If there’s a more scenic street in Gdańsk Old Town we’ve yet to find it. Mariacka is without doubt the jewel in Gdańsk’s crown, a picturesque street of gabled houses and gruesome gargoyles. Towering over it, St Mary’s Basilica, the largest brick church in the world. And there’s no better way to approach it than through Brama Mariacka, a shadowy Gothic gateway that could have been built with Dracula in mind. First mentioned in 1484 this place took a hammering in 1945, and pics from that time reveal an image not unlike Hiroshima. Painstakingly rebuilt between 1958 and 1961, after which time the side wing has served as seat of the Archaeological Museum. The gate has been renovated and the shiny polychrome you see of two lions holding the Gdańsk coat of arms aloft was restored in 2006. St. Mary's Gate
