the first time, on the initiative of Russia,
efforts were made to create a free city of Toruń. The economic pressure
exerted by Prussia on Toruń and Gdańsk, which still remained within the
borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, brought economic losses
to the city. The population decreased from 10,000 around 1772 to 6,000
in 1793.
The second partition incorporated Toruń into the Kingdom of Prussia - West Prussia with its capital in Gdańsk. On January 24, 1793, the Prussian army entered the city.
For Toruń, the Napoleonic times meant a huge economic weakness, contributions and destruction. Under the Treaty of Tylża, on July 7, 1807, Toruń found itself in the Duchy of Warsaw. On April 21, 1809, for three weeks, Toruń became the capital of the Duchy of Warsaw, being the place of residence of the government evacuated from Warsaw. In January 1813, preparing the city for a siege by the Russian army, on the order of the French marshal Louis Davout, almost completely all the suburbs of Toruń (including Podgórz, Mokre) and suburban villages were destroyed. This did not prevent the Russians from capturing the towns in April of the same year, and they occupied them for two consecutive years.
After Napoleon's defeat on September 22, 1815, pursuant to the
provisions of the Congress of Vienna, Toruń returned to Prussia (the
Prussian partition) and was only 10 km from the lands of the Russian
partition, the border was the Drwęca flowing through Toruń's Lubicz.
The period of the 19th century was marked by moderate economic
development and new investments (among others, the building of the
Municipal Police and the detention center at Wały Generała
Sikorskiego, the District Court at Piekary Street, the county and
county offices, the Reich Bank, the Municipal Theatre, the Post
Office and the Artus Court on the Old Town Square were built , a
municipal hospital at Przedzamcze Street, a civic hospital at
Słowackiego Street, a deaconess hospital at Batorego Street, a
shelter for the elderly and disabled at Sienkiewicza Street, a
secondary school for boys at St. Katarzyna Square, an Industrial
School at Wały Generała Sikorskiego, a primary school in Bydgoskie
Przedmieście , Catholic teachers' seminary and Evangelical teachers'
seminary at Sienkiewicza Street, Richter's Mill, Municipal Gasworks,
water pumping stations and many others). The development of Toruń at
that time was limited by its status as an important fortress located
in the vicinity of the then Russian-Prussian border and the related
building regulations, which basically prohibited the erection of
brick buildings outside the city walls. These restrictions were
relaxed only in the 1880s, after the construction of the fortress.
In 1862, the first railway line connecting Toruń with Warsaw and
Bydgoszcz was opened. Thanks to the construction of a railway bridge
over the Vistula River in 1873 and the Berlin-Wystruć railway line,
the city became an important railway junction. In 1899, the first
electric tram line was opened. In 1900, Toruń became a municipal
poviat (Stadtkreis) in the Kwidzyn district, in the province of West
Prussia. In 1906, the area of the town was enlarged by incorporating
the Mokre commune.
In the second half of the 19th century,
Toruń, along with Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz and other cities,
became the center of the Polish national movement and the national
liberation movement in the Polish territories belonging to Germany.
In 1866, Toruń began publishing the Polish-language "Gazeta
Toruńska" for Poles living in and around Toruń, as well as in
Pomerania. It gained great popularity and helped to shape the
national awareness among the Polish inhabitants of Toruń and the
surrounding area, as well as to oppose Germanization. Another
extremely important institution related to the city for Poles was
the Scientific Society in Toruń, established on December 16, 1875,
grouping mainly Polish landowners and Catholic clergy from the
Polish lands incorporated into West Prussia during the German
annexation. In the years 1897–1914 it was headed by Fr. Stanisław
Kujot, an outstanding researcher of the past of Pomerania.
At
the beginning of the 20th century, the national conflict between
Germans and Poles intensified. This contributed to the so-called
hakats (Ostmarkverein) and the law on associations, which banned the
use of the Polish language at open public meetings. Just before the
outbreak of World War I and Poland regaining independence, the city
had 46,000 inhabitants, including 55-60% Germans (most of them as a
result of the influx of Germans during the partitions), 38-43% Poles
and about 2% Jews. The Toruń county, located within the borders of
the German partition, was inhabited in over 70% by Poles.
After World War I, as a result of the provisions of the Treaty of
Versailles, Toruń was granted to reborn Poland. On January 18, 1920,
German troops left Toruń. German colonists from the period of the
partitions of Poland left Toruń, and additional Poles arrived from the
lands left within the borders of Germany. The city, which was the seat
of Polish social and scientific organizations affecting the whole of
Pomerania and Warmia, with a population of 37,356 in 1921, became the
capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and began to regain its former,
pre-partition position. New workplaces were established, e.g. the
Phosphate Fertilizer Plant "Polchem" and public utility buildings, such
as: the Directorate of the Pomeranian State Railway, the Municipal
Savings Bank (famous harmonica), the Agricultural Bank, the Directorate
of State Forests, the Social Insurance Agency, the Community House and
others. In 1933, the second bridge over the Vistula was opened. In 1938,
a decision was made to establish a university in Toruń in 1940, as a
branch of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. In 1939, the
population of Toruń was about 80,000 inhabitants (95% of whom were
Poles); it was the third city population in the Pomeranian Voivodeship,
after Bydgoszcz (incorporated into the voivodeship in 1938, approx.
142,000 inhabitants) and Gdynia (approx. 127,000 inhabitants). In 1938,
Toruń expanded its area by Podgórz, located on the left bank of the
Vistula River.
In 1936, during a demonstration of the unemployed,
the police killed a worker, a member of the KPP, Julian Nowicki.
On September 7, 1939, Wehrmacht troops entered Toruń. Mass arrests of the Polish population (mainly of the intelligentsia and civil servants) took place from 17 to 21 October 1939. Prisoners were directed to Fort VII[48], transformed into the main prison for Poles from Toruń and the surrounding area. In total, about 1,200 people were imprisoned. Polish civilians were murdered by an independent firing squad of Einsatzkommando 16, established on September 12, 1939. Between October 28 and December 6, 1939, in the suburban forest of Barbarka, the Germans murdered about 600 Poles. By March 1941, about 5,000 Poles had been displaced from Toruń. The small Jewish population was deported to Łódź in the autumn of 1939. At the same time, about 16,000 Jews settled in Toruń. Germans (until 1944). On February 1, 1945, units of the Soviet army entered Toruń.
The city - as a valuable historical substance - was quite lucky
because, apart from minor episodes, it was not affected by the war
damage that so many Polish cities suffered. On February 8, 1945, an
operational group of the Provisional Government arrives in the city and
takes power. On the same day, the first issue of "Słowo Pomorskie" is
published.
Pursuant to the decree of the PKWN of August 31, 1944,
places of isolation, prisons and forced labor centers for "Nazi
criminals and traitors of the Polish nation" were created. Labor camp
No. 179 was established by the Ministry of Public Security in Toruń.
