Calle Dlugie Pobrzeze, Gdansk, Polonia, 2013-05-20, DD 07

Monumento Neptuno, Gdansk, Polonia, 2013-05-20, DD 02

Main City ( pl, Główne Miasto, german: Rechtstadt) is the central, historic part of Gdańsk's borough of Śródmieście. Unlike the Old Town and the New Town, the area was rebuilt after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and includes some of the city's best known historical monuments, including the St. Mary's basilica,

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...

, Artus Court, Main City Hall, the Royal Road, Long Lane and Long Market. Danzig Langen Markt und Rathaus (1890-1900)

The Main City is located on the western bank of

Motława Motława (; csb, Mòtława) is a river in Eastern Pomerania in Poland. The source is in Szpęgawskie Lake, northeast from the town of Starogard Gdański. It goes through Rokickie Lake to Martwa Wisła, a branch of the Vistula. The total lengt ...

. It is surrounded by the Old Town to the north, the Stare Przedmieście to the south, the borough of Nowe Ogrody to the east and the Granary Island to the east, across Motława. It was founded in 1343 by the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians o ...

who had conquered the area in 1308. Officially a separate settlement from the nearby city (since then called the Old Town), it was chartered with

Kulm Law Kulm law, Culm law or Chełmno Law (german: Kulmer Recht; lat, Jus Culmense vetus; pl, Prawo chełmińskie) was a legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities during the Middle Ages. It was initia ...

, and was governed separately until 1457, when king

Casimir IV of Poland Casimir is classically an English, French and Latin form of the Polish name Kazimierz. Feminine forms are Casimira and Kazimiera. It means "proclaimer (from ''kazać'' to preach) of peace (''mir'')." List of variations *Belarusian: Казі ...

granted the town with the ''Great Privilege'', uniting the Main City with the Old Town and the suburb of Osiek. From then onwards the Main City shared its history with the rest of Gdańsk. In 19th century many houses in the largely mediaeval and renaissance part of Gdańsk received new, Gothic revival façades in line with a trend in Germany tying this style to "German spirit". During World War II the Main City was often targeted by Allied bombing raids. It received further damage during and immediately after the Siege of Danzig in the spring of 1945. Altogether, approximately 90% of all buildings in the Main City were destroyed. Despite serious opposition to the idea, in 1949 Polish authorities decided to rebuild the Main City, with most of its historical landmarks. However, instead of reconstructing the city to the way it looked immediately before World War II, various landmarks were restored to historical and quasi-historical forms alluding to their renaissance look, in order to underline the city's ties with Poland, but also to emphasize Gdańsk's rich multi-cultural tradition, with Flemish, Italian and French influences. In addition, Polish architects got rid of the largely mediaeval dense urban fabric and reconstructed mostly the façades along the main streets, while annexes, second and third rows of houses with their courtyards were replaced by larger open spaces, in line with contemporary understanding of

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

References

See also