Attractions and Places To See around powiat świdnicki - Top 20

The Old Town in Świdnica is an urban masterpiece and one of the most magnificent, best-preserved historical complexes in all of Poland. For centuries, Świdnica was the second most important and wealthiest city in historical Silesia after Wrocław. Świdnica merchants dominated European trade, and their biggest export hit was the iconic Świdnica beer. It was such a powerful brand that in the Middle Ages, dedicated "Świdnica Cellars" were opened (including in Wrocław, Toruń, Kraków, or Prague) to serve this exclusive drink, and severe municipal penalties were threatened for counterfeiting it. Interestingly, the urban layout of the local Market Square with its central mid-market block has survived in almost intact, medieval form, creating a unique enclave that, as one of the few in Silesia, avoided war destruction in 1945.

Around the construction of the temple, there is an incredible legend about its first architect [The legend of the sculpture above the portal of the Świdnica Cathedral]. He was said to have committed a spectacular suicide by jumping straight from the scaffolding onto the cobbled square, because he had convinced himself that he had miscalculated the statics and that the massive vault of the main nave would collapse under its own weight (the vault, of course, still stands today) [The legend of the sculpture above the portal of the Świdnica Cathedral]. A real image revolution was brought to the church in the 17th century, when the Jesuits took over the facility. They found a stark, Gothic church and created inside a dripping-with-gold, theatrical Baroque spectacle with a gigantic main altar modeled on the famous Parisian church of Val-de-Grâce.

The Church of Peace in Świdnica was created in the mid-17th century under the terms of the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War. The most interesting aspect is the absolute, malicious conditions that the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand III Habsburg imposed on the Protestants: the church had to be built outside the city walls, exclusively from non-durable materials (wood, straw, clay, and sand), without the use of nails, and the construction could not last longer than a year Church of Peace in Świdnica. Engineer Albrecht von Säbisch, however, achieved the impossible – he erected a powerful timber-framed structure with an area of 1090 m², which accommodates up to 7500 people and, in defiance of the emperor, has stood proudly for nearly 370 years Church of Peace in Świdnica – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The interior stuns with gold-drenched Baroque splendor, multi-story galleries, and monumental paintings illustrating the Apocalypse Church of Peace in Świdnica.

The Church of Peace in Świdnica was built in the mid-17th century under the terms of the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War. The most interesting aspect is the absolute, malicious conditions imposed on the Evangelicals by the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand III Habsburg: the church had to be built outside the city walls, using only non-durable materials (wood, straw, clay, and sand), without the use of nails, and the construction could not take longer than a year Church of Peace in Świdnica. However, the engineer Albrecht von Säbisch achieved the impossible – he erected a massive timber-framed structure with an area of 1090 m², which can accommodate up to 7500 people and, in defiance of the emperor, has stood proudly for nearly 370 years Church of Peace in Świdnica – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The interior is stunning, with gold-dripping Baroque splendor, multi-level galleries, and monumental paintings illustrating the Apocalypse Church of Peace in Świdnica.

The magnificent Baroque-Renaissance building owes its former splendor to one woman – the legendary Princess Daisy (Mary Theresia Olivia Cornwallis-West), wife of Hans Heinrich XV of Hochberg. This icon of European aristocracy and beauty was famous for her charitable work and... an incredible 7-meter-long string of pearls, associated with a dark legend of a curse (according to which the pearls brought financial ruin and personal tragedies to the Hochberg family). Daisy died in poverty in Wałbrzych in 1943, and her grave in the park remains unfound to this day, as faithful servants moved the coffin several times for fear of desecration by soldiers. After the war in 1945, the castle was occupied by the Red Army – the Soviets completely looted the priceless library and devastated the interiors, irrevocably destroying priceless Baroque stuccoes and historical furniture.

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Worth seeing, atmospheric townhouses

The Old Town of Świdnica is second only to Wrocław in terms of the number of historic buildings.