Łódź - GRAD HARMONIJE I KONTRASTA

Autorica teksta i fotografija: Aleksandra Iga Misztalska

Nakon vrlo čitanog dnevnika putovanja Istrom, naša redovna suradnica, Erasmus studentica iz Poljske, Aleksandra Iga Misztalska pripremila je putne preporuke za svoje kolege iz Hrvatske koji žele posjetiti Poljsku i grad u kojem studira - Łódź. Posjetimo zajedno ovaj grad bogate industrijske baštine i turbulentne prošlosti, koji se, zahvaljujući kulturi i kreativnim industrijama, pretvara u novi centar inovacija, znanosti i suvremene umjetnosti.

What to visit in Lodz?

Lodz is a place of harmony and contrasts, you can hear different opinions about this city, and the true fact is that there are some places that are not perfect-looking. I would like to write a subjective guide of this city, as I know this city very well, I used to live 30 kilometers from Lodz and now, since I study and live there, I really noticed the beauty and uniqueness of this city. I will divide my story into 4 sections- places presenting old times of Lodz, the food I recommend to eat, main attractions of Lodz and museums. I also would like tell something about public transport and what I think is the best to do at night there.

The industrial past

So, to begin with, Lodz used to be an industrial city with a lot of mills and we can still witness evidences of it. The first place that is worth visiting is Księży Młyn (which translates to English as Priest’s Mill) and it is a section of textile factories. The whole institution was built long before 1824. There is still an area of blocks and buildings where people who worked in these factories lived (there the living conditions were really bad)- what is interesting, some of these places remained almost unchanged to these days, some were restored and now became the high-quality apartments and business institutions complexes.

Antisemitism and Jewish Parts of Lodz

Next, I want to explain the Lodz within the context of old times and antisemitism. Then most Jews who lived in Lodz died because of the Nazi crimes. There is the Independence Heritage Museum, where you can follow the history of Polish Jews living in Lodz. To this day, you can notice multiple buildings that used to be homes for most of Jews. It is not a pretty history, but for sure the true one. And the other place that is connected a lot with history of Jews and antisemitism, is the Old Town- there most of the Jews lived, there was the ghetto. What is more, you can find Jewish cemetery, the resting place of innocent men, women and children. 

Piotrkowska Street- where to go, what to eat

Now I would like to describe one of the most popular places in Lodz, which is Piotrkowska Street- unique, one of the longest streets in the Europe. This is a center of everything, and that’s why I want to say, that on Piotrkowska Street you can find everything, seriously – from restaurants, bars, parks, cafetières, clubs, shops, shops where you can find extraordinary souvenirs, connected to both Poland and Lodz. There are jewelry shops, also little shops where you can buy everything at a low price, even household appliances. 

Let me tell you then what places do I recommend to visit on Piotrkowska Street: 

Breadnia Restaurant- there is everything, from pastas, pizzas, desserts, Italian cuisine, polish one, even wonderful drinks! Also, the atmosphere is amazing. 

Off Piotrkowska – there is a complex of postindustrial buildings that became a food court. There are not only bars and restaurants, but every summer there is an outdoor cinema. This place looks amazing at night when all the lights are shining, that view is uncanny. 

Chmielowa Dolina Shisha Pub- a place with a wonderful, mostly jazz music, there you can smoke shisha and drink craft beer There is a wide range of choices, so for sure you will find something for yourself. 

Pizzeria Forno Nero- there is the most delicious pizza I've ever eaten In Lodz, great choice for going out with your friends. This place is located in the tenement house, which is great, due to the fact that the whole street is full of this kind of apartment houses, you can get see how the Lodz looks like inside the yards that are a significant part of Piotrkowska Street. Plot twist Is that behind the gates it is easy to get lost or just went to the wrong gate, so you better be careful.

Speaking of clubs, I don’t know many of them and I don’t know if there's anything I can recommend, not because they're bad, but I just don’t go there. Nevertheless, if you want to have fun, you can try out bars with good music, like Chmielowa Dolina or Casablanca.