Soon, as a result of the efforts of the authorities of the Polish
Workers' Party in Bydgoszcz, the authorities of the new Pomeranian
Voivodeship, formed in Toruń, were transferred to Bydgoszcz, arguing
that the working population was twice as large as in Toruń. As a
consequence, Toruń was deprived of other city-forming institutions in
favor of Bydgoszcz, such as the Pomeranian Polish Radio Station, the
command of the military district, the daily press, trade unions and
associations, the School District Board of Education, the Provincial
Pedagogical Library, and the symphony orchestra.
In 1945, the
Nicolaus Copernicus University was established, continuing the
traditions of the Stefan Batory University in Vilnius. Taking advantage
of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus in 1973,
the university named after him was expanded, establishing an academic
town in Bielany, which is still an interesting example of modern
architecture of the second half of the 20th century.
On the
occasion of the approaching jubilee, conservation work on the renovation
of Toruń's monuments, which had been ongoing since the early 1960s, was
intensified. An important date was 1966, i.e. the 500th anniversary of
the peace in Toruń, which contributed to the final protection and
development of the ruins of the Teutonic castle as a monument to the
peace of Toruń.
The post-war intensive industrialization of the
country made Toruń a center of chemical, electronic, metal and textile
industries. The industrial plants already existing since the interwar
period ("Polchem", Fabryka Maszyn Budowlanych, Zakłady Urządzeń
Młyńskich) were expanded and modernized (1950-1955) and new ones were
built. In 1951, Pomorskie Zakłady Drobiowe was established in the city
as the first in the country, starting this type of activity on an
industrial scale. The largest in the country were the "Chemitex-Elana"
Artificial Fibers Plant [1963], employing almost 7,000 workers at its
peak, and the "Merinotex" Wedged Spinning Mill in Toruń [1965]. The
expansion of Zakłady Urządzeń Okrętowych was started (1960), i.e.
"Towimor", which still exists today. In the 1960s, the Central Office of
Chemical Equipment Construction was established - the only research and
development facility in the country dealing with equipment for the
production of plastics and rubber. In 1972, Toruńskie Przedsiebiorstwo
Budownictwa Przemysłowego was established, which was to centrally
implement investment projects in the city.
With the development
of industry, housing estates began to appear in the city, which were
still unable to satisfy the growing hunger for housing. In the 1950s,
the largest of them was "Kaszownik". The 1960s brought the following
housing estates: Zjednoczenia, Młodych, Bema, Tysiąclecia, Chrobrego,
Reja and Armii Ludowej (in Podgórze). Many blocks of flats were also
built by workplaces, e.g. "Elana" and "Merinotex". Toruń experienced the
most intensive development of housing construction in the second half of
the 1970s and in the 1980s, when the so-called bedroom of the city was
built in its eastern areas, consisting of three large housing estates:
Rubinkowo I, Rubinkowo II and Na Skarpie, currently with approx. .
inhabitants.
After the war, Toruń also became an important
cultural center. The city's cultural life is rapidly reviving: on
February 24, the first cinema screening after liberation takes place,
and on June 16, the first ceremonial premiere in the city theater. In
October 1945, the "Baj Pomorski" Puppet and Actor Theater begins its
activity. Since 1958, the annual Festivals of Theaters of Northern
Poland have been operating. In 1963, the Children's Creativity Gallery
and Artistic Centre, the only institution of this kind in Poland,
started its activity. In 1973, the City Library receives a new seat at
ul. Słowacki. The Toruń Cultural Society, founded in 1976, plays an
important role in creating culture.
During the period of the
People's Republic of Poland, the sports base in the city was expanded.
Among others, two winter rowing pools (1955-1958), an artificial ice
rink "Tor-Tor" and a city stadium (1957-1962), an Interschool Sports
Center (1967), a swimming pool (1966), an indoor swimming pool (1968), a
speedway stadium (1969), a stadium in Hanka Sawicka's housing estate
(1976).
On June 1, 1975, Toruń became the capital of the Toruń
Voivodeship.
In the years 1980–1981, Toruń became the cradle of
the so-called horizontal structures in the PZPR. It was a group of young
party members (mainly coming from academics of the University of Toruń),
who assumed that the existing hierarchical structures of the party and
its apparatus should be replaced with a network of grassroots democratic
party cells.
After 1989, the city became the investment, business, scientific and
tourist center of the region. The Nicolaus Copernicus University was
expanded. New universities, hotels and museums were built. In 1997, the
complex of the Old and New Towns and the ruins of the Teutonic Castle
were entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and in 2004 Toruń was
chosen as the nationwide seat of the League of Polish Cities and UNESCO
Sites.
In 1999, a new administrative reform was planned, in which
the Toruń Province ceased to exist. Therefore, the inhabitants of Toruń
tried to join the Pomeranian Voivodeship with its seat in Gdańsk. In
July 1998, a decision was made to place the self-government authorities
of the newly created Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in Toruń, and thus
on January 1, 1999 the city became one of the two capitals of the new
province.
In 2011, the city was connected to the A1 motorway
towards Gdańsk, and in 2013 towards Łódź. On December 9, 2013, the road
bridge named after Gen. Elżbieta Zawacka.
Since the administrative reform of 1999, almost the entire former
Toruń Voivodship (except for the communes of the Nowe Miasto district)
has been incorporated into the newly created Kujawsko-Pomorskie
Voivodship, and Toruń has become its capital. After several months of
talks between politicians, local government officials and
representatives of local elites, it was decided to locate the Provincial
Office in Bydgoszcz, and the Marshal's Office in Toruń. In the city
there are both institutions subordinated to the voivodeship
self-government and the voivode.
Municipal government
The
legislative body of the municipal self-government is the Toruń City
Council consisting of 25 councillors. She is currently serving her 7th
term (2014–2018). The executive body of the self-government is the Mayor
of Toruń. Currently, this function is held by Michał Zaleski for the
fourth term (since 2002). The seat of the city authorities is located at
Wały gen. Sikorskiego Street, while the individual departments of the
office are located in different parts of the city.
Provincial
government
Toruń and two poviats: Toruń and Chełmno constitute
constituency number 4, from which 6 councilors are elected to the
33-member Sejmik of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. The seat of the
Marshal's Office of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship is located at
Plac Teatralny in Toruń.
Toruń has no officially designated districts. Since 2005, the city
has been divided into 24 parts (auxiliary units) used by the local
government for strategic purposes. A different division was used when
creating auxiliary units of the commune, which in Toruń are called
districts. Currently, there are 13 District Councils (Podgórz, Stawki,
Rudak, Czerniewice, Kaszczorek, Bielawy-Grębocin, Skarpa, Rubinkowo,
Jakubskie-Mokre, Wrzosy, Chełmińskie, Staromiejskie, Bydgoskie), whose
representatives are elected by the inhabitants of a given area. The
councils of given districts are consultative bodies for the City Council
of Toruń.
