Cathedral Island or Ostrow Tumski as it is called in Polish can be found in both Poznan and Wroclaw. Like the name suggests it used to be an island and there are lots of old buildings to visit and to just stroll around. We ended up strolling and playing and going for a scavenger hunt while visiting. I had the time of my life but Mini gave up on the game within a couple of minutes.

Cathedral Island, Poznan, Poland

This place is a very important historical place for Poznan. It is believed that this is the place where Miesko (the first Christian ruler of territories later called Poland) was baptized and converted to Christianity. The archeologists have found what they believe is the first Christian church in the country. To take a walk here is recommended and the best way is to just stroll around and take your time, admiring all the old buildings here.

There is a house that was built just for psalms to be sung – how weird is that?! I thought that it was done in the church but apparently there is a whole building just for singing! And then you have the church of our Lady. This church was rebuilt after the war because it got destroyed. There is also a museum where you can see religious paintings and sculptures. You can also see the crypt of the first cathedral in Poland. Cathedral Island has a lot to offer and is a really nice walk.

Let’s play a Tourist Game in Poznan

Poznan has made a great effort to welcome tourists and to get them involved in exploring the city. Right now there are seven different games that you can play around the city. The games are somewhat like a treasure hunt where you have to find clues and pieces that will all fit into one answer. I Love the idea. Today there are so many tourist games that are hot – like geocaching and different escape rooms. There is a special feeling getting a piece of paper with just enough information to get you started and off you go.

A few years ago Ostrów Tumski in Poznań has become the area of the first urban game designed for individual play. The game tells a story of Ostrów Tumski and the surrounding area seen in the light of a certain… testament. So what better way to explore this place than playing the game at the same time?!

This is how you get your hands on the game – A tip!

You can download all the seven games in English here: http://gramiejska.pl/index.php?id=385. After that, you just save them as a pdf and print them out. Easy peasy! However, if you read this post and just happen to be in Poznan already you might not be able to print anything out. So this is what you do… Walk to the nearest Tourist Information Center and ask them about the game. They might have some of the games printed out already and then you get the real deal! When we went they only had the Codebreakers game and since we wanted to play the first game we wanted The first degree of cognition. So I asked and begged them to help me and to print it out for me. And they did without any problem! So just ask them or may someone at the hotel.

You will need to play the game with paper in hand so we recommend that you have it printed out!

The game at Cathedral Island, Poznan

I don’t want to spoil the game to much so I will not get into details. But the thing is that you walk around at the Cathedral Island and look for clues. When you find them you transform them into letters or numbers and by the end, you should get a word or a phrase out of it. If you want to be on the wall of fame you can email your answer and they will put your name out on their website.

Loving the fact that I was supposed to look for clues I got all into the game. Mini? Not so much. After five minutes and still no clue, he gave up and wanted to stop playing. Yes, he is a great photographer but patience is not his thing! I did not give up that fast. We both had a blast walking around – me looking for clues and Mini making fun of me (but also helping me to look). And how happy was I when I found some of the clues?! One of the clues was like… A temple next to which Jesus Christ has stopped by. His finger pointing at his heart.

 

Having fun at the Cathedral Island in Poznan, Poland

I think that the whole experience of visiting this place got a lot more intense because we played the game. You kind of have to take an extra look at everything. And no – in the end we didn’t finish the whole game and we gave up. But we still had a great time. And you can also get a lot of information reading the signs that are placed outside of the different old buildings there. You get all the information you need!

Make sure to visit the Cathedral Island while in Poznan!