A Hanseatic port of tall, ornate merchant houses
Gdańsk was a rich Hanseatic trading port, and its Main Town is lined with tall, ornate merchant houses along the Royal Way and the Long Market, rebuilt after 1945. The medieval crane on the Motława river is the city's symbol. The Second World War began at nearby Westerplatte, and the Solidarity movement was born in the shipyards, told in the European Solidarity Centre. Amber jewellery is sold along Mariacka Street, and the beaches of Sopot are close by.