Dąbrowa Górnicza

About Dąbrowa Górnicza

Dąbrowa Górnicza surprises visitors who expect only industry. The city that grew up around coal mines and one of Poland's largest steelworks now has four lakes inside its borders, a stretch of real sand desert on its edge and a mining museum where you can walk through a tunnel dug to train young miners.

Coal mining began here in 1796, under Prussian rule, and the settlement grew so fast that it had around 30,000 people before it officially became a town in 1916. In the 1970s the giant Katowice Steelworks was built within its limits, and today the city is part of the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie metropolitan area. Its civic pride shows in the grand Palace of Culture of Zagłębie and the neo-Gothic basilica that dominates the centre.

Come in summer to swim, sail or cycle around the Pogoria lakes, combine them with the dunes of the Błędów Desert, and spend a rainy afternoon at the Sztygarka museum. Katowice and Kraków are both within easy reach for day trips.