Official parts of Toruń:
Starotoruń Suburb/
Starotoruńskie Przedmieście
Barbarka
Bielany
Bydgoskie
Przedmieście
Wrzosy
Koniuchy
Chełmińskie Przedmieście
Rybaki
Stare Miasto
Katarzynka
Mokre
Jakubskie Przedmieście
Rubinkowo
Winnica
Grębocin nad Strugą
Bielawy
Na Skarpie
Kaszczorek
Piaski
Podgórz
Glinki
Stawki
Rudak
Czerniewice
Toruń Functional Area
Toruń (a city with poviat rights) together
with the Toruń poviat (Toruń Functional Area) is part of the bicentric
Bydgoszcz-Toruń agglomeration, which was officially established in April
2014. The Bydgoszcz-Toruń Functional Area also includes: the city of
Bydgoszcz, the Bydgoszcz poviat, as well as the municipalities of
Łabiszyn, Szubin, Nakło and Kowalewo Pomorskie. This area is inhabited
by over 850,000 people. people, which constitutes almost 41% of the
population of almost two million people in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Voivodeship. The Bydgoszcz-Toruń Functional Area, covering an area of
3,744 km², is therefore one of the largest urban areas in Poland.
The agglomeration functions of the city, such as: trade, services,
medical infrastructure, education, culture, entertainment or workplaces,
are also benefited and clearly gravitated towards Toruń by
municipalities that are not part of the Toruń Functional Area. These are
communes of the Aleksandrów, Rypin, Golub-Dobrzyński, Chełmno, Wąbrzeski
and Brodnica poviats, and to a lesser extent of the Inowrocław poviat.
Urban Functional Area of Toruń
On June 18, 2021, an agreement was
signed creating the Toruń Urban Functional Area.
The number of residents
Toruń is the only large city in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship where more births than deaths have been
observed for nearly a decade. The positive birth rate is clear, as shown
by the results presented by the Central Statistical Office (see 2011,
when 1,969 births and 1,812 deaths were recorded in the city). The plus
difference was 157.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the number of inhabitants of urbanized suburban housing estates around Toruń has been growing significantly: Przysiek-Rozgarty, Złotoria, Lubicz, Grębocin, Mała and Wielka Nieszawka, and Łysomice. Suburban communes directly related to Toruń include the Łubianka Commune, Lubicz Commune, Zławieś Wielka Commune, Łysomice Commune and Wielka Nieszawka Commune.
For nearly a decade now and then there has been a discussion in the
local media about the possible incorporation of some communes adjacent
to the city into the administrative area of Toruń. In the discussion
there is a proposal that the town should be enlarged by communes and
villages, such as: Mała and Wielka Nieszawka, Przysiek, Rozgarty, Stary
Toruń, Różankowo, Łysomice, Ostaszewo, Papowo Toruńskie, Grębocin,
Rogowo, Rogówko, Lubicz and Złotoria. However, so far neither party has
taken any administrative or legal action in this regard.
The last
time the area of the city was extended was in 1976, when Kaszczorek,
Bielawy and part of Grębocin were incorporated.
Toruń is an important and thriving legal center in Poland. It is at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Nicolaus Copernicus University that for nearly 70 years past judges, prosecutors, attorneys, legal advisers, notaries and others have been educated, and the entire extensive didactic and scientific process is conducted at 26 departments, currently nearly 120 academic teachers, including 20 professors titular, 13 associate professors at the Nicolaus Copernicus University and 6 associate professors.
Parliamentarians
The inhabitants of Toruń elect members to the
Sejm of the Republic of Poland from constituency no. 4, to the Senate
from constituency no. 11, and to the European Parliament from
constituency no. .
Deputies' offices
MPs with MP offices in
the city:
Jan Ardanowski - PiS, Zbigniew Girzyński - PiS, Mariusz
Kałużny - PiS, Iwona Michałek - Poland Together, Arkadiusz Myrcha - PO,
Tomasz Lenz - PO, Iwona Hartwich - PO, Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus - SLD,
Robert Kwiatkowski - SLD, Paweł Szramka – PSL
Senator's office in
the city:
Antoni Mężydło – PO
Members of the European
Parliament with MP offices in the city:
Radoslaw Sikorski - PO
Kosma Zlotowski – Law and Justice
Electoral institutions
The
delegation of the National Electoral Office and the District Electoral
Commission for the electoral district No. 5 to the Sejm of the Republic
of Poland have their seat in Toruń, covering the cities of Grudziądz,
Toruń and Włocławek as well as the following poviats: Aleksandrów,
Brodnicki, Chełmno, Golub-Dobrzyński, Grudziądz, Lipnowski, Radziejów,
Rypin, Toruń, Wąbrzeski and Włocławek, as well as electoral district No.
11, electoral district No. 13 and electoral district No. 12 to the
Senate of the Republic of Poland.
Historical view
Toruń was the seat of three sessions of the Sejm
during the First Polish Republic (1519, 1576, 1626). In Nieszawa near
Toruń, at the Dybowski Castle (now a district of Toruń), famous noble
privileges were granted, beginning the period of "golden noble freedom".
The First Peace of Toruń and the Second Peace of Toruń were concluded in
Toruń, as well as the last Polish-Teutonic truce in 1521.
During
the partitions, in 1807, it was the seat of the insurgent government -
at Rynek Nowomiejski in Toruń. During this period, he had two
consulates: Russia and the USA. In the interwar period, five consulates
were located in Toruń, including the Consulate General of Germany and
the Third Reich, France and Belgium.
Honorary consulates
Currently, there are six honorary consulates in Toruń:
Peru Honorary
Consulate of Peru - since July 14, 1998
Slovenia Honorary Consulate
of Slovenia – since June 21, 2003
Lithuania Honorary Consulate of
Lithuania – since October 2006
Finland Honorary Consulate of Finland
– from May 29, 2014
Moldova Honorary Consulate of Moldova – from June
23, 2014
Tunisia Honorary Consulate of Tunisia - since 2018
In
addition, Toruń has:
France Branch of the French Embassy in Warsaw.
Teaching facilities
The following educational institutions are
also based in Toruń: British Council (UK office), Goethe Institut
(German office), Alliance Française (French Embassy office), Canadian
Research Center (Canadian Embassy office), Australian Research Center
(Australian Embassy office), Japanese Language and Culture Studio (Japan
facility), Confucius Classroom (China facility) and Arabic Language and
Culture Studio (Saudi Arabia facility)
Toruń belongs to national and international associations and
organizations:
Federation of Copernicus Cities, since 1983
Association of Polish Cities, since 1992
Association of Healthy
Polish Cities, since 1993
Local Tourist Organization League of Polish
Cities and UNESCO Sites (headquarters), since 2005
OWHC –
Organization of World Heritage Cities, since 1998
EUROB Association
(European Route of Brick Gothic), since 2008
Association of Vistula
Cities (seat), since 1997
International Union of New Hanseatic
Cities, since 1998
Regional Energy Conservation Agency, since 1998
Association of Cities, Municipalities and Districts of the Drwęca Basin,
since 2003
Association of A1 Motorway Cities, since 1996
Local
tourist organization, since 2003
The Green Lungs of Poland
Association, since 2006
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Tourist Organization,
since 2011
International Association of Peace Advocates Cities, since
2011
Characteristic
Toruń is a regional economic center and the seat of
local authorities of key economic organizations. It is the seat of the
local government authorities of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, as
well as an important transport hub (A1 motorway).
