Across a footbridge from the Long Market lies a sliver of land between the old and new arms of the Motława. For centuries, Granary Island — Wyspa Spichrzów — was Gdańsk's warehouse: at its height, hundreds of granaries stored grain, hemp, wax and timber for the Baltic trade. The city's wealth slept here, a bridge away from the merchants who counted it.
In 1945 almost all of it was destroyed, and for decades the island lay in ruins in the middle of the city — a gap where the postcard should have continued. The rebuild came slowly and carefully in this century: steep-roofed forms that echo the old granaries, quays and terraces that open the waterfront back to the walkers it belongs to.
The same river views, with a little more room to breathe.
Go in the morning, before the terraces fill. The light comes up the river, the Old Town skyline stands across the water with its lamps still on, and you understand why this is the calmer, contemporary face of the same old city.
Our riverside home, Nad Motławą, keeps its address on this island — cross the footbridge from the Long Market and you are home.