The capital of the province and the largest city in the west of Poland is Poznań, a city of commerce, higher education, and also the seat of the Archbishop of Wielkopolska. The city began life as Ostrów Tumski, a former island on the River Warta, where you can find a Gothic cathedral housing the tombs of the first Polish rulers: Mieszko I and Bolesław Chrobry. Poznań Old Town has retained its medieval arrangement with a monumental Town Hall, the famous statue of two goats horning, and a parish church. Precious collections and displays can be seen in the National Museum, the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments, the Museum of Archeology and many others. Then, there is the Raczyński Library which houses important collections of books. Theatre-goers will not be disappointed as the local theatres are very good. The city centre has a lively atmosphere particularly during international trade fairs. There are numerous hotels and restaurants serving regional dishes such as the delicious leavened noodles (pyzy drożdżowe). Also, on St Martin’s Day (11th November) , who is the patron of the city, the local shops and street-stalls brim with mouth-watering St Martin’s croissants stuffed with poppy, almonds, raisins, nuts and figs. Sports enthusiasts are well catered for in the city. The large sports centre situated on Malta Lake features a rowing-track and an artificial skiing slope open throughout the year.

We are very pleased to invite you to invest in Poznań, second after Warsaw, center of trade and finance in Poland. The largest companies which have already invested here are: Alcatel, Allied Irish Bank, Beiersdorf, CPC International, GlaxoSmithKline, Ikea, Nestle, Reemtsma, Volkwagen, Wrigley. Both foreign and domestic investors highly evaluate the effectiveness of the economic transformations in Poznań, the absorbent capacities of the local market, the high quality of the job market and the good technical infrastructure of the city. Great importance is placed on the marketing activity of the local authorities and economic organisations and on providing a suitable social climate for investment. All the above -mentioned factors influence investor's willingness to invest their capital here in Poznań. Their interest prompted us to prepare these pages in order to present investment possibilities in our city. This is an electronic version of the "City of Poznań site proposals" catalogue, prepared by The City Marketing Department. The catalogue includes site proposals listed according to their category, for example : multi-storey car parks, hotels and office buildings, recreation sport and entertainment etc. Presented sites have different ownership - State Treasury, municipal or private. In the case of the municipal grounds no option of the land aquisition is excluded - the land may be sell, let out or the investor may try to enter into partnership with the City. The main source of the land information given in this catalogue is the Local Physical Development Plan which, together with the Strategic Development Programm for the City of Poznań, created rules for locating investments in Poznań.

Poznań is the seat of the General Consulate of the Russian Federation and the United States is represented by Consular Agency. Twelve countries maintain honorary consulates here: Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, France, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico and Latvia. The function of honorary consuls is performed by community leaders such as respected entrepreneurs, or scientists with long established connections to the countries which they represent in Poland. Honorary consuls know the Polish realities and play an important role in building bridges between foreigners and Poland.

Sightseeing in Poznań can be done in a variety of ways. Lovers of old monuments can choose a tour of historic places-from the Gothic cathedral in Ostrów Tumski, through the Old Market Square, with its Renaissance and Baroque tenement houses and the Renaissance Town Hall, to the Baroque Parish Church.

A trip to the Poznań International Fair can be complemented with a stroll down the streets of turn-of-the-century art. - deco tenement houses.

The visitor can choose a tour of museums, and there are 20 of them in the city ranging from art, applied arts, ethnography, musical instruments to war memorabilia and literature museums.

Nature lovers will enjoy the prospect of visiting two zoological gardens, the botanical gardens and arboretum, a palm house, and numerous parks and nature reserves.

If the visitor wants to spend their leisure time pursuing sports activities, he or she will not be short of places to go. On Malta, there is always something interesting to do, regardless of the season of the year. In summer swimming might be enticing. The toboggan-slidge and an artificial ski slope are opened all year round (skiing equipment can be rented on site). The area around the lake is an attractive place to go for a walk, a bike ride, or do some roller-skating.

For those who like longer hikes, there are five well-marked tourist routes weaving through charming green areas on the city outskirts. The most interesting one goes through Morasko and the Meteorite reserve. The longest one, 13.5 km, starts in Golęcin, passes along the Rusałka Lake, through Strzeszyn, along the Kierskie Lake and ends at Krzyżowniki. As many as four lakes are located within the city borders: natural ones Kierskie and Strzeszyńskie, and the artificial Rusałka and Malta. All of them are used for recreational purposes, although sailing is best done on Kierskie, and canoeing and rowing on Malta, which is the site of world, European, national, and regional level championships in those two disciplines.

The green areas of Poznań can also be admired from horseback. Horse-riding enthusiasts can find appropriate mounts at the Wola Horseback Riding Centre.