The city is a
leader in the voivodeship in terms of the number of the largest
enterprises, as well as the highest remuneration for work and low
unemployment in the region. In January 2017, the unemployment rate in
Toruń was 5.2%, in the Toruń poviat it was 12%, and in the province it
was 9.8%. Toruń is also a leader in obtaining EU funds, which currently
allows for the implementation of large infrastructural investments. As
the only city in the voivodeship, it received class A, i.e. the highest
investment attractiveness for all analyzed sections of the national
economy. The city is also the second most important commuting center in
the region.
The strong economic position of Toruń against the
background of other urban centers of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship
can be proved by the results of the rankings published in April 2012 by
two magazines: "Rzeczpospolita" and "Polityka". It lists the 500 largest
Polish companies operating in 2011 independently. From the entire
Kuyavian-Pomeranian region, 18 companies made it to the list, of which,
according to "Rzeczpospolita", eight come from Toruń, and according to
the publication of "Polityka", as many as 10. Every year this indicator
is similar.
The largest enterprises in Toruń include: Neuca Capital Group
(pharmaceuticals and cosmetics), Toruńskie Zakłady Materialów
Opatrunkowych (pharmaceuticals and cosmetics), Krajowa Spółka Cukrowa
(food industry), ThyssenKrupp Energostal (metal industry), Apator
Capital Group (electrotechnical industry), Cereal Partners Poland Toruń
Pacific (food industry), Nova Trading (metal industry), Geofizyka Toruń
(oil mining), Janus (food industry), RUG Riello OrzÄ…d Grzewcze
(construction), Rywal-RHC (electrotechnical industry).
Companies
with many years of tradition still operate in the city:
Toruńskie
Zakłady Ceramiki Budowlanej, currently Wienerberger Toruń
Ship
Equipment Plant "Towimor" - 1905
Polmos Toruń (Toruń Flavored Vodkas)
– 1884
Factory of Integrated Metering and Settlement Systems "Metron"
- 1920
Confectionery factory "Kopernik" - 1751
Toruńska Energetyka
Cergia – 1975
Municipal Department of Communication - 1891
Dairy
plant (Łowicz)
Pharmacy "Under the Golden Lion" - 1624
Grochowalski Bakery
Bakery-Ciastkarnia Górscy
Franciszek Pokojski
Confectionery – 1932
Lenkiewicz Confectionery – 1945
Municipal
Treatment Plant - 1778
Toruń Waterworks - 1893
Hotel "Under the
Eagle" - 1886
Hotel "Under the Three Crowns"
Hotel Polonia - 1890
Toruń Power Plant (Energa-Operator)
Toruń Processed Cheese
Manufacturing Plant (Lacpol) - 1951
Bakery-Confectionery Bartkowscy -
1927
Elana (Boryszew) – 1963
Horticultural Seed and Nursery
Enterprise Torseed
Urbitor - 1958
Zapolex printing house
Toruń
Wood Industry Enterprise - 1950
In Toruń there are branches of many IT companies. In December 2015,
these included: OpusCapita (F&A), Telmon (Call Center), Atos (IT), Grant
Thornton (HR, F&A), Contact Center (Call Center), Grupa Allegro (IT),
Cyfrowy Polsat (Call Center), Manpower (HR), Randstad (HR), CDTP (Call
Center), IT Util (IT).
Financial institutions
Toruń is home to
branches, off-site departments, offices and teams of such services as:
Tax Chamber, Tax Control Office, Regional Chamber of Accounts, Social
Insurance Institution, I Tax Office, II Tax Office, Agricultural Social
Insurance Fund and others.
Nicolaus Bank (formerly Bank
Spółdzielczy in Toruń) has its headquarters in the city, continuing the
local banks established in the 19th century in the surrounding areas.
In 2018, Toruń had 11 hypermarkets - Castorama, Auchan, Kaufland,
Carrefour, Leroy Merlin, OBI, Brico Depot and others, and nearly 50
supermarkets - Jysk, Lidl, Netto, Tesco, Intermarché, Stokrotka, Piotr i
Paweł and others. There are also specialist supermarkets, such as sports
Decathlon or electronics, such as Media Markt and Media Expert. There
are also municipal markets in the city, the largest of which is located
in Chełmińskie Przedmieście.
The largest shopping centers
Torun Plaza
Atrium Copernicus Gallery
New Bielawy Center
Comet
Shopping Center
AMC Interior Gallery
General Department Store
Toruń is located at the intersection of transit routes running from
the south of the country to the north (Pan-European transport corridor)
and from the west to the east. In the vicinity of the city (the
Czerniewice housing estate), the only A1 motorway in the voivodship
intersects with the S10 expressway (Toruń Południe junction). In
addition, four national roads and 10 provincial roads run through the
city.
Road junctions in the vicinity of Toruń
Toruń South -
A1/S10
Lubicz – (Toruń East) A1/S10
Turzno - (Toruń North) A1/15
Toruń West - S10/15
List of roads
A1E75 A1 motorway - in the
direction of Gdańsk and Łódź
S10 (southern bypass of Toruń) - a
fragment of the S10 expressway, opened on November 15, 2005 as a single
carriageway fragment.
national roads:
10 towards Bydgoszcz,
Szczecin and Warsaw
15 in the direction of Inowrocław, Poznań,
Krotoszyn, Wrocław to Olsztyn
80 towards Bydgoszcz
91 in the
direction of Gdańsk and Łódź
provincial roads:
200 (Wielka
Nieszawka - Cierpice)
257 (Toruń Przybyszewski - Toruń - the Vistula
River - Mała Nieszawka)
258 (Toruń – Złotoria – Silno – Vistula River
– Wygoda – Toruń Czerniewice)
273 (Little Nieszawka - Great Nieszawka
- Cierpice)
552 Rozankowo-Lubicz
553 in the direction of Różanków
572 (Lubicz - railway station)
585 (Podgórska - Dybowska)
654
(Toruń - Zlotoria - Strong)
657 (Zlotoria - Lubicz)
Road
administration
All roads in Toruń are managed by the Municipal Road
Administration, whose tasks include the construction, reconstruction,
planning and ongoing maintenance of roads and engineering structures.
The city is also home to the Roads Region of GDDKiA, which deals with
repairs and ongoing maintenance of motorways, expressways and national
roads in the Toruń region, and the Regional Roads Region, the provincial
road administration. This unit is responsible for road maintenance in
the counties of Chełmno, Toruń, Golub-Dobrzyński and part of Bydgoszcz.
