Łódź

Poland's "Manchester of textiles": the red-brick factories reborn as Manufaktura and the long, mural-covered Piotrkowska Street, while the film school and palaces tell the story of its industrial tycoons.

Łódź lies in central Poland, about 130 km from Warsaw; it is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship and the country's third-largest city. In the 19th century it grew rapidly from a small village into the largest textile-industry center of Russian Poland, as German, Jewish, Polish and Russian capitalists competed to build factories and palaces, earning it the nicknames "the Polish Manchester" and "the Promised Land". During World War II the Łódź Ghetto was one of the longest-surviving ghettos; after the war the Łódź Film School trained great directors such as Wajda, Polański and Kieślowski, so the city is also known as the "City of Film" and is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Sightseeing centers on industrial heritage: Manufaktura and the Poznański Palace in the north, Piotrkowska Street running through the city with its courtyards and murals, and the Central Museum of Textiles in the White Factory and the Księży Młyn workers' estate in the south; add to that EC1 City of Culture, the Museum of Cinematography and Muzeum Sztuki. For Jewish history, visit the New Jewish Cemetery and Radegast Station; Orientarium Zoo in the west of the city has in recent years been the most popular attraction in the country. The best time to visit is May–Sep, when outdoor bars and restaurants and art festivals (such as the Light Move Festival and Łódź Design Festival) are in full swing; winters are cold, but museums and indoor attractions stay open. Getting there: trains from Warsaw take about 1.5 hours to Łódź Fabryczna station; the city has an extensive tram network, and the main sights can also be linked on foot. Allow 2 days. Most museums are closed on Mondays, and some are free on Thursdays.

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