And if you want to listen to a good music, work on your job/school stuff, Etno Café is a perfect place for it. They serve amazingly delicious coffee there; it is a good place to work because of its formal design that will prompt you to get down to business. 

Pasaż Róży (Passage of Roses)- it is a place where the buildings are covered with shards of glass. That looks fabulous, especially in the daytime! For me it’s the most beautiful spot in the whole city.

At the end of Piotrkowska Street there is a Freedom Square with a statue of Kosciuszko in the center of it. Around It there is also a few fancy restaurants, from which you can take a look at the enormous square.

Manufaktura

And not far from the Freedom Square is a second most popular place in the city- Manufaktura.
It’s the biggest shopping mall in the city, but also the largest public square, an art venue for both sport and cultural events- many events and festivals take place there. The total area of this place is 27 hectares (67 acres). This place looks like that after renovation of the old textile factory building, the whole area was a former industrial area and it was founded by Izrael Poznański, who I will introduce later.

 In Manufaktura there is many attractions other than clothing stores, for example a cinema, laser games center, climbing wall, center of experiments. In Manufaktura there is also a museum of contemporary art, there is a lot of displays that are extraordinary, also there you can see who were the famous artists born in Lodz, for example Władysław Strzemiński or Katarzyna Kobro. This museum is called MS2, and that name is a translation of “Museum of Contemporary art, part 2”, because the first branch is placed few streets away from the second one. There is a place with a very low prize per ticket, but this museum is visited and recommended to sightsee by a lot of people.

Museums - Izrael Poznanski’s Palace

And the best part I left for the end of my guide. There will be museums that I suggest to explore. Honestly, in Lodz you can find a lot of museums and I believe that there are museums for everybody. But I will first say about Izrael Poznański’s Palace, who was the richest Jew in Lodz. This location was built in 19th century. Izrael Poznański was the one who made a fortune on cotton industry. In a Palace there is a museum of city of Lodz, also a beautiful, huge garden with a large area to walk around. It shows a huge contrast, compared to the fact that the area of former ghetto and the old city is nearby. But it's no wonder that this place is so huge, as it belonged to the wealthiest man in Lodz.

Following the steps of film masters and Museum of Textiles 

I would love to recommend places like Museum of Textiles and Museum of Cinematography in Lodz, as these two places simply fall into the idea of Lodz as a city that is film and textile-industry oriented. In Museum of Textiles there is a lot of displays connected to variety of textiles, this area is placed in a palace that is next to the Park of Reymont, where there is a beautiful pond and simply a place where you can chill out, walk, read a book and enjoy the sense of belonging to the nature. In a museum of textiles students often have a chance to take part in certain events, even create them by themselves with a little help from people who have more experience in this area.

Another venue is a Museum of Cinematography, this is a place where you can get into a spirit of movies and cinematography, as Lodz is a Film City according to the UNESCO, so it is a prestigious distinction. In this place you can learn about the evolution of a movie industry, how much has changed to today. Also, there a lot of fairies for children were created. This place is special, because is very close to the film school, which is one of the best film schools in the world and many world-class specialists was taught there how to do their profession. Last thing I wanted to talk about is how great our public transport is- we have trams and buses that go almost everywhere, even to the suburbs of the city, we have buses that run the whole night, 24/7. The prices for public transport are not high, even outside the city if you want to go on a trip to the capital city (Warsaw) for example. 

For me, it is obvious that Lodz is full of very old buildings that can collapse any time, but these places have history, history of people who suffered for years, history of Lodz which was destroyed and people lost their homes. People, Jews, who really helped our community, but even today there are some Poles that don’t know the history of Lodz and discriminate those people. But I know that every little venue has its own, unique history. Just like the whole city of Lodz.

Visit the photo gallery: Aleksandra Iga Misztalska - Lodz travelogue