The city is also the seat of the Provincial Road Traffic Center with
a branch in Grudziądz and the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Provincial Road Safety
Council.
Engineering objects
There are nearly 50 engineering
structures in Toruń and its vicinity. The largest include three road
bridges and one railway bridge across the Vistula River: the railway
bridge named after Ernest Malinowski, road bridge named after Józef
Piłsudski, motorway bridge named after Armii Krajowej near the city,
road bridge named after Gen. Elżbieta Zawacka, as well as the flyover
them. Marek Sudak, the tunnel under Daszyński Square, the Tadeusz
Kościuszko and a flyover on the Northern Diameter Route.
The organizer of public collective transport in Toruń is the
Municipality of the City of Toruń. Communication service is provided by
the Municipal Transport Company, existing since 1891. He is the main
carrier in the city. The carrier operates 41 bus lines (including 4
night lines) and 7 tram lines (including 2 night lines). The company
also provides services to the surrounding villages, having 4 lines
serving the towns of the Lubicz Commune. Connections between the city
and this commune are also provided by POLBUS, which runs 3 bus lines
running from St. Catherine (104, 105, 106). In addition, MZK in Toruń
launches a special bus line 106 in the summer, transporting residents to
the lake in Kamionki in the Łysomice commune.
Other means of
transport
Communication with other towns in the region and in Poland
is offered by Arriva Bus Transport Polska (former PKS Toruń), with its
headquarters at the Bus Station at ul. Dabrowski.
There are 44
taxi ranks in Toruń, providing over 360 places for TAXI cars, there are
several taxi corporations.
In the past, there was one private bus
line E in Toruń, launched in October 2006 by EUROPOL. It connected the
Na Skarpie estate with Plac Teatralny. It ended its operations in April
2008. Also, in December 2007, the A-Linia run by Toruń Bus Company ended
its operation. It led regular lines to the surrounding towns in
practically all communes of the Toruń poviat.
The Toruń Railway Junction consists of the following railway lines:
18 Kutno - Saw Główna
353 Poznań East – Skandawa (GP) –
Žielieznodorožnyj
734 Nieszawka - Toruń Główny
207 East Toruń –
Malbork
27 Nasielsk – East Toruń
246 East Toruń – Olek (former
Chełmno)
734 Grębocin – Katarzynka
Within the administrative
borders of the city there are three railway stations: Toruń Główny,
Toruń Miasto, Toruń Wschodni and three passenger stops: Toruń Kluczyki,
Toruń Czerniewice, Toruń Grębocin
Railway related institutions
Toruń has been the seat of the Arriva RP railway company since 2015,
whose trains run in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Mazowieckie and
Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships, and the Toruń-Kluczyki Base, whose
task is, among other things, to ongoing maintenance of Elf 22WEc trains,
which run as part of the BiT City fast urban railway on the Toruń
Wschodni - Bydgoszcz Główna route.
In addition, the following
companies have their headquarters in Toruń: PKP Intercity Remtrak (the
company's registered office), Passenger Transport Section and Traction
Rolling Stock Maintenance Section Toruń Kluczyki Polregio, PKP Cargo
Zakład Przewozów Towarowych Transport and Expedition Section, PKP
CargoTabor Rolling Stock Repair Department, PKP Energetyka Power Supply
Section Toruń, Railway Lines Department, Toruń Wschodni Operation
Section, Toruń Główny Operation Section, Accounting and Finance
Department and the Railway Protection Guard station.
There are
also numerous railway trade unions operating in Toruń, including: the
Inter-Enterprise Trade Union of PKP Employees with its registered office
in Toruń, the Trade Union of PKP Employees at the Real Estate Management
Department in Gdańsk with its registered office in Toruń and the
Inter-Enterprise Nadwiślański Trade Union of Engineers.
The
Association of Friends of Railways and Monuments of Technology and the
Chamber of Tradition of the Toruń Railway Junction also operate in Toruń
Airport
There is an airport in Toruń itself, whose user is the
Pomeranian Aeroclub, existing since 1922.
Since April 2021, the
LOT Flight Academy base has been operating here.
Toruń is within the influence of four large airports: Warsaw-Okęcie
Airport, Gdańsk im. Lech Wałęsa Airport, Warsaw-Modlin Airport and
Poznań-Ławica Airport, and two smaller ones: Bydgoszcz-Szwederowo
Airport and Łódź-Lublinek Airport. The city has regular bus connections
with the airports in Gdańsk (since April 8, 2013), Warsaw (since May
2015), Modlin (since May 2015) and Bydgoszcz (since March 2015). It is
worth noting that the city holds 0.058% of shares in the
Bydgoszcz-Szwederowo Airport.
landing sites
Medical helipad at
the Provincial Integrated Hospital - Specialist Hospital for Children
and Adults, Konstytucji 3 Maja Street
Sanitary helipad at the
Wojewódzki Szpital Zespolony im. Ludwika Rydygiera, St. Joseph (planned)
In addition, Toruń is home to the Forest Air Base of the Regional
Directorate of State Forests, which is located on the premises of the
Pomeranian Aeroclub, where patrol and firefighting aircraft are
stationed during the fire hazard period.
There are two river ports in Toruń:
Wood Port - ul. Old Toruń
Winter Harbor - ul. Popieluszko (Fishermen)
There are also eight
marinas:
AKS
AZS with the Rowing Base
KS Budowlani
Squall,
Timber Port
Towimo, Timber Port
Walter, Timber Port
Toruń Yacht
Club, Drzewny Port
Sea and River League, Timber Port
In
addition, in 2015, a canoe marina with tourist infrastructure was built
on the Drwęca River in Kaszczorek
Tourist transport
During the
tourist season, other forms of communication are also offered:
Katarzynka II boat – connecting the Philadelphia Boulevard with Kępa
Bazarowa and Dybowski Castle
Passenger ship Wanda (courses on the
Vistula)
Viking passenger ship (courses on the Vistula River)
Rickshaws, stop at the Old Town Square (courses in the old town)
Horse-drawn carriages (occasionally, in the Old Town Square)
MZK
tourist tram car (runs on the existing tracks, e.g. during the
celebration of special events) - for trips.
In 2015, in Toruń, there were nearly 100 km of bicycle routes: main -
connecting districts and leading out of the city, collective -
distributing bicycle traffic in districts and local - servicing traffic
within housing estates. The city is rich in bicycle infrastructure,
which consists of hundreds of bicycle racks, covered bicycle parking
lots and three self-service bicycle repair stations.
