There is no doubt: Wrocław is a wonderful city.
And did you know that almost 200 of its 630,000 inhabitants are… dwarves? Yes, exactly: dwarves!
This ever growing community lives in the town’s underbelly, but you might get lucky and meet a few of them walking down Wrocław’s streets, squares and bridges.
I’ve met quite a few of them! One greeted me while hanging on a street lamp, a few others were trying to put out a fire, and one of them even tried to explain Euclid’s theorem to me right in front of the University.
I’ve also stumbled upon the guardian of the small door that leads to their underground world!
Would you like to make friends with them? Just check out this map, and try to locate a few of them. Fortunately, they are dwarves of a habit, and you’ll almost always find them hanging around the same places.
Jokes apart, these funny little beings started out in 1981 as provocative graffitis that embodied Orange Alternative (Pomaranczowa Alternatywa), a pacific movement founded by Waldemar Fydrych that opposed to the communist regime.
Only in more recent years, thanks to funds provided by privates and the public administration, the small statues which now represent this beautiful city started to be sculpted and placed all around town, with the first one appearing in 2001.
A map illustrating the position of all the dwarves can be bought at the Tourist Office located on the Main Market Square (Rynek).
Or you can start to make their acquaintance on the official site.
Poland