Metravel city quest
City Gniezno: free walking route “Quest: Lech and the White Eagle” along the sights. 12 points. Approximately 2 h 10 min. Quests and legends - straight from
Every country begins somewhere. Poland, according to legend, began right here, with a single glance upward.
The chieftain Lech, in later retellings together with his brothers Czech and Rus, was leading his tribe in search of land. One evening he stopped among the hills and lakes and saw a huge nest in an old tree, with a white eagle and her chicks in it. The eagle spread its wings, and against the red sunset sky the bird flared white. Lech took it as a sign: “Zbudujmy tutaj gniazdo”, “let us build our nest here”. He named the stronghold Gniezno, from the word gniazdo, and took the white eagle on a red field as his emblem. So says the thirteenth-century Great Poland Chronicle, and ever since, the eagle from that sunset has never flown away: it is still on the coat of arms of the country.
Historians, of course, shrug: the city was named after the ordinary word “nest”. But even without the legend this land has royal credentials: the first stronghold of the Polish princes, the first archbishopric, a cathedral where five kings were crowned, and the relics of a saint bought back for their weight in gold.
You will walk right through Gniezno, following the trail of the legend: from the shore of Lake Jelonek, where bronze Lech is still looking out for his nest, past Lech Hill and the cathedral, to the Market Square and the squares of the kings. Along the way you will be led by little bronze guides, but more about them later, it is a local secret.
The route is flat and compact, a little over two kilometres, about two hours including a visit inside the cathedral. We start on the western shore of Lake Jelonek, at the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State (Kostrzewskiego 1 street).
The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.
We start at the building that holds Poland's “birth certificate”. The Museum of the Origins of the Polish State is the archaeology of the first Piasts: weapons and jewellery from the local strongholds, relics of the very Gniezno of the tenth century, models and multimedia stories about how a state gathered from the tribes above the lakes.
Opening hours: daily, no days off: May–September 9:00–18:00, October–April 9:00–16:00; the ticket office closes 15 minutes before closing · Ticket: 14 PLN, reduced 10 PLN; free admission on Sundays
Here he is, the founder: bronze Lech, the work of the sculptor Jarosław Bogucki, stands above the shore of Jelonek, at the end of the slope from Poznańska Street.
From Lech the path leads along the shore and brings you to the foot of Lech Hill, the very one we are heading for. But before climbing, here is the promised local secret.
Climb the hill and a king will meet you. Bolesław the Brave, son of Mieszko I, became the first crowned ruler of Poland in 1025, and the crown was placed on him here, in the Gniezno cathedral.
Before you is the heart of Gniezno and one of the main shrines of the country. The Gothic red-brick cathedral stands on the site of churches built here since the tenth century, and it keeps the story for which pilgrims have been coming here for a thousand years.
Opening hours: cathedral tourist sites: Mon–Sat 9:00–17:00 (summer) / until 16:00 (winter); closed to tourists on Sundays · Ticket: Gniezno Doors 16 PLN (reduced 14), undercroft 14/12 PLN, viewing tower 12/10 PLN, combined ticket for everything 48/42 PLN
From the cathedral go a little higher, to the very crown of the hill, to the modest church of St Jerzy (George). Do not let the Baroque facade fool you: you are standing on the oldest spot in Gniezno.
Go down the hill to Tumska Street, the main axis of old Gniezno, linking the cathedral with the Market Square. Kings rode into the city along it, pilgrims walked along it, and we are walking along it now.
Tumska brings you out onto the Market Square, a cosy cobbled square on Panieńska Hill, one of the seven hills of Gniezno. The city, like Rome, stands on seven hills and is proud of it.
The exam is passed, so you can have a bite to eat. The Market Square in Gniezno is also the city's main “canteen”: cafes and pastry shops at every step.
From the Market Square dive into the little streets to the north-east, to the crossing of Kilińskiego, Grzybowo and Krzywe Koło, where the second king of Poland is waiting. Gniezno has placed statues of all five monarchs crowned in its cathedral around the city, and this one is Mieszko II Lambert, son of the Brave.
Now along Grzybowo to the south-east, to the little square at the crossing of Dąbrówki and Łubieńskiego, where the third king stands, Bolesław II. History gave him two nicknames at once, and both were earned.
The last stop is two steps away, on the little square by the garrison church. Here stands the man without whom Gniezno would have remained just a stronghold on a hill: Saint Wojciech.
This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.