Ostrów Tumski

Ostrów Tumski, the Cathedral Island, is the oldest part of Wrocław, where the city first took root on an island in the Oder. Once genuinely surrounded by river channels, it became the ecclesiastical heart of Silesia, dominated by the twin Gothic spires of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Quiet cobbled lanes pass canons' houses and collegiate churches. Each evening a lamplighter still ignites the gas street lamps by hand, one of the last such customs in Europe. Visitors cross the Tumski Bridge to reach this tranquil historic enclave.