Toruń City
Bike
From April 18, 2014, residents and guests of Toruń can use the
Toruński Rower Miejski. There are 260 bicycles and 27 stations located
in different parts of the city so far to enable fast and efficient
movement in public space. Bike rental in Toruń is very popular. In 2014,
residents and visitors used it 42,000 times
Educational institutions
There are nearly 150 educational
institutions of various types and levels in Toruń
28 primary schools
(SP No. 10, Primary School No. 18 and Primary School No. 16 with
integration classes, including 2 special schools, Primary School No. 19,
Primary School No. 26 and 5 non-public schools with the rights of a
public school)
28 middle schools (including 1 bilingual (Gym. No. 4)
and 2 special (Gym. No. 19 and Gymnasium No. 26) and 6 non-public middle
schools with public school rights)
15 general high schools (including
2 for adults and 9 non-public with the rights of a public school)
12
public technical schools (including 2 for adults and 8 non-public with
the powers of a public school)
11 basic vocational schools (including
1 special and 1 non-public with the rights of a public school)
3
profiled high schools
17 public kindergartens (some of them also have
nursery groups for the youngest)
23 non-public kindergartens (some of
them also have nursery groups for the youngest)
Gymnasium and
Academic High School of the Nicolaus Copernicus University
In Toruń,
there is the only University Secondary School in the voivodship and in
the country. This facility was established in 1998, but its roots date
back to the early 1990s, when work on the shape and function of the
school began. GiLA is a school run by the Nicolaus Copernicus University
in Toruń, and the Ministry of National Education is the patron of the
institution. In 2022, the Academic High School took second place in the
Perspektywy high school ranking.
Artistic education
Post-Secondary School for Education of Theater Practices - the study has
been operating since 2000
Yamaha Music School - exists since 2001
Music School Complex Karol Szymanowski in Toruń - pedagogical
supervision over the School is exercised by the Ministry of Culture and
National Heritage, founded in 1921
Medical education
Medical
and Social Center for Vocational and Continuing Education - the
governing body of the School is the Self-Government of the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, established in 1959
Post-secondary
School of Medical Carers
Sports education
School of Sports
Championship - a sports school creates an offer for talented youth from
the entire region, rowers and cyclists train there, founded in 1997
Special education
School Complex No. 6 them. blessed Fr. S. W.
Frelichowski, Complex of Schools No. 26, Special Education and
Educational Center named after J. Korczak, Primary School for Children
with Autism PROMETHEUS
Other institutions
In Toruń, there are
also care and educational institutions such as "Młody Las", family
orphanages and others. The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Adoption Center is also
located in the city
Supervision and professional development of
teachers
There are public institutions in the city that supervise and
support education in the city and in the eastern part of the voivodship,
these are: the Board of Education - branch office in Toruń,
Psychological and Pedagogical Counseling Centre, Non-Public Family
Psychological and Pedagogical Counseling Centre, Toruń Educational
Association, whose aim is to create new alternative education of
children and youth.
The Kuyavian-Pomeranian Center for Teacher
Education also operates in Toruń.
Characteristic
Toruń is a large scientific center. The oldest,
largest and best public university in northern Poland, the Nicolaus
Copernicus University, is located in Toruń. There are the only
institutions of the Polish Academy of Sciences in the voivodship, as
well as several other scientific and research institutions, of which the
largest and most important in the region deserves a mention, the
ministerial Institute of Engineering of Polymer Materials and Dyes,
established in 1962 and having branches in Gliwice and Piastów .
Finally, scientific and research activities are carried out by numerous
scientific and socio-cultural societies and associations with branches
(mostly of a regional character) in Toruń. The largest in the region and
one of the oldest such institutions in Poland is the Toruń Scientific
Society, founded in 1875 and having 7 faculties (Historical Sciences,
Philology and Philosophy, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Law,
Theology, Medicine, Economics and Business).
The evidence of
great importance and, in a way, confirming the thesis about the dominant
role of Toruń in the field of science and research can be the number of
doctoral students educated in the city. Out of the total number of 1,198
people studying in the region, as many as 763 are studying in Toruń (in
the entire Nicolaus Copernicus University, there are 881 people, of whom
117 are at the faculties of Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz). The
university has the widest educational offer, covering 13 scientific
fields and 26 disciplines.
Toruń is the only city in the province that is the seat of the
institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, these are:
Laboratory
of the Polish Dictionary of the 16th Century at the Institute of
Literary Research
Institute of Mathematics branch in Toruń
Department of Astrophysics of the Astronomical Center of M. Copernicus
Department of Geomorphology and Hydrology of the Lowlands of the
Institute of Geography and Spatial Development
Department of the
History of Pomerania and the Baltic States of the Institute of History
Plasma Physics Team Laboratory at the Astronomical Observatory in
Piwnice near Toruń
Toruń's libraries and archives play a special role on the scientific map of Toruń. The city can boast of having several such scientific institutions. It is in Toruń that the largest scientific library of the province and one of the largest in Poland - the Main Library of the Nicolaus Copernicus University, with over 2,200,000 books, is located. collections, as well as the oldest scientific institution in Pomerania - the Copernicus Library founded on February 19, 1923. The Copernicus Library, which today serves as the provincial library, is a continuator of the rich librarian traditions of Toruń, dating back to the times of the foundation of the city. Both libraries have valuable collections of old prints, rich history sections covering not only the history of the region, but the whole of Poland and even Europe. The Copernicus Library has about 26,000 books. volumes of old prints (out of over 60,000 materials that make up the special collections) starting from the 15th century, while the University Library has about 0.5 million special collections, which include manuscripts, old prints and cartographic and graphic collections. The University Library is also the main coordinator of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Digital Library project. It is also one of 17 institutions in Poland with the right to receive a compulsory copy (since 1947). Until 1997, this privilege was also granted to the Copernicus Library, which received a regional obligatory copy. This law was in force in 1927–1939 and 1968–1996.
Toruń is a significant center of archival science in Poland. It is at
the Nicolaus Copernicus University that archivists have been educated
for over 60 years (as the only university in Poland offering a separate
field of study: archivistics and documentation management). Within its
framework, there is the only Institute of History and Archival Studies
in Poland, where eminent specialists in the field of archival science
lecture or have lectured, among others Ryszard Mienicki, Franciszek
Paprocki, Andrzej Tomczak, Bohdan Ryszewski and Halina Robótka.
After all, Toruń is also home to many archives. Among the archives that
are part of the state archival network, the State Archive plays a key
role. It is one of the oldest and most valuable resources in Poland. Its
origins date back to the founding of the city in the 13th century. Until
1951, it operated as the City Archives, with its seat from the beginning
of its existence in the Old Town Hall, then it was included in the
archival network. Since then, it has been subordinated to the Chief
Directorate of State Archives. The archive consists of about 6,000
items. Act. The most valuable materials of the Archive are documents and
files from the Old Polish period (including royal privileges for Toruń,
the location privilege of the City of Toruń, or papal bulls). The
collection also includes one of the largest sets of wax tablets combined
into polyptychs in Europe. In 2003, these plaques were included in the
national list of UNESCO cultural heritage.
