Gliwice: Culture, Nature and Technological History

Discover the Palm House and park in your own way

The Municipal Palm House is the third-largest facility of its kind in Poland and is home to more than 6,000 specimens of flora and fauna. Four themed aquariums offer a closer look at this plant and animal life, including a 60,000-litre tank with fish from the Amazon Basin. If you’re particularly interested in aquariums, you’ll find a dedicated highlight here; if you’d like to explore the diversity of flora and fauna, you can think of the Palm House as a broader nature experience.

Fryderyk Chopin Park offers a different way to spend time outdoors. It covers about 6 hectares and invites you to stroll among impressive floral arrangements. The park also has a playground with slides, climbing structures, a carousel and a sandbox. You can combine your visit with a break while younger travellers enjoy the play facilities. The Palm House and the park appeal to different interests: aquariums and flora and fauna on the one hand, walks and floral arrangements on the other.

Experience technological history and culture

Gliwice Radio Tower combines a striking structure with a historic event. Its antenna tower is 111 metres high, and the buildings are part of the Silesian Route of Technical Monuments. In 1939, they were the scene of the so-called Gleiwitz incident: a staged attack by a German special unit on a German facility of its own. It was part of the propaganda and disinformation campaign preparing for the invasion of Poland. Visitors interested in 20th-century history can consider the site in this context, too.

Willa Caro brings a different era into view. This well-preserved 19th-century residence is designed in the style of Renaissance villa architecture. Willa Caro hosts temporary exhibitions, concerts, meetings, conferences and workshops accompanying exhibitions. Its varied programme makes it an interesting option for travellers who want to consider both architectural history and changing cultural events.

Zamek Piastowski is one of the oldest buildings in Gliwice. Its permanent exhibition, “Gliwice – a City of Many Cultures,” covers early history, ethnography, and the history of Gliwice and the Gliwice region. Zamek Piastowski also displays Japanese armour and samurai swords, as well as Chinese and Korean swords. Regional themes and exhibits from East Asia thus come together under one roof.

Technology and craftsmanship take centre stage at the Artistic Foundry Department. The facility is located in the former machine hall of the “Gliwice” coal mine, built between 1912 and 1914. Its modern, interactive and multimedia permanent exhibition is devoted to artistic cast iron. The exhibits are mainly products of the Gliwice Royal Iron Foundry from the 19th century. The combination of a historic machine hall and an exhibition on cast iron offers a distinctive perspective on industrial and art history.

The Upper Silesian Jews Memorial House is a branch of the Muzeum w Gliwicach and is housed in a former mortuary dating from 1902–1903. More than 600 tombstones have been preserved in the Jewish cemetery next to the former mortuary. The building and cemetery point to different aspects of Jewish history and remembrance in Gliwice.

Consider the canal and your journey when planning

A trip on the water is another option in Gliwice: Marina Gliwice in Łabędy offers passenger trips along the Gliwice Canal aboard the Foxtrot passenger boat. When choosing what to do, you can weigh up exhibitions and historic sites on the one hand against a canal trip on the other. The A1 and A4 motorways also intersect in Gliwice. If you’re travelling by car, you can take this transport information into account alongside the experiences that matter most to you.

Whether you’re more interested in nature and aquariums, local history, technology, places of remembrance or a trip along the canal, choosing a focus can help you tailor your stay in Gliwice to your own interests. You can then focus your search for a holiday apartment on Gliwice, rather than choosing solely on the basis of a general destination.

Discover more places

You can also explore these places: Przyszowice, Gleiwitz, Sośnicowice, Knurów, Bojszów, Pyskowice, Poniszowice, Chudów, Paczynka, Paniówki, Niewiesze and Rudziniec.

For the broader travel overview: Silesia.