Every Picture has a Story to Tell

We had a very enjoyable afternoon today, exploring Katowice in more detail with our digital cameras in tow. It was a beautifully bright and sunny day with luscious blue skies so was the perfect opportunity to take some snapshots. We didn't go into University today because the only class we were possibly interested in was 'Multimedia Actions'  but after researching the subject in more detail on ASP Katowice website, I found out that it seems to be based around creating film, video and sound amongst other digital disciplines so I wasn't sure if it would fit in as well with our Illustration course back home as some of the other units. We intend to go to Digital Graphics Basics, Graphic Art - Literature Interpretation and Graphic Art Basics tomorrow, these all seem better suited.

We started off by visiting the tourist information centre. Unfortunately this wasn't as helpful as I hoped, there were no maps or information available to read in English. However, we did buy some beautifully drawn postcards that we may keep as souvenirs because they have lovely compositions of the city of Katowice.

I will add a better photograph of these postcards in daylight. I hope to create some of my own that portray buildings and places of interest I have visited in Katowice.

We went to a part of the city centre that we visited briefly on our night out on Friday. The street we visited is called ul. Mariacka. There is a large Church located centrally at the end of a long street. I had seen this sight before, when I first used Google images to have a look at what the city of Katowice looks like before I came. The architecture is beautiful, religious and classical. I enjoyed taking photographs from different angles, some zoomed out and others zoomed in. The Church we saw is called 'St. Mary's Church'. It is the oldest existing Catholic parish church in Katowice. The Church was built from Silesian Dolomite, a rock-forming mineral that is composed of calcium magnesium carbonate. It was built between 1862 and 1870 and designed by German architect, Alexis Langer who lived in Wroclaw, Poland. The dimensions of the Church are 43m long by 31m wide, it was actually originally planned to be built on a monumental scale. 

Ul. Mariacka street 

St. Mary's Church

A skilfully carved religious figure positioned on a pedestal

The architectural style is described as 'Neo-Gothic'. This style was created in Europe during the Middle Ages, it was revived between the 18th and 19th centuries becoming a rival to Classical architecture. Gothic describes architectural aspects including the pointed arch, rib vault (intersection of two or three barrel vaults making an arched shape) and the flying buttress (slanting from a separate column and forming an arch with the wall it supports). Other aspects include the window tracery (stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window), pinnacles (high-pointed rock) and spires. St Mary's Church has an eight-shaped turret and an altar that dates back to the 15th Century. The interior is decorated with stain-glass windows. I didn't get to look inside but I would love to be able to if it ever open to the public.

https://www.inyourpocket.com/katowice/st-marys-church_32645v

https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/gothic-gothic-revival-neo-gothic

The decorated front doors with a stained glass window arched at the top

I really like this style because I have a fondness for arch shapes and I think the little details that make up the architectural features are beautiful to observe.

Other pieces of architecture and sculptures that appealed to me include this sculptural figure who has been placed on a wire rope high above the street. He is positioned near a Mexican restaurant so could have connections with that theme or he may be portraying a different message. Opposite him on the ground, is a bright green cacti sculpture. Katowice is a very creative and artistic place to be, it will definitely provide me with plenty of inspiration.

A piece of typography I was drawn to on the side of a building reads 'Jazz art', an advertisement for the Jazz Arts festival held in Katowice. I like the use of diagonal wire lines weaved together to crossover each letter and the colour palette of black, white and lime green. The text appears contemporary and stylish, perhaps a representation of the jazz arts festival. 

At the city square, Rynek, we went to take photographs of the big sign reading 'Katowice'. We noticed on Friday night that this gets lit up at night so we hope to go back and take some nighttime photographs. After taking photographs, we went to have a browse around the Supersam shopping centre. In a stationery store, I bought a new sketchbook and some watercolour pencils. Whilst we had been taking photos outside, we came across a meringue cafe so decided to go back for a drink and maybe a sweet. I had a hot chocolate and it was deliciously rich and creamy. Christina bought a bag of mini meringues and offered me a few, they were lovely.

This war memorial was also located in the square where the 'Katowice' letters are. This memorial is called the 'Scouts Memorial Katowice'. It is dedicated to the Polish scouts who defended the city of Katowice for 2 days against the German army during the September Campaign of 1939, the beginning of WW2. The memorial represents a group of 4 scouts with the slogan:

''All that is ours to give, we shall give to Poland''

https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/10685/Scouts-Memorial-Katowice.htm

We went back to Supersam afterwards so that we could get some food shopping at Aldi. We have been cooking at the dorm ourselves a fair amount, budgeting our money so that we can go out and do activities rather than keep eating out. It is very cheap here and we are enjoying tasting traditional foods but neither of us eat out that much at home so we would prefer to save our money for going to places of interest. We hope to visit Krakow at the weekend.