Thanks to the efforts of the authorities of the Nicolaus Copernicus
University in the early 1960s, a decision was made to build a university
town in Bielany in Toruń. The construction of the university town was
included by the government in the program of celebrations of the 500th
anniversary of the birth of the famous astronomer and patron of the
University - Nicolaus Copernicus, and developed in the S-77 Urban and
Architectural Studio under the supervision of Assoc. dr. Ryszard
Karłowicz. The area of the town is about 82 hectares. It is located in
the Bielany estate in the north-eastern part of the city. The project
envisaged the expansion of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in the
form of a uniformly shaped town with a clear functional division into
the didactic part (faculties), service and social part (dormitories,
student clubs) and central part (rector's office, assembly hall and
library), and this spatial layout has been preserved to this day. The
official opening of the campus took place on October 2, 1973.
From the 1990s until today, the campus has been expanded, and since June
2014 it has been connected to the city center by a tram line.
In
January 2020, the estate was entered into the register of monuments.
TV
Toruń is an important television center in the
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The city is home to the region's only
TV correspondent studio and office: TVN, TVN24 and TTV, as well as the
seat of the nationwide TV TRWAM. In addition, Telewizja Polska has its
studio and editorial office in Toruń, thanks to which the program from
Toruń can be broadcast both on TVP3 Bydgoszcz (e.g. "Rozmowa Dnia") and
nationwide. The TVP facility was established in the city in 1996, and
its seat since 2005 is located in a tenement house at ul. Kopernika 4.
Finally, the city has local TV stations, the largest and oldest of which
is Telewizja Toruń.
Radio
Toruń has a long radio tradition. It
is here that the 8th radio station in the history of Poland was founded.
The Pomeranian Polish Radio Station was launched on January 15, 1935.
From 1945, however, it operated within the structure of the Polish Radio
in Bydgoszcz, being the second studio of the radio station operating at
that time under the name Rozglonia Pomorska Bydgoszcz-Toruń. Until 1959,
Toruń was the only radio transmitter from which the station's program
was broadcast. Throughout its existence, the studio and editorial office
in Toruń has made a significant contribution to the program of the radio
station, being very active. Currently, after the changes in the 1990s,
the traditions of the Pomeranian Radio Station are continued by the
Polish Radio of Pomerania and Kujawy, located in Toruń at ul. Ślusarska
5. In addition, the nationwide Catholic Radio Maryja has its seat in the
city. Toruń is also home to many other local radio stations, including
Radio GRA, Radio Sfera (student radio station) and Meloradia. There is
also a regional branch of RMF FM here, with the only reporter of this
station in the province on duty.
Radio and television masts
In
Toruń, at 11/13 Moniuszki Street, there is the "Moniuszko" Radio Lines
Station. From 2014, this station served as the DAB+ test transmitter of
Polish Radio (Toruń and the surrounding area). The test digital
transmission of the program from this transmitter was completed on May
1, 2015.
Press, Internet
Numerous newspaper editorial offices
operate in the city, and two regional dailies are published: Nowości
Dziennik Toruński and Gazeta Pomorska. There are also many Internet
portals from information to culture and sports.
Other
In
Toruń, Rzeczpospolita, Polish Press Agency, Catholic Information Agency
and TVN News and Services Agency have their correspondents.
There are several dozen health care facilities in Toruń, including 6
hospitals. Moreover, the city is the seat of the voivodship,
Kuyavian-Pomeranian branch of PFRON; there is a branch office of the
National Health Fund for the former Toruń Voivodeship and the Department
of Health and Ownership Supervision of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Marshal's
Office, which supervises and controls independent health care facilities
established by the Voivodeship Self-Government. Professional
self-governments of doctors and dentists - the Kuyavian-Pomeranian
Regional Chamber of Physicians and nurses and midwives - the Regional
Chamber of Nurses and Midwives are also based in the city.
In
addition, the city is home to branches, departments, branches and
delegations of: the Pharmaceutical Inspectorate, the Veterinary
Inspectorate, the Regional Center for Blood Donation and Hemotherapy,
the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station and others
Voivodship Hospital Complex named after Ludwika Rydygiera, ul. st.
Józefa 53-59
Women's Milk Bank, ul. st. Józefa 53-59
Provincial
Integrated Hospital - Specialist Hospital for Children and Adults, ul.
Constitution of May 3, 42
Provincial Integrated Hospital -
Observation and Infectious Hospital, ul. Krasińskiego 4/4a
Provincial
Integrated Hospital - Psychiatric Hospital, ul. Mickiewicza 24/26, ul.
M. Skłodowska-Curie 27/29
Specialist City Hospital named after
Nicolaus Copernicus, ul. Batory 17/19
Stem Cell Bank, ul. Batory
17/19,
Matopat Specialist Hospital, ul. Orczykowa 8/10
Cito Care
Hospital, ul. Skłodowska-Curie 73
In Toruń, there are voivodeship and municipal institutions that take
care of safety both in the city, in the poviat and in the voivodeship.
Dispatchers of the above services are on duty at the Toruń Crisis
Management Center located at 70/76 Legionów Street (seat of the State
Fire Service). The Center accepts emergency calls 112, 997, 998 and 999
Police
The Municipal Police Headquarters is located in Toruń.
This unit, apart from the city of Toruń, also covers the area of the
Toruń poviat. The head office is located at 17 Grudziądzka Street. It
consists of:
Police Station - Toruń Śródmieście, ul. PCK 2
Police
Station - Toruń Rubinkowo, ul. Dziewulski 1
Police Station - Toruń
Podgórz, ul. Poznańska 127/129
Police Station in Chełmża, ul. Court 2
Police Station in Toruń (water), located in the Winter Port at ul.
Popiełuszki 3 - is the only police station of this type in the province
Police station in Dobrzejewice
Police Station in Złejwie Wielka, ul.
Solar 10
State fire brigade
Toruń is home to the Provincial
Headquarters of the State Fire Service located in the city center at 32
Prosta Street, as well as the Provincial Rescue Coordination Post of the
State Fire Service and the Training Center of the State Fire Service. On
the other hand, at 70/76 Legionów Street, the Municipal Headquarters of
the State Fire Service is located, which directly reports to the
following units:
Rescue and Firefighting No. 1 (Wet)
Rescue
and Firefighting No. 2 (Podgórz)
Rescue and Firefighting No. 3
(Bielawy)
Rescue and firefighting station in Chełmża.
Other
institutions
Other institutions include: the City Guard, Ambulance
Station, Customs Chamber, Customs Office, WOPR, training center for
firefighters, Internal Security Agency, Military Police, Fisheries
Guard, Forest Guard and Railway Protection Guard.
The Toruń garrison covers several poviats in the eastern-southern
part of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship (including Toruń,
Aleksandrów, Włocławski, Lipno) and is one of the largest in the region.
The largest cities in this garrison are Toruń and Włocławek. The
garrison headquarters is located at Sobieskiego Street (CSAiU).
