The Granaries on the Motława River, Gdansk, Poland

The island on the Motława River, where these buildings are located, has been an industrial district since the 13th century. In the 16th century, there were about 340 granaries here - large and spacious warehouses, with many floors, built of wood, brick, clay, and stone. The granaries located on the banks of the rivers had wooden platforms for loading or unloading goods. They did not have numbers, but names.

For several hundred years, Granary Island was spared war damage, the situation changed in 1813 - after Russian shelling from the slopes of Biskupia Górka, almost two hundred granaries with valuable supplies burned down completely.

After reconstruction, the area of the granary district became an unusual composition of warehouse buildings, the hallmark of which were the patterned walls of half-timbered structures. From the mid-19th century, the spacious buildings were gradually adapted to office and residential functions, but in 1914, there were still 121 warehouses operating on Granary Island.

In 1945, the island was almost completely destroyed during the fighting between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army. Only three granaries survived the war.

In the 1980s, after many years of work, buildings referring to the old granary architecture were built in the central part of the island area. In the late 1990s, a successful reconstruction of the southern frontage of Stągiewna Street was carried out.

The district is being rebuilt primarily with tourist traffic in mind, the lack of greenery and social infrastructure makes Granary Island an area rather unsuitable for permanent residence. On the other hand, and in a sense - there was a return to the original function of Granary Island, because the apartments can be treated as warehouses, and tourists as precious grain. ;)

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Modlin Fortress, Granary, Poland

Built in 1844 at the mouth of the Narew to the Vistula. Designed by the Polish architect Jan Jakub Gay. In addition to storage tasks, it could have defensive functions, because on the first floor it was equipped with openings adapted to fire both artillery and firearms. It served as a grain warehouse until 1853, i.e. until it was purchased by the then military authorities from the Bank of Poland, intended for a warehouse of sapper equipment (it was used for this purpose until September 1939).

During the bombing of 1939, the granary was burned inside by incendiary bombs, but its thick walls survived and it remained in this condition until the end of the war. After the war, on the order of the communist authorities, the building was demolished, which was stopped by prof. Jan Zachwatowicz, chief architect rebuilding Warsaw. The west wing has already been demolished.

In 1999, the building played the role of the Horeszko Castle in the adaptation of Adam Mickiewicz’s poem Pan Tadeusz, directed by Andrzej Wajda.

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