Industrial city, 98 km (61 miles) south of the capital, Warsaw. It flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries as a cloth-making centre at the crossroads of two major trade routes - greater Poland to Silesia, and Lithuania to the Ukraine. Today Radom is still an important manufacturing centre, lying on a railway junction, with engineering ans machine-building industries. It also makes fruit and vegetable products, glass, textiles, chemicals, electrical and leather goods.
Population 201 100
Rzeszow
Modern industrial city 153 km (95 miles) east of the city of Cracow. The medieval town at its heart was frequently looted - by Taters, Swedes and Austrians - but a fine 17th century Cistercian church survives. Since 1945, new factories have been set up there, making railway equipment, machinery, chemicals and clothing - and the city's population has more than quadrupled.
Population 134 500
Czestochowa (Chenstokhov; Czenstochau)
Industrial city and the country's chief pilgrimage centre. It lies in the south, 64 km (40 miles) north to the city of Katowice. Pilgrims flock to the richly adorned Jasna Gora (Hill of Light) Monastery founded in 1382 and now a symbol of polish nationalism. Its tower, 105 m (344 ft) tall, dominates the city, and its treasures include the Black Madonna, a Byzantine painting of our Lady of Czestochowa, said to have miraculous powers.
The mainly modern industrial area around the monastery produces iron and steel, textiles and paper.
Locals hypothesize that the legacy of Italian blood and culture in Cologne, colonized by the Romans more than 1500 years ago, makes the people more jovial and lighthearted. Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine.
Kolsch is not only the dialect spoken here but, also the name of their own top-fermented beer. There are more than 4,000 pubs, restaurant's and brewery taverns in Cologne.
Unlike many of the world's large cities, Cologne, with a population of over a million, gets better every day, there are more things to do and see, more new and innovative buildings... more
Travel is an opportunity to learn, whether geography, languages, history or other subjects.
Cologne is situated on the beautiful Rhine River.