Secrets of the headquarters of the Silesian Parliament

It’s one of the most magnificent buildings in the city - it is the seat of the regional authorities, the so-called Silesian Parliament (Sejmik Śląski). This monumental building, built in the modernist style in 1929, was one of the biggest buildings in the country in the interwar period. It delights with its symmetrical shape, with four similar facades where its front is hard to define. You can enter it from the four corners of the world.

 

In addition to the beautiful, eighty-person plenary hall, the building has many representative rooms: including the so-called Marble Room (Sala Marmurowa) and Panelling Room (Sala Boazeryjna), where an important event not only for the region but also for the country took place. In addition, there are over 600 other rooms, 1,300 windows and more than 6 kilometers of corridors! Interestingly, you can find one of the few paternosters (a circular elevator) operating in Poland. It has 14 cabins without door and is always on the move. To use it, you just have to jump into it!

The size of this building arouses respect from the outside. Inside, decorative sale is eye-catching, but the most unknown secrets are hidden underground. A dozen years ago, under the building and nearby streets was discovered a network of escape tunnels, which had their exits in various parts of the city, and some of them led to war shelters. Moreover, this building has its own underground vault, in which, during the World War 2, a ton of honest ingots of gold was hidden. It is surprising that under its base there is a special pool, into which valuables would fall if unauthorized persons got there.

The building is located at Jagiellońska Street, right next to the Sejm Śląski Square. The entire building can be visited during special museum events, but hundreds of people take care of official matters there every day.