Poland

I’m not sure I’ll ever have Polish pronunciation down to an art, but trying to get my head around saying Wałęsa will be a start.

Questions

Its sites including a hill with a castle and a cathedral that houses the sarcophagi of a number of Polish monarchs, which city in Masovia was capital of Poland from 1079 to 1138?

PŁOCK

Perhaps requiring a re-think in how a non-native Speaker might pronounce the name of Lech Wałęsa or the city of Łódź, by what English letter is the Polish Ł or ł usually pronounced?

W

A member of the house of Vasa who reigned from 1587 to 1632, under which enlightened king did Poland see its capital moved from Kraków to Warsaw?

SIGISMUND III

Home to almost all the city’s tourist attractions and having a meaning of ‘city centre’ or ‘downtown’, what is Warsaw’s central borough called?

ŚRÓDMIEŚCIE

Built in ‘Seven Sister’ style by Russian architect Lev Rudnev, which second tallest building in Poland informally gained the nickname of the ‘eighth sister’? Found in Warsaw, this gift from the Soviet Union hosted a 1967 concert by the Rolling Stones when western rock acts rarely performed behind the Iron Curtain.

PALACE OF CULTURE AND SCIENCE

Also the highest in the European Union, which tower has taken the number one spot for Poland’s tallest building from the Palace of Culture and Science?

VARSO TOWER

Based on a novel by Nobel laureate Władysław Reymont, “The Peasants” is an animated film that premiered in 2023. It is co-directed with her husband by which Polish painter, their other work including “Loving Vincent”?

DOROTA KOBIELA / DK WELCHMAN

Taking over 40 years to complete, Kraków’s Unity Tower acquired what nickname from a fictional character while it stood there in an incomplete state?

SKELETOR

Its lyrics written a couple of years after the Third Partition of Poland, what are either of the lengthy English titles that have been given to the Polish national anthem that is also known as “Dąbrowski’s Mazurka”?

POLAND IS NOT YET LOST / SONG OF THE POLISH LEGIONS IN ITALY

Seeing Piast ruler Bołeslaw the Brave’s title upgraded from duke after having received permission from Pope John XIX, in which year did Poland become a kingdom?

1025

Created when the Union of the Lublin was signed, in which year did the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth start?

1569

The highest part of the Bohemian Massif and containing Sněžka, which mountain range runs from Dresden through to the Moravian Gate in Czechia? It passes through the Polish region of Lower Silesia on the way.

SUDETES / SUDETEN MOUNTAINS

Set up in 2015 and originally containing 12 members including Poland, which forum of Eastern European states made up of only European Union members now has Ukraine and Moldova as partner-participants?

THREE SEAS INITIATIVE