Philadelphia Boulevard

A walk along the Philadelphia Boulevard is a must-do activity when visiting Copernicus' town. Its name comes from Philadelphia, Toruń's American twin city. The former port wharf is an extremely important place in the history of the city. It was a favorable location on the Vistula River which was associated with the foundation and development of the Old Toruń. Sea-going ships loaded with numerous goods, returning from distant Flanders, England, Germany and Scandinavia, stopped in the Vistula port. At that time, Toruń maintained close trade contacts with distant cities and actively participated in the establishment and activities of the Hanseatic League, an organization associating the most important commercial centers of Central and Northern Europe. Today, the Philadelphia Boulevard, which stretches along the Vistula waterfront, is a favorite walking place for Toruń residents. The reason for that is an amazing panorama of medieval city walls with towers and gates, behind which emerge tenement houses, towers of Gothic churches and the ruins of a Teutonic castle. Near the Sailing Gate, "moored" the legendary boat "Katarzynka", which "starred" in the movie "Cruise", shot on the Toruń waterfront in 1969. A wall covered with graffiti with iconic film quotes is a souvenir of this event. The starry sky and the walls of the Hanseatic city reflected in the waters of the Vistula River are a captivating sight. Sit on the Vistula bank, look at the sky and enjoy the moment, because, as Nicolaus Copernicus said, "There is nothing more beautiful than the sky, which encompasses everything that is beautiful."