Bydgoszcz - the capital of the kujawsko-pomorskie voivodeship, a city with three state universities and sixteen other universities and colleges. Since the time the city was granted municipal rights by king Casmir the Great in 1346, it has grown to the rank of a dynamically developing economic centre. The city is home to many international concerns that deal with the electrotechnical industry, telecommunications and banking, including Alcatel - Lucent, Tyco Electronics, Atos Origin and JP Morgan Chase.
Due to the fact that an airport with a modern passenger terminal is located just 3.5 km from the city centre, Bydgoszcz has excellent connections with other parts of Poland and Europe. Additionally, the city is a junction of railway, water and road routes. Owing to its picturesque location on the Brda River and the historic Bydgoszcz Canal, as well as the Vistula, the city has earned the name of the biggest Polish centre of inland navigation! It is through here that the water route E-70 from Berlin to Kaliningrad runs.
It is also worth knowing that the Old Market Square is crossed by the 18 meridian East. However, the place that actually contains a display of this geographical curiosity is Mill Island. A number of museums, the proximity of the Opera and the numerous festivals and concerts that take place in the amphitheatre make this place the cultural centre of the city.
Bydgoszcz is also called the capital of Polish athletics and rowing. Audiences from all over the world come here to admire basketball and volleyball players as well as speedway riders. The IAAF Junior Championships, IAAF World Cross Country Championships , the Great Rowing Regatta for the Brda Cup, Poland’s Speedway Grand Prix, the CEV Orlen European Championships, EuroBasket – these are just some of a whole selection of sport events that are organized in the city on the Brda River.
more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bydgoszcz
