Editing Bydgoszcz (section)

== Main sights ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
The oldest building in the city is the [[Bydgoszcz Cathedral|Cathedral of St Martin and St Nicolas]], commonly known as Fara Church. It is a three-aisle late Gothic church, erected between 1466 and 1502, which boasts a late-Gothic painting entitled ''Madonna with a Rose'' or ''the Holy Virgin of Beautiful Love'' from the 16th century. The colourful 20th-century polychrome is also especially worthy of note.

[[File:Bdg wiezacisnien 2 07-2013.jpg|thumb|upright|19th-century water tower]]

The [[Poor Clares' Church, Bydgoszcz|Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin]], commonly referred to as "The Church of [[Poor Clares]]," is a famous landmark of the city. It is a small, Gothic-Renaissance (including [[Neo-Renaissance]] additions), single-aisle church built between 1582 and 1602. The interior is rather austere since the church has been stripped of most of its furnishings. This is not a surprising fact, considering that in the 19th century the Prussian authorities dissolved the [[Order of Poor Ladies|Order of St Clare]] and turned the church into a warehouse, among other uses. Nonetheless, the church is worth visiting. In particular, the original wooden polychrome ceiling dating from the 17th century draws the attention of every visitor.

[[File:Bdg SpichrzStrPort 7 07-2013.jpg|thumb|left|The Old Port Granary built in 1835]]

''Wyspa Młyńska'' ([[Mill Island in Bydgoszcz|Mill Island]]) is among the most spectacular and atmospheric places in Bydgoszcz. What makes it unique is the location in the very heart of the city centre, just a few steps from the old Market Square. It was the 'industrial' centre of Bydgoszcz in the Middle Ages and for several hundred years thereafter, and it was here that the famous [[Bydgoszcz Mint|royal mint]] operated in the 17th century. Most of the buildings which can still be seen on the island date from the 19th century, but the so-called ''Biały Spichlerz'' (the White Granary) recalls the end of the 18th century. However, it is the water, footbridges, historic red-brick tenement houses reflected in the rivers, and the greenery, including old chestnut trees, that create the unique atmosphere of the island.

[[File:Bdg hotel Pod Orlem 2 07-2013.jpg|thumb|[[Hotel Pod Orlem, Bydgoszcz|Hotel Pod Orlem]]]]

[[Hotel "Pod Orlem" in Bydgoszcz|"Hotel pod Orłem"]] (The Eagle Hotel), an icon of the city's 19th-century architecture, was designed by the distinguished Bydgoszcz architect Józef Święcicki, the author of around sixty buildings in the city. Completed in 1896, it served as a hotel from the very beginning and was originally owned by Emil Bernhardt, a hotel manager educated in Switzerland. Its façade displays forms characteristic of the Neo-baroque style in architecture.

[[St. Vincent de Paul Basilica Minor in Bydgoszcz|Saint Vincent de Paul's Basilica]], erected between 1925 and 1939, is the largest church in Bydgoszcz and one of the biggest in Poland. It can accommodate around 12,000 people. This monumental church, modeled after the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in Rome, was designed by the Polish architect Adam Ballenstaedt. The most characteristic element of the neo-classical temple is the reinforced concrete dome 40 metres in diameter.

The [[Grodzka Street in Bydgoszcz#Grain Granaries|three granaries]] in [[Grodzka Street in Bydgoszcz|Grodzka Street]], picturesquely located on the Brda River near the old Market Square, are the official symbol of the city. Built at the turn of the 19th century, they were originally used to store grain and similar products, but now house exhibitions of the city's Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum.

The building of the former [[Prussian Eastern Railway Headquarters, Bydgoszcz|Prussian Eastern Railway Headquarters]] erected between 1886 and 1889 in Dutch Mannierist style is another notable structure in the city. Initially it served as a headquarters of the Prussian Eastern Railway and later it belonged to the Polish State Railways. Since 2022 it is privately owned.

The city is mostly associated with water, sports, [[Art Nouveau]] buildings, waterfront, music, and urban greenery. Bydgoszcz boasts the largest city park in Poland (830 ha). The city was also once famous for its industry.

Some great monuments have been destroyed, for example, the church in the Old Market Square and the [[Former Municipal Theatre in Bydgoszcz|Municipal Theatre]]. Additionally, the Old Town lost a few characteristic tenement houses, including the western frontage of the Market Square. The city also lost its Gothic castle and defensive walls. In Bydgoszcz, there are a great number of villas in the style of typical [[Garden city movement|garden suburbs]].

[[File:Widok z mostu Sulimy-Kamińskiego w Bydg zmierzch panorama1.jpg|thumb|800px|center|Buildings on the Brda River at dusk, with the 2004 Tightrope sculpture.]]