Cytadela Park

Cytadela is the largest park in Poznan, spread over around 100 hectares on Winiary hill, north of the Old Town. The ground was once Fort Winiary, the core of the Prussian fortress ring built around the city in the 19th century. Today wide lawns and woodland cover the slopes, but the memorials, cemeteries and old fort walls keep the history in plain sight, so this is a walk with a serious past behind it.

Cytadela is where Poznan comes to breathe. It is the biggest green space in the city, large enough that the crowds thin out. It also carries the weight of the fortress and the fighting of 1945, alongside one of the most talked-about outdoor sculptures in Poland. You can treat it as a park walk, a history lesson, or both.

The best-known sight is Nierozpoznani, or The Unrecognised, a field of 112 headless cast-iron figures by the artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, long associated with Poznan. Each stands about two metres tall, and the group was unveiled in 2002 for the city's 750th anniversary. Two small museums sit in the surviving fort buildings, the Poznan Army Museum and the Museum of Armaments, with heavier military hardware displayed outside. On the southern slope are war cemeteries, including a Soviet soldiers' cemetery and a Commonwealth war cemetery. The paths between them are long and green.

Fort Winiary was built by the Prussians as part of Festung Posen, the ring of forts that turned Poznan into a garrison city. Work began in 1828 and the main fort was completed by 1842. In 1945 it became the last German strongpoint in the Battle of Poznan and held out until Soviet troops took it on 23 February. Most of the fortress was cleared after the war, and the hill was reshaped into the park you see now.

Allow an hour or two for a loop of the park. Add more to go inside the museums or walk the cemeteries. The grounds are large, so it is easy to spend a whole morning here.

Cytadela is a short tram ride or a walk north of the centre. From the Old Town, head up through the older streets to the southern entrances, where the sculpture and the museums are closest. See the Poznan guide for getting around the rest of the city.

The park pairs well with the sights back in the centre and the city's other green space:

• The Old Market Square and its noon goats, a short way south.
• The Palm House in Wilson Park, on the far side of the centre.
• Lake Malta, for lakeside trails east of town.

Yes. The park is a public space, open day and night at no charge. You only pay to go inside the Poznan Army Museum or the Museum of Armaments, which keep separate hours.

They are Nierozpoznani, The Unrecognised, a group of 112 headless cast-iron figures by Magdalena Abakanowicz, unveiled in 2002 for the city's 750th anniversary.