The Vistula

You’re now crossing the Wisła—known as the Vistula in English—the main river of Poland. At 1,047 kilometres long, it’s the longest river in the country, and flows entirely within Polish borders. Historically, the Vistula marked a natural boundary between the Slavic and Baltic peoples. Its source lies in the Carpathian Mountains, and it empties into the Baltic Sea near Gdańsk. It passes through several Polish cities, such as Kraków, Warsaw and Toruń—shaping the nation’s geography, economy, and identity. This river is deeply woven into the fabric of Polish identity and has long inspired generations of artists and poets. The bridge you’re crossing is called the Silesian Insurgents’ Bridge. It commemorates the three armed uprisings by Poles against German rule in Upper Silesia after the First World War. At the time, Poland was fighting to rise from its ashes and reclaim the borders it lost during the 18th-century partitions. There were three separate uprisings, and they ended with a territorial division more favourable to Poland than to Germany.