English Speaking Tour Guide in Kazimierz Dolny

23/06/2024

This coming Saturday, the 29th of June, we will host two walks. We kindly welcome you to participate. 😀
10.00 am: Free Walking Tour
Please, make your reservation through our website: www.martinscitytours.com
02.00 pm: Explore Lublin with a Guide | Lublin Historic Centre Tour
For tickets, visit www.lublininfo.com/en/explore-lublin-with-a-guide.
Obviously, you can also book us for Private Tours in Lublin, Majdanek, Kazimierz Dolny, Zamość, Sobibór, and Bełżec. Transportation can be included.

24/03/2024

Spring has started 🌷🪻🌞, which is a great reason to book a tour with us. Isn't it? 😀
We host tours in Lublin (multiple routes), Kazimierz Dolny, Zamość, Majdanek, Bełżec, and Sobibór? It is maybe good to know that we have also Polish-speaking guides on our team. For more information, please check www.martinscitytours.com.

31/12/2023

Here are the last pictures of our 2023 tours. Martin's City Tours wish you all the best for 2024 🎉🍾🎊

If your New Year's intentions are to join one of our walks in Lublin Zamosc, and/or Kazimierz Dolny, please find our upcoming tours mentioned below. Or feel free to contact us to book a private tour.

06/06/2023

We have new walks 🚶‍♀️🚶🚶‍♂️ scheduled for the weekend. Please, feel free to join 😍

- Saturday 10/06 at 10.00 am, Free Walking Tour
Make your reservation through: https://martinscitytours.com/.../lublin-free-walking-tours/

- Saturday 10/06 at 02.00 pm, Explore Lublin with a Guide | PRL - Communism in Poland/Lublin
For tickets: https://lublininfo.com/en/explore-lublin-with-a-guide/

21/05/2023

14/10/2021

On October 14, we celebrate 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓝𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓔𝓭𝓾𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓓𝓪𝔂 in Poland, also known as 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓣𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓻'𝓼 𝓓𝓪𝔂.

This holiday was established in 1972 with the creation of the Charter of Teachers' Rights and Responsibilities Act.

Teachers' Day commemorates the anniversary of the establishment of the National Education Commission in 1773 on the initiative of King Stanisław August Poniatowski.

On that day, there are no lessons in Polish schools. Instead, students take part in special events and meetings.

`•.¸¸.•´´¯`••._.• 🎀 𝐻𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓎 𝒯𝑒𝒶𝒸𝒽𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝒟𝒶𝓎❣ 🎀 •._.••`¯´´•.¸¸.•`

14/06/2021

On June 14, 1940, the Germans transported a group of 728 Poles from the prison in Tarnów to the Auschwitz Camp, including soldiers from the September Campaign. It was the first mass transport of prisoners to the newly established camp. This day is considered to be the beginning of the activities of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In 2006, the Seym paid tribute to the victims of all N**i crimes and established June 14 as 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕹𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑 𝕯𝖆𝖞 𝖔𝖋 𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖁𝖎𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖒𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝕹𝖆𝖟𝖎 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝕮𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖘.

The resolution recalled the names of the Sejm deputies from the times of the Second Polish Republic who lost their lives in Auschwitz.

In Lublin, the buildings of the Majdanek camp (KL Lublin) have survived to this day. Its creation was related to the plans of Germanization of Eastern Europe. According to these plans, Majdanek was to be a source of workforce. It was intended for prisoners of various nationalities.

About 150,000 people passed through the camp. The latest research by Tomasz Kranz shows that 78,000 victims were killed, 59,000 of whom were Jews.

Ex*****on of prisoners of war, the sick, the weakened, and incapable of work (especially women and children) was on the agenda.

From the turn of September and October 1942 to September 1943, gas chambers were in operation, in which Jews were killed, as well as people who were sick and unable to work. The transports came by trucks or on foot from the Lublin railway station. It is estimated that about 50% of the arriving Jewish transports were immediately gassed. The co**se was cremated and the remains were ground into bone meal. Then it was transported as fertilizer to the nearby SS farm. Some of them were used to produce garden compost.

08/05/2021

Lublin - Z lotu ptaka

03/05/2021

Today marks the 230th anniversary of the ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝟛 𝕄𝕒𝕪, the second in the world 🌍 and the first in Europe written constitution.

What was May 3, 1️⃣7️⃣9️⃣1️⃣ like❓ Let's look at this day through the eyes of the Polish 🇵🇱 painter Jan Matejko.

The constitution was passed in the Royal Castle 🏰 in Warsaw in the Seym hall. Later, it was sworn in at St. John's church. The painter wanted to present in his work something that would be most characteristic of this event. He chose a scene that takes place between the Castle and the Church.

Did such a march actually take place❓Yes. At the request of King 👑 Stanisław August, after the adoption of the Constitution in the Castle, politicians went to the collegiate church of St. John to swear a new Constitution before God.

Please note that the painting 🖼️ does not represent a single historical moment. The painter's intention was to capture "the whole fact". In a painted scene, he wanted to tell about the events that preceded the main event and show events that followed. It was a great challenge❗

Matejko included people who participated in this event and those who have a symbolic meaning. The most obvious figures in the painting include: the Marshal of the Seym Stanisław Małachowski, carried on the shoulders (in a bright costume), King 👑 Stanisław August walking up the stairs to the church 🏰 (in a red coat) and behind him (in a black cassock) Hugo Kołłątaj, co-author of the constitution.

