Every design for Środa Wielkopolska

The Kolegiata pw. NMP Wniebowziętej rises over Środa Wielkopolska, a town south-east of Poznań whose name simply means Wednesday – the day of its medieval market. Until the name was extended, it was plain Środa; the regional adjective was added to tell it apart from Środa Śląska in Lower Silesia.

The Park Planty, the Park Łabędzie and the Park Strzelecki are where life slows down, and the Górka Wojtaszaka offers a view across the rooftops. Środa was a royal town and one of the largest in Greater Poland in the fifteenth century, when the regional assemblies of both the Kalisz and Poznań voivodeships began meeting here. Later it became an important centre of Polish resistance: during the Greater Poland uprising the largest insurgent camp was set up in the town, and the Pomnik Jana Henryka Dąbrowskiego keeps that spirit in view. The town also suffered greatly under German occupation, with executions on its own market square. A memorial marks the Miejsce założenia pierwszej drużyny harcerzy, where the first scout troop was formed.

For anyone who grew up here, the map holds the walk from the park to the market square and every short cut in between.