1. BIAŁYSTOK

2. Symbols City flag City banner

3. Location Białystok The locatoin of Białystok, in the proximity of borders with Belarus, Lithuania and Russia, as well as the convenient transportation links, create excellent conditions for developing economic and cultural contacts with the countries of Eastern and Western Europe.

4. Białystok, with a population of almost 300 thousand, is a city located in north-eastern Poland, serving the function of the capital of Podlaskie province. It is the administrative, economic, and academic centre of the region which has been termed the Green Lungs of Poland.

5. The location in the environmentally clean region, full of tourist attractions, as well as the rich infrastructure of Białystok, makes the city and surrounding area a great place for living, recreation and development of tourism.

6. The well developed transport, accommodation and catering infrastructure, unpolluted environment and lack of heavy industry make Białystok an attractive place to live and rest.

7. The city boasts its leafy parks, trimmed squares and green spaces.

8. Education Białystok is an inter-regional academic and scientific centre. A dozen of university-level schools teach the student population that numbers 50.000.

9. The oldest state run institutions of higher education include: The Białystok Medical University (Akademia Medyczna),

10. The Białystok Technical University (Politechnika Białostocka),

11. and the University of Białystok

12. Culture Białystok has evolved as a place which is the melting pot of different nations, religions, cultures, customs and traditions.

13. It has become an example of the integration of ethnic and religious groups, a meeting place for Poles, Byelorussians, Jews, Lithuanians, Germans, Russians and Tartars.

14. The multiethnicity of the city was the reason for the Białystok-born Ludwik Zamenhoff to start his work on the universal language of Esperanto

15. The city enjoys a lively cultural scene: Białystok is the seat of many cultural institutions, culture promotion associations and artist unions. Białystok’s major theatres include Teatr Dramatyczny im. Aleksandra Wegierki (The Aleksander Węgierko Theatre)

16. and two-stage Białostocki Teatr Lalek (The Białystok Puppet Theatre) giving performances for both the adult and child audience

17. Places to see As many as 143 out of all the city’s building of cultural value earned their place in Białystok register of historical monuments. Here, the most valuable is undisputedly the Branicki palace

18. The palace is beautifully ringed in, by one of Poland’s best preserved Baroque garden. The garden complex owes its shape, which has remained intact until now, to Jan Klemens Branicki.

20. The Branicki Palace during the II World War

21. After the war

22. and now

23. The Assumption of the Holy Virgin Old Church, founded by Piotr Wiesiołowski in 1617-1626, is the oldest survived church building of the city. Among its precious holdings, the church has a renovated Baroque polychrome and an altar with the painting of the Assumption. There are also organs, restructured in the 19th century and two mausoleum monuments containing the hearts of Jan Klemens Branicki, his father and grandmother’s.

24. One mustn’t forget to see an Orthodox church - a Classicist- style temple dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, put up in mid 1840’s.

25. On the top of the nearby hill, the St. Roch Church overlooks the city and it is one of the first Modernist churches in the world.

26. Around Białystok Beautifully located tourist– attractive region, Białystok functions as a base from which to explore the world- class unique natural complexes: There are four National Parks around: -Białowieża National Park -Biebrzański National Park -Narwiański National Park -Wigierski National Park

27. The Białowieża National Park Several dozens of kilometers away from Białystok lies the Białowieża Primeval Forest – the only Polish national park included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

28. The whole forest is under strict protection - several hundred of European bison, live in the Białowieża National Park.

29. The Biebrza National Park, Poland’s largest national park, is unique in Europe for its vast expanses covered with marshes and peatlands, as well as for its highly diversified fauna and extraordinarily rich flora.

30. The Biebrza National Park

32. The Narwiański National Park

33. The Wigierski National Park

34. Lakes

37. Rivers

40. Welcome to our country!!!