The king is greeted by the president of Old Warsaw, Jan Dekert, at the entrance to the temple. However, Dekert died a year before the Constitution was passed ... Is it a painter's mistake❓ No, this is obviously a deliberate procedure. Dekert fought for the rights of the townspeople. Such rights were enshrined in the Constitution. It is therefore a symbol of the events preceding its enactment.

On the right side of the painting, a young Prince Józef Poniatowski, the king's nephew. Prince Józef did command the army protecting the Castle that day, but he is also a symbol of future events. The prince will be the commander in the Polish-Russian war of the next year in defense of the Constitution. Likewise, the figure of Tadeusz Kościuszko (visible under Stanisław Małachowski's elbow) is a symbol of future events. Kościuszko's head is wrapped in a bloody bandage. It is an allusion to the wounds he would suffer in the lost Battle of Maciejowice during the 1794 uprising.

Before the parade with Małachowski being carried in the mountain, Matejko placed a lying nobleman tugging the child 👦. This scene happened in the Seym hall. Deputy Jan Suchorzewski, bribed by Russia, did everything to disrupt the deliberations. He even went so far as to threaten to kill his child if the Constitution was passed. Matejko also shows us how Suchorzewski was paid by the Russians: he was allowed to win cards.

Jan Matejko decided to offer Poles 🇵🇱🦅, on the hundredth anniversary, a work commemorating the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May. Matejko started painting the picture quite late, in January 1891. The beginning of work is sketching characters from live models, then painting architecture, costumes and refining faces. In May, the painting was not finished yet, but Matejko decided on the extraordinary - he allowed the unfinished work to be exhibited. The painting was presented to the public on May 3 in the Cloth Hall in Krakow. In the following months, the painter finished his work on the canvas.

Picture: "The Constitution of May 3, 1791" by Jan Matejko

02/05/2021

On May 2, we celebrate the Polish National Flag Day 🇵🇱. Do you know why the Polish flag is white and red?

Both in the past and today, colors were given meaning. White symbolized purity, order and nobility 🤴. Red was a symbol of fire 🔥 and blood, it also meant courage and bravery. For a long time, red was a privileged color, it was used by the most dignified and richest 💰. It was expensive to get a permanent red color. The red dye was made from the secretions of insects called scots ("czerwce" in Polish) hence the color's name ("czerwony" in Polish).

White and red appeared as national colors for the first time in 1792, during the celebration of the first anniversary of the Constitution on May 3. The ladies wore white dresses 👗girdled with red sashes, and the gentlemen wore white and red sashes. The Seym of the Kingdom 👑 of Poland, debating during the November Uprising on February 7, 1831, recognized white and red as national colors.

After regaining independence, on August 1, 1919, the Legislative Sejm passed the act on national emblems and colors, in which it was written: "The colors of the Republic of Poland are white and red, in longitudinal parallel stripes, the top of which is ˗ white, and the bottom ˗ red."

After twenty years of freedom, the Polish flag disappeared from public space. During the German 🇩🇪 occupation, displaying national symbols was punishable by severe punishment. Despite this, there have been numerous cases of celebrating forbidden national holidays with the use of the Polish flag. During the Warsaw Uprising, a specially marked white and red armband, worn on the right arm, replaced the Polish uniform.

The Polish National Flag Day is a holiday that was implemented under the Act of February 20, 2004 and is celebrated annually on May 2️⃣, since 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣4️⃣. The date of this holiday was not set by chance, namely it was to accompany Poles in the time of reflection between May 1 (known as the Labor Day) and May 3 (3 May Constitution Day). The aim of this holiday is to pay respect to the symbol of Poland.

14/04/2021

Today is the Ｂａｐｔｉｓｍ ｏｆ Ｐｏｌａｎｄ Ｄａｙ. 1055 years ago, Poland 🇵🇱 became a Christian state.

Poland was baptized in 9️⃣6️⃣6️⃣. Then prince Mieszko I became a Catholic, and Poland became a Christian state recognized by its neighbours. The young Polish state emerged from the crisis and joined a completely new cultural and civilization zone. The act of baptism is considered to be the symbolic beginning of the state and the Polish Catholic Church.

The exact date of Poland's baptism is unknown. It is assumed that it was April 14, 966. This day fell on Holy Saturday, which was traditionally the day when baptisms 💦 were held.

The exact place where the baptism of Poland took place is unknown. The chronicler Jan Długosz pointed to . There are also sources which say that was the place of baptism of Poland. According to archaeologists, the baptism of Poland took place in one of the seats of Prince Mieszko I. The ceremony could take place in Gniezno, Poznań and Ostrów Lednicki.

The first the Baptism of Poland Day was celebrated in 2019.

Picture 🖼️: "Introduction of Christianity of the Republic of Poland 965" - an oil painting by Jan Matejko, painted between January 13 and February 7, 1889. Initially, it was to be titled Baptism of King Mieczysław, but finally Matejko decided to present the introduction of Western civilization to the lands of Polan with the arrival of the Czech princess Dobrawa next to the baptism scene, which took place in 965 - hence the date in the title of the work. Currently, the painting is owned by the National Museum in Warsaw, but is on deposit at the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

#966