Szczecin is located in the north-western Poland, on the Oder river and Lake Dąbie. The city is the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Its representative place is Chrobry Embankment with monumental buildings from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Nowadays Szczecin is also famous for its excellent contemporary architecture.
Szczecin was founded in the early Middle Ages. The city was the seat of local princes, and received city rights in 1243. Partially preserved buildings of the Market Square with the Old Town Hall and several defensive towers comes from the Middle Ages. In the city center there are also many interestingly decorated tenements from different epochs.
In the 19th century Szczecin went through its second period of intense development. It was in that period of time, that the most-known part of the city was built. On the Chrobry Embankment on the Oder river neo-baroque and eclectic public buildings were built, including the building of the present National Museum. From the observation terraces on the Embankment, there is a view of the Oder river and the port.
After years of stagnation, at the turn of the 20th and 21st century, Szczecin began to regain its former splendor. In addition to the renovation of existing monuments, modern buildings appeared and became today’s symbols of the city. They include, first of all, the newly awarded Szczecin Philharmonic building and the building of the Dialogue Center ""Przełomy"", hidden under Plac Solidarności (Solidarity Square).
In Szczecin you can also visit the Central Cemetery, designed at the turn of the 19th and 20th century in the form of a vast landscape park and a shelter under the railway station called the "Underground City".
