Dąbrowa Górnicza

Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in the Silesian Voivodeship of southern Poland. Standing 300 m above sea level, it's post-industrial, with a population of 117,000 in 2021.

Understand
Dąbrowa means an oak grove - oaks once carpeted these hills. As well as timber, oak wood can make charcoal for high-temperature working of metals and glass, but this gobbled up a lot of trees until the invention of coke. A series of little villages grew rapidly as the forest shrank to form the present conurbation, named Dąbrowa Górnicza to distinguish it from other towns formerly within oak groves. The big expansion was from 1795, when this area came under Prussian rule, and its deep coal mines were established. A zinc plant followed in 1823 and a steel works in 1834.

Germany seized the town in 1939 and set about killing or deporting the ethnic Polish population, and slew the 4000 Jews. Post-war it was returned to the People's Republic of Poland, and the communists built factories and drab workers' apartments everywhere they could. The coal was exhausted by 1990, so the economy collapsed along with the communist regime, and the city is still trying to re-invent itself.

Get in
Katowice-Pyrzowice airport is 20 km northwest in Pyrzowice. It has domestic and European flights plus holiday destinations around the Med & Red, plus the Gulf States. Take ZTM Bus M19 towards Sosnowiec (hourly round the clock) and change at Będzin for a tram or bus into Dąbrowa Górnicza.

By train you usually change in Katowice, but direct trains from Warsaw run every 2-3 hours, taking 3 hours via Piotrkow Trybunalski and Częstochowa. These continue to Katowice and Bielsko-Biała, or to Ostrava, Prague or Budapest.

Regional trains run every 30 min from Gliwice via Zabrze, Chorzów, Katowice, Sosnowiec and Będzin, taking 30 min from Katowice city centre. They make five stops in town and continue north to Zawiercie, Myszkow and Częstochowa.

is the main station, north side of town. Regional trains also stop at Golonog, Pogoria, Zabkowice and Sikora.

Get around
Trams 21, 22 and 23 rumble through town from Katowice and Sosnowiec.

ZTM is the transport combine for the Katowice conurbation, covering Dąbrowa Górnicza, Sosnowiec, Będzin, Gliwice, Mysłowice, Chorzów and others. Use their travel planner to reach outlying points such as Będzin Castle.

See

 * Kopalnia Ćwiczebna 100 m north was where the mining students learned their trade. It's an adit - a horizontal access tunnel - and part of the museum, same hours.
 * Church of St Barbara facing the museum was built in 1885, and restored 2006-08.
 * houses the art gallery (Tu-F 10:00-18:00), theatre and cinema. It's at Plac Wolności 1 in town centre.
 * is baroque, perched on a knoll east side of town. It was built in 1678, enlarged in 1753, and still has an active monastery.
 * Będzin Castle is 5 km west, see Sosnowiec.
 * is baroque, perched on a knoll east side of town. It was built in 1678, enlarged in 1753, and still has an active monastery.
 * Będzin Castle is 5 km west, see Sosnowiec.

Do

 * Theatre: see above.
 * Helios Cinema is within Pogoria shopping centre.
 * Fabryka Pełna Życia means Factory Full of Life. It's a brownfield site 100 m north of Culture Palace which is being rehabilitated into a plaza and leisure area.
 * Nemo Water Park has flumes and kiddy-pools. It's north side of the Holiday Inn, open May-Sep M-F 06:00-21:00, Sa Su 09:00-21:00.

Buy

 * Pogoria shopping centre is 200 m southwest of the main railway station, open M-Sa 09:00-21:00.

Eat
Lots of eating places in the blocks around Pogoria shopping centre and the Culture Palace, no standout.

Drink
Pubs are in the same quarter as the eating places, around Pogoria shopping centre.

Connect
As at July 2024, Dąbrowa Górnicza and its approach roads have 4G from Play, and 5G from O2, Plus and T-Mobile.

Go next

 * Sosnowiec a few km south has a good collection of mansions and churches raised on the profits of its mining industry.
 * Częstochowa to the north is a pilgrimage destination for its shrine of Jasna Góra.