Poznań
Poland's oldest cathedral, and two goats butting heads on the town hall at noon
- When to go
- October 11° · 9 rainy days
- Per day
- ~22 · 49 · 63 €budget · mid · comfort, per person · checked 24 Sep 2026
- How many days
- 2days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 7 km Poznań · 83 km Zielona Góra
- Right now
Poznań was, with Gniezno, one of the two centres of the first Polish state: the island of Ostrów Tumski holds the country's oldest cathedral. Two days cover the island, the square and June 1956.
The bishopric on Ostrów Tumski was founded in 968, two years after Mieszko's baptism, which may have taken place right here. The cathedral's Golden Chapel holds the tomb of Mieszko I and Bolesław the Brave. The island is a kilometre north-east of the Stary Rynek in a straight line, across the Warta, and Porta Posnania, just over the side channel in Śródka, tells its history without a single exhibit.
The Stary Rynek is the third-largest square in Poland, after Kraków's and Wrocław's, and was badly damaged in the fighting of 1945. The town hall in the middle was rebuilt in Renaissance style by 1560. The first clock with goats went up on the tower in 1551; the mechanism you watch today dates from 1913.
From 28 to 30 June 1956 the first mass uprising against communist rule in Poland broke out here: workers from the Cegielski factory marched, some hundred thousand people gathered in front of the Imperial Castle, and the army put the uprising down with tanks. Between 57 and more than a hundred people were killed, among them thirteen-year-old Romek Strzałkowski. The Polish October followed, and Poznań was kept out of print for a quarter of a century.
Guides for Poznań
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Poznań in 2 days
→The first day stays around the Stary Rynek and the 1956 museum, the second crosses the Warta to Ostrów Tumski and ends…
Day trips from Poznań
→A castle with an arboretum half an hour away, Poland's first capital an hour out, and a palace at the end of two buses…
Where to stay in Poznań
→The Stary Rynek puts everything within reach, Jeżyce is a quarter people live in rather than tour. The difference shows…
What Poznań costs
→Poznań is a cheap city to look at. The goats, the cathedral and both lakes cost nothing, and you only pay for what has…
Poznań beyond the goats: a croissant on stage, a fortress turned park and a quarter of murals
→A museum that stages a show instead of displaying exhibits, a fortress that stopped being one long ago, and a quarter…
What to eat in Poznań
→A croissant filled with white poppy seed, a set meal at a milk bar and grey dumplings with crackling. Three dishes that…
The best time to visit Poznań
→Poznań doesn't have one season but two dates: 11 November for the croissant, and 28 June for the memory of 1956…
Getting around Poznań
→Poznań has its own airport, one bus into the centre, and a city that's walkable after that. Only Malta needs a tram.
Mistakes everyone makes in Poznań
→Five mistakes that cost time in Poznań, and what to do instead.
What to see in Poznań
The goats at noon
They butt heads on the town hall tower every day at 12:00.
free
Porta Posnania
A centre on the beginnings of the state; a steel-and-glass footbridge leads from it to the island. Tuesday to Friday 9:00–18:00, weekends 10:00–19:00; closed on Mondays.
€7.99 · closed Monday
The June 1956 museum
On the ground floor of the Imperial Castle, admission €3.50, and on Sundays entry is free. The two-cross monument, raised at Solidarity's initiative, stands on the square outside.
€3.50 · closed Monday
The Golden Chapel
Inside the cathedral; the monument to Mieszko I and Bolesław the Brave is by Christian Daniel Rauch, paid for by Edward Raczyński.
free · closed during Mass and concerts
Rogal świętomarciński
A croissant filled with white poppy seed, for St Martin's Day, 11 November. Its name and recipe have been protected in the EU since 2008, and the earliest known advertisement for it dates from 1860.
€2.50–4
Lake Malta
An artificial lake of 1952, 2.2 km long, with a rowing course that hosted the canoe sprint world championships in 1990, 2001 and 2010.
free
Two things you probably did not know
Poznan is Poland's oldest city and its first capital. The first Polish rulers, Mieszko I and Boleslaw the Brave, are buried in the cathedral on Ostrow Tumski.
Two mechanical goats come out of the town hall at noon every day and butt heads twelve times. The mechanism has worked since 1551 and comes from a story about two goats that escaped a cook before a banquet.
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