The Wroclaw Christmas market offers an impressive choice of goods and a rich and diverse entertainment program. Along with local merchants and craftsmen, it features vendors from other countries including Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Netherlands. Similarly, visitors come to the market from all over Poland as well as from abroad. A lot of tourists come to the Wroclaw Christmas market from Germany, Austria and Ukraine.
Wroclaw is considered one of Poland’s most beautiful cities, its Centennial Hall is even listed as a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site. The city’s main Christmas market is held in the Market Square surrounded by beautiful buildings that are built according to different styles. During Christmas time, the square is dominated by a beautifully bedecked Christmas tree and decorated with garlands and Christmas lights. The market always features a Christmas pyramid and a carousel which are traditional attributes of German Christmas markets (at a certain point in history, Wroclaw was part of Prussia and then Germany).
At the Wroclaw Christmas market, you can buy traditional Christmas decorations and souvenirs, handicrafts made of leather, wool, wood and glass, clothes and accessories, and more. Numerous food stalls offer a variety of traditional Polish dishes and Christmas treats from other countries. For example, you can taste oscypek (smoked cheese made of salted sheep milk made in the Tatra Mountain region), pierogi (filled dumplings), kiełbasa (type of sausage), bigos (a stew made of finely chopped meat and sauerkraut), Hungarian kürtőskalács (spit cake), Lithuanian sausages and rye bread with caraway seeds, German honey bread, roasted chestnuts, etc.
If you get cold, there are hot drinks to warm you up. You can buy traditional mulled wine or a more authentic beverage called grzaniec (grzane piwo). Grzaniec is a spicy hot drink similar to mulled wine, but it is made with beer instead of wine. Polish mulled beer usually contains honey, lemon and orange slices, spices (cinnamon, clover, ginger) and dried fruit. Grzaniec is served hot in thick-walled mugs that help to keep it warm for a long time.
To keep the guests entertained, the Wroclaw Christmas market hosts a variety of performances including live concerts, spectacular parades, welcoming of Santa Claus, official Christmas tree lighting, and caroling. There are workshops for visitors of all ages, an ice sculpture exhibition, and a lot of other events and activities.
Photo: jarmarkbozonarodzeniowy.com
