Every design for Gdańsk

Step through the Brama Wyżynna and old Gdańsk is all around you: the Town Hall, Artus Court, Neptune's Fountain, the Green Gate and, never far away, the water. Few places in Poland carry so many centuries within such a short walk.

The Bazylika Konkatedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny, St Mary's, is one of the largest brick churches in the world, and it says a great deal about the city that built it. Gdańsk was a Hanseatic port, the largest and richest city of the Polish Crown, and twice a free city. On 1 September 1939, the clash at Westerplatte made it one of the places where the Second World War began; decades later, the Solidarity movement was born here and helped bring down communism across Central Europe. Along the Motława, the Brama Żuraw and the old towers still mark out the harbour that made all of this possible.

Today the city welcomes millions of visitors, hosts St Dominic's Fair and the Amberif amber fair, and has become a UNESCO City of Literature. If your Gdańsk is the port, the beach or a flat above the old town, you know it was never only a backdrop.