Kolbrów (part 1)
Hello everybody!
Many of you would probably know me and would recognize my MD from other websites. I've been publishing at SC4Devotion, SimCityPolska, ToutSimCities and SimCityKurier. The region, that you can see today, is more than 12 tears old. That's the time since I posted it for the first time at 1st of January 2008 at SimCityPolska. Today I decided to start a CJ at Simtropolis, the last big place where I didn't left my footprint.
Galand (pol: Galicja, fr. Galicie, ger. Galizien) is a country on a fictional continent of Telesto (a project that used to be held at SimCityPolska). Its name refers to the real Galicia, a region, that today is divided between south-eastern Poland and western Ukraine. This region is to a big extent a reflection of Poland, my home country. All the landscapes, cities and villages have been highly inspired by what I was able to see during during my trips.
In game it has population of around 2,200,000. It borders several other countries: Höhensonne and Federation of Magyar from the west, Kasandria and Slavic Republic (pol: Republika Słowiańska) from the east and (what used to be) Helsakoh in the south. They are regions of other players, however, they are no more active.
Capital of Galand is Kolbrów - a city located in southern part of the country, by the river of Wirta. It’s the biggest city with population of more than 800,000 residents. It is crucial to mention that Kolbrów is highly based on real-life Kraków. There are many inspirations woven into quarters, recreations of existing places, real-life buildings modelled by other players, etc. etc. Because of that, I think that it is worth saying few words about this city.
Kraków. The second largest city in Poland, located in the south of the country by Wisła river, now having around 770 000 residents. In the past (especially in medieval times) it was the capital of Poland, headquarters of kings and symbol of the Polish power. Altough the politics changed and for few centuries it is no longer the capital, there are still many remainings of the history and heritage waiting at every corner just to be discovered.
Main hearth of Kraków is the Old Town, a historical district with a market square being its very centre, and the Castle on Wawel Hill - the royal headquarters that still is a living hearth of Polish history and culture. Old Town is surrounded by other historical districts (like formerly jewish town of Kazimierz or Podgórze that has been founded by Austrians), as well as old industrial zones (whith Schindler's factory), universities, pre-fab blocks and socialist quarters that have became witness to modern history of communism regime and people's resitance towards it.
All of those briefly listed places combine to a one image of a city soaked in its every inch with history and the modern, education and religion, multi-culturalism and Polish oldest traditions. And most of them are taken into Kolbrów.
So, let the journey begin!
1. Main Market Square (pol. Rynek Główny). Located in the middle of Old Town (pol. Stare Miasto). As mentioned before, it has been the very centre of the entire city troughout ages. Even today, it is the principal point for many events, filled with residents and tourists, alive and vibrant all day and all night. It has three real buildings: the medieval "shopping centre" Cloth Hall (pol. Sukiennice), the small St. Adalbert Church and the old City Hall Tower, altough their placement is a bit different comparing to the reality. Fun fact: Rynek Główny in Kraków is the biggest medieval square in Europe!
Click to see the real place in 3D!
2. The Old Town is surrounded by a ring of parks. It is a remaining of medieval city walls that were demolished in XIX century. Till today, only a small part survived. One of the main streets leading from the Market Square (a part of so called "the Royal Way") is closed with St. Florian Gate (pol. Brama Floriańska). In the proximity there is Juliusz Słowacki Theatre which role is played here by Maxis' opera... and it does not play it bad, does it?
Click to see the real place in 3D!
3. There are a lot of old tenements that makes the entire city centre.
4.
5. One of the best places for recreation are the river boulvards. Real Vistula (pol. Wisła) that flows trough Kraków, in Kolbrów is called Wirta.
Click to see the real place in 3D!
6. A huge triangular field called Błonia has been serving as the grounds for the biggest events, including masses celebrated by popes (especially those by John Paul II). In 2016 it held few masses of World Youth Days. The Pope Francis, as well as almost 3 millions of pilgrims visited Kraków. Interesting fact is that it was the first time when the pope arrived at scene not in his special papal car, but in... a tramway!
Click for full size
Click to see the real place in 3D!
Thank you for reading and watching. There are plenty of stuff from recent years to show, so stay tuned for next updates 
Regards,
Kamil
PS. I'm struggling a bit with the form of blog-like CJ entries... I apologize if I mess something up technically!
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