Welcome to Płock, the city of two Polish rulers Herman and Krzywousty, the former capital of Poland; today, rapidly changing capital of Płock's Mazovia and capital of Polish oil industry.
Płock is a city of 130 thousand inhabitants picturesquely located on a steep Vistula riverbank. Płock is one of the oldest Polish cities with its numerous monuments speaking for its thousand years' history.Płock is a historical capital of Mazovia and true capital of Poland under Władysław Herman (1079 - 1102).
In the Cathedral Basilica dated back to the 12th century, there is a sarcophagus of two Polish rulers - Władysław Herman and his son Bolesław Krzywousty, and a copy of famous Romanesque Płock's Door in a porch. Opposite the Cathedral arise the walls of former Benedictine abbey and dukes' castle. Right beside, there is Diocesan Museum with a unique exhibition of sacral art. The beautiful renovated Art Nouveau tenement-house on 8 Tumska Street houses the Mazovian Museum.The museum boasts the richest in Poland collection of secession art.
Płock is also famous for the oldest Polish school - more than 800-years old Stanisław Małachowski High School, the oldest in Poland Scientific Society (established in 1820) and magnificent, classical City Hall building. The latter housed the last session of Polish Parliament in 1831.
At the same time, historical Płock is the city of modern industry. Polish Oil Concern "ORLEN" is one of the biggest Polish companies - a magnate on the market of liquid fuels and petrochemical products and one of the biggest companies in this part of Europe. American "king of jeans" LEVI STRAUSS built its factory in Płock. From 1992, the company has been successfully producing clothes there. The company CNH is the only in Poland manufacturer of combine harvesters. Apart from Levi Strauss and CNH, there are other companies with foreign capital in Płock i.e. Basell Orlen Polyolefins, Dr Oetker, Brenntag, Bildau and Bussmann, Bilfinger Berger.
Tourist attraction of Płock is the Zoological Garden beautifully located on the Vistula river escarpment with impressive collection of poisonous snakes. Additional value of the city is the vicinity of the evergreen forests of Gostynińskie Lake Region. Nowadays, Płock is an academic center with over 16 000 students. Cooperation with ten sister cities - Fort Wayne/USA, Darmstadt/Germany, Forli/Italy, Mażeikiai/Lithuania, Nowopołock/Belarus, Auxerre/France, Balti/Moldova, Loznica/Serbia, Thurrock Borough/Great Britain, Mytyshi/Russia and Huaia'n/China - develops successfully.
