Ołowianka, next to the Granaries Island, is one of the two main islands, which is worth visiting as part of a walk around Gdańsk. This place situated in the Gdanśk downtown has had strategic importance since the dawn of history. Here, in front of the Teutonic castle, were the buildings of the Monastic Szafarnia. The place was connected with the castle by a drawbridge, which was replaced by a ferry in later times. Between Ołowianka and the Burgstall, there were also port bars, which, if necessary, locked the entrance to the inner port with a chain that blocked the possibility of enemy ships entering into the city. The island owes its name to warehouses which store lead. The largest of them, called the ’Lead Manor’, was equipped with its own solid crane mechanism used to reload the lead raw material, imported to Gdańsk from the far Olkusz. In addition, there were numerous grain granaries built on the island. Four of them have survived or have been rebuilt to our times – Maiden, Copper, Oliwski and King granaries. The first three are now the National Maritime Museum. From 1980, there has also been a ship-museum SS Sołdek moored at Ołowianka – the first commercial ship built after the war by the Gdańsk Shipyard. At the end of the 19th century, a power plant managed by the Berlin company Siemens & Halske was built on Ołowianka. Installations of the power plant, although very modern at the time, were set in a picturesque brick building with historicising architecture. In 2005, the building was revitalised for the needs of the seat of the Baltic Philharmonic.
Related posts
Until recently, the church had been in a state of ruin due to war destruction. Fortunately, it was renovated thanks to the efforts of the... Continue reading
In Gdańsk, it is worth seeing the tenement house covered with purple plaster at the corner of Mariacka and Mokra Streets. It has a non-typical... Continue reading
Gabriel Fahrenheit is one of the most famous citizens of Gdańsk. Every American knows the name of the Gdańsk inventor of the temperature scale, as... Continue reading
Neptune is not the only antique god whose artistic figurative representation decorates the area of Long Market. Mercury is the second of them. He is... Continue reading
At the rear of the School of Communication and the Polish Post Office building in Gdańsk there is a high brick wall, clearly bitten by... Continue reading