ul. Piotrkowska

At roughly 4.2km, ul. Piotrkowska is the main artery of Łódź, around which the city grew, and a convenient anchor for finding your way around. This historic street is a fascinating blend of architectural styles, telling the story of its development. It’s also full of shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars, as well as sculptures and murals, and lots of exciting passageways to explore.

The lights of ul. Piotrkowska

Piotrkowska Street is very much the defining landmark of Łódź, cutting through the very centre of the city, from north to south. It has two distinct halves, each with a completely different character. The north is pretty and semi-pedestrianised, with restaurant chairs and tables spilling across the pavement, and lots of public art to look out for. The southern end is not particularly interesting in itself but has a number of key attractions to visit.

The walking tour of Łódź highlights, available via GetYourGuide, includes a lot of the main Piotrkowska landmarks, fully contextualised by a knowledgeable tour guide.

Alternatively, this city tour stretches as far south as the White Factory, where the Central Museum of Textiles is housed, near the very end of the street.

Piotrkowska has changed a lot since the 1990s and much of what you see today is relatively new. The trams were moved to adjacent streets and traffic was vastly reduced. The retail life as also ebbed and flowed, as rival shopping options opened up nearby. One of the great pleasures is exploring the numerous passageways along the length of the street, as these contain restaurants, bars, and other entrepreneurial experiments.

Street dining on Piotrkowska

It’s no exaggeration to say that upper Piotrkowska has an interesting detail for every line of sight. From some 14,000 plaques – commemorating the birth of Polish cinema, the many creative notables from Łódź, and a good chunk of the present citizenry – to the building-sized murals, street sculptures, and intricate architectural details, you could fill a book with interesting stories. There’s even a plaque for Margaret Thatcher.

We list the key things to look out for below, along with links for more information.

Street dining and not a car in sight!

What To See In ul. Piotrkowska

As noted above, Piotrkowska runs from north to south and is split in two distinct halves where it is intersected by the busy road al. marsz. Józefa Piłsudskiego. This list of landmarks on or directly off the street works the other way around. We have started with the Central Museum of Textiles in the south and worked north in roughly the order you’ll encounter things.

Central Museum of Textiles

Central Museum of Textiles

Housed in industrialist Ludwik Geyer’s unique White Factory, the Central Museum of Textiles tells the story of Łódź through the prism of fabric production, and has one of the large collections of tapestries and fashion in the world, as well as a fascinating look at the technology of making material.

The museum is twinned with Łódź City Culture Park, a street of relocated period houses telling the story of the city through a series of detailed microhistories. Both museums are bordered to the south by Reymont Park with a fountain in the large remains on the Jasień River.

Art Factory

Art Factory

Not every factory space in Łódź has been transformed into a shopping destination. Just off Piotrkowska, the Art Factory is a complex of creative venues and offices, with a few places to eat as part of the mix. The site is home to design and photography festivals, and regular creative events.

Owoce i Warzywa at Piotrkowska 217

Piotrkowska 217

If you’re willing to take a chance on something off the beaten track and a little more unpredictable, the shifting venues around Piotrkowska 217 are worth a shot. There are some lovely cafes, restaurants, and bars, and a live music venue.

Unicorn Statue and Stable

Unicorn Stable and Statue

Sitting on the junction of al. marsz. Józefa Piłsudskiego and ul. Piotrkowska is a busy tram stop with a large, multicoloured canopy. Actually called Piotrkowska Centrum but known locally as the Unicorn Stable, this is the point of arrival for many tourists travelling in from the airport. The nickname has stuck and led to the construction of an adjacent sculpture of a unicorn by Japanese artist Tomohiro Inaba.

The Łódź mural

Street Murals

Łódź is quite literally a public art gallery, with well over 100 giant murals on the sides of buildings. You’ll spot these all over the city, with many on the streets around Piotrkowska. New murals appear every year, sometimes in the most surprising places. See, for example, The Witcher mural on the side of a residential tower block.

OFF Piotrkowska

OFF Piotrkowska

A hub of independent bars, restaurants, and shops, post-industrial OFF Piotrkowska centre is one of the key elements in Łódź’s reputation as perhaps the most creative city in Poland. The complex also houses offices and workshops for designers and craftspeople, continuing the city’s history of textiles.

Piotrkowska passageway

Passageways

Piotrkowska is littered with passageways and courtyards which are worth exploring. These contain restaurants, cafes, bars, and clubs, as well as the occasional artwork. Keep your eyes open and, if something looks promising, take a detour and see what you find.

Manufacturers’ Table © Аимаина хикари / CC0 1.0

The Gallery of Great Lodzians

Sprinkled along Piotrkowska are six unmistakable statues, which are the brainchildren of actor, director, Łódź superfan, and all round character Marcel Szytenchelm. Unveiled between 1999 and 2007, these celebrate key figures in the city’s history, not always without a bit of controversy.

