Main City (, ) is the central, historic part of

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

's borough of Śródmieście. Unlike the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

and the

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

, the area was rebuilt after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 ...

Artus Court The Artus Court (; ; formerly also ''Junkerhof'') is a building in the centre of Gdańsk at Długi Targ 44, which used to be the meeting place of merchants and a centre of social life. Today it is a point of interest of numerous visitors and a b ...

, Main City Hall, the Royal Road, Long Lane and Long Market. The Main City is located on the western bank of

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

. 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 Granary Island (, , ) is an island in the district (dzielnica) Śródmieście of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. It is located east of the Main City. The island is enclosed by the Motława from the west and New Motława from the east. It is one of ...

to the east, across Motława. It was founded in 1343 by the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

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 (; ; ) was a legal constitution for a municipal form of government used in several Central European cities in the Middle Ages and early modern period. It was initiated on 28 December 1233 in the Monastic State o ...

, and was governed separately until 1457, when king

Casimir IV of Poland Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

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 Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

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 called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

References

See also