The Polish city of Bialystok, being the cultural center of the Belarusian minority and one of the centers of the Polish Orthodox Church, celebrates Christmas twice a year: together with all of Poland on December 25 and together with the Orthodox world on January 7. During the Christmas holidays, magnificent fairs are not arranged here, as in Europe, but the city itself is one continuous fair with many markets, including a night one, with huge shopping centers, expensive boutiques and very inexpensive shops. And tourists from all the surrounding lands tend to come here for shopping, especially on sales days. Here you can buy literally everything from electronics and household appliances to inexpensive jewelry made of amber and coral.
Throughout the history of its existence, the city has repeatedly changed its state affiliation. He was Polish, Lithuanian, Prussian, Belarusian and Russian. From time immemorial, representatives of many peoples have lived in it: Tatars, Jews, Germans, Belarusians, Gypsies. It even houses the Central Rada of Roma, which publishes its own newspaper in Polish and Roma. It seems quite natural that it was in such a multinational city that the future creator of the international language Esperanto, Ludwig Zamenhof, was born and raised.
During the Christmas holidays, you can spend time here without fuss, in the romantic atmosphere of this unusual city. In the center of it is one of the oldest markets in Poland - triangular, so named for its shape. Here you can buy both fresh food and handicrafts. And in the middle of the market is the old Baroque Town Hall. Now it houses the city museum. The main city street, Lipovaya, leads to the Branitsky Palace - the pride of the townspeople. The late Baroque palace is surrounded by a beautiful landscape park. This place is called the Polish Versailles.
There are many amazingly beautiful cathedrals of different denominations in Bialystok.
You should definitely see:
- Church of St. Roch in Art Nouveau style
- Farny church in the Renaissance style
- Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Church of Hagia Sophia, an exact copy of the Temple of Constantinople on a scale of one to three
- synagogue
In the vicinity of Bialystok, it is worth visiting:
- The ancient Jewish city of Tykotsyn
- Tatar village Krushinyany
Bialystok pleases guests with its cuisine, skillfully combining the culinary traditions of different peoples who have ever lived in its vicinity. Each restaurant has at least 10 names of first courses, and the choice of meat dishes is huge and varied. You should definitely try the Podlaska potato sausage with cracklings. And senkac is a sweet cake that looks like a saw cut from a knotty tree with annual rings.
And let the Christmas Bialystok be remembered by you for the cleanliness of the streets, the beauty of cathedrals, palaces and parks, fun shopping and delicious food.