Military colleges
Artillery and Armament Training Center named after
General Józef Bem - a training unit of the Polish Army. It was
established on April 22, 2002. The Center continues the combat and
historical traditions of 22 units and institutions related to artillery
and armament education
Marksman Center
SONDA Non-Commissioned
Officers School (planned) - is to educate candidates for
non-commissioned officers in the field of communication and IT, as well
as WOT non-commissioned officers specializing in "infantry"
The
Department of Military History operates at the Institute of History and
Archival Science of the Nicolaus Copernicus University. It runs a unique
specialization - "History of the military, uniformed and special
services", it is the second such major in Poland at a civilian
university.
Institutions and units of the Polish Army
1.
Material and Technical Base - is a stationary logistics unit, the only
one of its kind in the Polish Armed Forces, which includes:
Aerospace
engineering workshops
12. Military Economic Department named after
Maj. Gen. Karol Otto Kniaziewicz
Composition number 1
Composition
number 2
6. Independent Geographical Branch for them Col. Dipl. Eng.
Tadeusz Zieleniewski
Military Transportation Command
Training
Center of Territorial Defense Forces
8th Kujawsko-Pomorska Brigade of
Territorial Defense Forces
81st Toruń Light Infantry Battalion
Military Archive
Military Replenishment Command
Military Police
Toruń Garrison Headquarters
Military Band
Military Specialist
Medical Clinic - Independent Public Healthcare Institution
Land
Forces Museum
Museum of Armored Fortifications of Toruń Fortress
garrison parish of St. Catherine
Military Fire Department
Greek Catholic Church
There is a Greek Catholic parish in Toruń.
Due to the lack of a temple, the liturgy is celebrated in the Roman
Catholic Church of St. st. Maximilian.
Orthodox Church
There
is one Orthodox parish in Toruń. st. Nicholas belonging to the Polish
Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
Roman Catholic Church
Toruń has
been the capital of the Toruń Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church since
1992, established by Pope John Paul II with the bull Totus Tuus Poloniae
Populus of March 25 of the same year. Ingress of the first bishop of
Toruń, Andrzej Wojciech Suski, to the Cathedral of St. John the
Evangelist and St. John the Baptist in Toruń took place on May 31, 1992.
The city includes four deaneries: Toruń I, Toruń II, Toruń III and Toruń
IV.
Until 1992, the right-bank Toruń belonged to the Chełmno
diocese, and the left-bank to the Gniezno archdiocese.
In Toruń,
both men's orders and congregations (Franciscans, Jesuits,
Redemptorists, Michaelites, Pauline Fathers, Salesians, Somasks) and
women's (Seraphites, Carmelites, Nazareth, shepherdess, Elizabethan,
Josephite, Michaelite, Ursuline nuns) have their religious houses.
Old Catholic Church
In Toruń, pastoral activity is carried out by
the Polish Catholic parish of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Protestant churches
From the mid-sixteenth century, Toruń was a
Protestant city, today this tradition is continued by the
Evangelical-Augsburg parish and a number of churches of other Protestant
denominations. Most of Toruń's Protestant churches represent the current
of evangelical Christianity and belong to the Toruń Protestant Alliance
and the Evangelical Alliance in Poland.
Protestant churches
operating in Toruń:
Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland -
Congregation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Church of God in
Poland - Church "Christ for All" in Toruń, Church of God HESED in Toruń
Church of God in Toruń
Baptist Church in Poland - Congregation of the
Baptist Church in Toruń, K5N Facility in Toruń
Evangelical-Augsburg
Church in Poland - Evangelical-Augsburg Parish in Toruń
Church of
Evangelical Christians in Poland - Congregation of the Church of
Evangelical Christians in Toruń Pentecostal Church in Poland - Church in
Toruń, Church For Toruń "Freedom"
Messianic Assemblies of God
(Seventh Day) - a mission point in Toruń subordinated to the
congregation in Warsaw
Brethren's Church in Toruń
Buddhism
In Toruń, there are centers belonging to the Buddhist Community "Zen
Kannon", the Buddhist Mission - Three Refuges (Sakya Dechen Choling) and
the Benchen Karma Kamtsang Buddhist Association.
In Toruń there are several cemeteries of various denominations, which
is related to the multicultural history of the city. The oldest
preserved necropolis in Toruń is the cemetery of St. Jerzy from 1811
(its history dates back to the 14th century). Prominent citizens of
Toruń are buried there: city councillors, notables, scientists, clergy,
as well as ordinary inhabitants of the city. Since 2003, on 1 November,
the Society of Toruń Enthusiasts and the city authorities have been
organizing a collection aimed at saving the most damaged and valuable
tombstones of this cemetery.
The largest necropolis in Toruń is
the Central Municipal Cemetery, established in 1973, located in the
northern part of the city and covering an area of 27.84 ha.
Toruń
monuments
The most famous and characteristic monument in Toruń is the
statue of Nicolaus Copernicus standing on the Old Town Square.
Moreover, in Toruń there are numerous smaller monuments, sculptures,
commemorative stones, plaques, art installations and others.
Professional sports clubs
KS Toruń S.A. – speedway (extraleague)
KS Toruń HSA – ice hockey (Ekstraklasa – Polish Hockey League)
Energa
Toruń – women's basketball team (Ekstraklasa)
FC Toruń – futsal
(Ekstraklasa)
Energa KTS Toruń – table tennis (superleague)
KS
Pomorzanin Torun
field hockey section (1st league),
football
section (IV league),
boxing section
Building Torun
women's
volleyball section
fencing section
rowing section
Twarde
Pierniki Toruń – men's basketball team (Ekstraklasa)
TKP Elana Toruń
– football (3rd league)
AZS Toruń
men's handball section (II
league)
basketball section (II league)
rowing section
Angels
Toruń – American football (II league)
KS Start-Wisła Toruń – tennis
and figure skating on ice
MKS Axel Toruń – figure skating, curling
KS Laguna 24 Toruń – swimming
One of the largest sports facilities in Toruń is the sports and
entertainment hall at Bema Street, commissioned in 2014. The
multifunctional sports and entertainment facility is equipped with the
only permanent 200-metre long six-lane athletics track in the voivodship
and in the country, as well as a training track. In addition, the hall
has: an eight-lane straight track for sprints, a runway for long jumps,
triple jump, pole vault and high jump, as well as a shot put field. The
hall in Toruń is also adapted to team sports, such as: handball,
volleyball, basketball, indoor hockey, table tennis, indoor field
hockey, boxing, kickboxing, badminton, tennis, fencing, gymnastics and
sports acrobatics.
The second largest sports facility in the city
is Motoarena im. Mariana Rose, located in the western part of Toruń. It
is the most modern speedway stadium not only in Poland, but also in the
world. The length of the track is 325 meters, and the stands of the
stadium can seat about 15,000 fans. The facility opened in April 2009.
It hosts league games of Toruń speedway riders, as well as other black
sport competitions.
In Toruń there is also an indoor professional
ice rink Tor-Tor im. Józef Stogowski, currently the only such facility
in the province. The ice rink was built in 1960, and in 1986 the
facility was roofed. In the years 2004–2006, the facility was thoroughly
modernized. It serves Toruń hockey players and young Toruń skaters from
MKS Axel Toruń.