Katowice

Katowice (pronounce: , original former Polish name K?towicze, Czech Katovice, German Kattowitz) is an important city of the historical region of Upper Silesia in southern Poland on the Klodnica and Rawa rivers.

Modern landmarks

Katowice center has many Art Nouveau (Secesja) buildings. Its suburbs contain many communist style blocks.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Katowice's Rynek is the old center and marketplace of the city. Unfortunately many old buildings were demolished in the 1950s to make place for communist modern buildings. Today the communist designs are considered ugly and there are plans to demolish them and rebuild the old, classic town center. Several streets around the rynek and the rynek itself are now closed to traffic and have been made into a shopping promenades.
• Theatre of Stanislaw Wyspianski, a large theatre, situated next to the Rynek
• Rondo is the large square/roundabout, currently being reconstructed.
• Monument of the Silesian Insurrectionists (Polish: Pomnik Powsta?ców ?l?skich), situtated next to Rondo, is a large monument dedicated to the memory of the Silesian Uprisings of early 1920s
• The Spodek is a large sports centre/concert hall, whose name translates as the 'saucer', from its distinctive shape resembling a UFO flying saucer.
• Dworzec G?ówny - the main Katowice train station is a large, distinctive post WWII building near the rynek. There are plans to raze and rebuild it after the reconstruction of the rondo and rynek.
• TVP Katowice Tower