Bydgoszcz Mill Island

Wyspa Mlynska is an island in the Brda a few minutes from the Bydgoszcz market square, and it was industrial ground for centuries - royal mints, mills, granaries - before being cleared and landscaped in the 2000s into a park with the surviving buildings converted into branches of the district museum. The white granary and the red granary on the waterfront are the images the city uses. The mint here struck coin from the sixteenth century and the museum holds a numismatic collection reflecting that. Just off the island, over the water by the Mostowa bridge, hangs Przechodzacy przez rzeke, the Man Crossing the River: a figure by Jerzy Kedziora balanced on a wire above the Brda, installed in 2004, one of the better-known pieces of public sculpture in Poland and the thing everyone photographs. The Brda is used for kayaking and a water tram, and the city's opera house sits opposite on the bank.

History

For centuries the island belonged to the royal domain and was called Royal Island; its present name comes from the mills built on it from the 14th century. Around 1400 the church mill went up opposite the cathedral, and by 1541 several large five-wheel mills and a sawmill were working here; in 1594 the Bydgoszcz Mint was founded on the eastern island, becoming a royal mint in the early 17th century, and in 1789 the half-timbered White Granary was built (Wikipedia, Mill Island, Bydgoszcz).

What to look for

• Converted granaries - white and red waterfront buildings, now museum branches.
• A mint's numismatic collection - from the coinage struck here since the 1590s.
• The Man Crossing the River - a figure balanced on a wire over the water.
• Riverside park - landscaped in the 2000s over old industrial ground.

When to go

May to September. Half a day.

Before you go

The sculpture is taken down for maintenance from time to time. Museum branches are closed on Mondays and each has its own ticket. The island is small - an hour or two plus the museums.

Nearby

The old market square and the opera are across the footbridges.

Key facts