• Jaracz’s Armchair: Unveiled in 2006 and located at Piotrkoska 152, close to the junction, this public bench shows the director and writer sat in a theatre stall ready to lead the actors.
• Władysław Reymont’s Trunk: Unveiled in 2001 and located at Kindermann’s Palace, Piotrkowska 137, this bronze sculpture depicts the Nobel Prize-winning author with his notebook and sat on his luggage.
• Julian Tuwim Monument: Unveiled in 1999 in front of the Heinzl Palace, Piotrkowska 104, this bench shows the poet listening to whomever joins him. Give his nose a rub for luck!
• Rubinstein’s Piano: Unveiled in 2000 and located outside Piotrkowska 78, where the pianist once lived, this sculpture was controversial and is allegedly considered somewhat tasteless by the Rubinstein family.
• Lamplighter’s Monument: In contrast to the rest of the series, the 2007 monument, located next to the Szmulewicz tenement house, Piotrkowska 37, is a tribute to a nameless individual. This was to commemorate the electrification of the city on the 100th anniversary of the power plant. As with most of the other sculptures, there is a place for passers by to sit.
• Manufacturers’ Table: Located at Piotrkowska 30/32, and unveiled in 2002, this sculpture features the three big industrialists of the Łódź textiles revolution: Izrael Poznański, Karol Scheibler, and Henryk Grohman.

Plaques for Łódź citizens

Łódź Citizens of the Millennium

If you look down at the road in the section of Piotrkowska where it meets the Nawrot and Juliana Tuwima streets, you’ll see hundreds of little oblong plaques, placed neatly next to one another. These are little monuments to the citizens of Łódź and to demonstrate their connection to their community, introduced first in the year 2000 and then in two subsequent waves. Each was sponsored by an individual and features their name. There are now 16,890 in total, covering a space larger than was originally planned.

Entrance to the Museum of Light

Museum of Light

Perhaps not the most sophisticated museum in town but fun all the same. The Museum of Light is a series of rooms showcasing different tricks of illumination, very designed for their photogenic potential. There are lasers, heat sensitivity, an illusion of infinity built with mirrors, an inverted room, and more.

Walk of Fame

Walk of Fame

One of the many points of interest along Piotrkowska is Łódź’ very own Hollywood-style Walk of Fame. Here, the city pays tribute to the multifarious talent of Poland’s rich cinema history, including directors such as Polanski and Wadja, alongside actors, writers, and other key players.

Gutenberg Tenement House

The Gutenberg Tenement House

Piotrkowska is lined with interesting and historical architecture. Not to miss (and hard to miss) is the so-called Gutenberg Tenement House at number 86. This orange and red façade features scaly steel dragons, which dazzle on sunny days, as well as the statue of Johannes Gutenberg, which gave the building its name. The house originally belonged to a printer.

Other notable buildings to look out for are the Heinzel Palace at number 104, the Ludwik Geyer House at number 74, and the Grand Hotel at number 72.

Birth of Day

Birth of Day

Some of the artworks around Piotrkowska are hidden away and you’ll have to know to look for them. For example, the decorated courtyard by Wojciech Siudmak is entered via a gate at 4 Więckowskiego – look for the words “NARODZINY DNIA” (Birth of Day) above the passageway.

The Rose Passage

Rose Passage

Similarly, the Pasaż Róży (or Rose Passage) is an alleyway off Piotrkowska completely covered in fragments of mirror glass, which shimmers at certain times of day.

plac Wolności

plac Wolności (Freedom Square)

Piotrkowska ends (or starts) at plac Wolności, the main square in the city. The name, meaning Freedom Square, was given to it in 1918 when the country regained independence. The crowning statue of military leader and national hero Tadeusz Kościuszko was recreated in 1960 after the occupying German army had destroyed it out of spite in 1939.

You could easily spend an hour looking in at the various museums and churches on the square. There is an archeology museum in addition to those listed here. There’s also a fine view of the length of Piotrkowska from the base of the statue.

Museum of Pharmacy

Museum of Pharmacy

A small but interesting museum telling the story of medical practices and treatments through the centuries. Housed in a historic pharmacy building, the museum showcases a collection of antique apothecary jars, medical instruments, and pharmaceuticals.

Dętka Canal Museum entrance

Dętka Canal Museum

A trip down a sewer might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but this small, eccentric museum is a fun excursion beneath one of Łódź’ main squares.

Read more reviews on TripAdvisor.

The view from plac Wolności

How To Visit ul. Piotrkowska

ul. Piotrkowska address: ul. Piotrkowska, Łódź 90-001 Poland

Piotrkowska forms the backbone of central Łódź and is pretty hard to miss. However, when you first arrive, you can head to the Piotrkowska Centrum tram stop, which cuts through the middle of the street and is served by many of the city’s main tram routes. Use this official Łódź timetable to plan your journey.

Rickshaw on Piotrkowska

Tips For Visiting ul. Piotrkowska

• There is no public transport along Piotrkowska. It is effectively pedestrianised. However, you can hire a bike or get someone else to transport you via one of the pedal-powered trishaws that scoot up and down the street.
• I couldn’t find any functioning public toilets on or around Piotrkowska. Łódź suffers in this respect in comparison to Warsaw. Instead, you’ll need to stop off at a cafe and use their facilities.
• Obviously there are plenty of places to eat and drink along Piotrkowska, as well as some outside seating if you’ve brought a packed lunch.