Sightseeing in Lednica and Gniezno

Today's sightseeing started with a trip to Lednica, a reconstruction of an 18th century village. Original structures were brought to the site to construct a full picture of a village from that era. Both the way of living under Russian rule (poorer living) and Prussian rule (wealthier side) were represented. Our guides today were Lydia, a probation officer from Posnan, and Jarik, a probation officer from Gniezno who has also worked as a tourguide at this site.







Next we visited the town of Gniezno, the country's first capitol 1000 years ago. We saw the old market area of the town and visted the Gneizno Cathedral. This cathedral is very important to Polish Catholics, and is connected with the origins of Polish Christianity in 966. The highest bishops are buried here, and Pope John Paul II visited the site twice during his reign, once in 1979 and once in 1997. Note in these pictures the size of the cathedral. We were able to climb to the top of the highest steeple to enjoy the view. The steeples are 64 meters tall, about 210 feet or 20 stories in the air.







We also had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in the Rynek Square in Gniezno. This is a restaurant frequented by presidents of many countries when they visit Poland.



We completed our day by being received at the home of Chief Probation Officer Irena Scostak. We were met with great hospitality, served with coffee, cakes, and other treats. She shared with us the various artifacts she has collected from the many countries throughout the world that she has visited.