Parks and nature
a park on the site of a former brickworks with a rope park, a skatepark and a children's traffic town
Historic sites
Museums
a multimedia fire exhibition in a copper flame-shaped building, in a town that burned more than 30 times
Historic sites
a palace in Baranowice after renovation, with a park of monumental oaks
Museums
town history and West African collections in a historic villa on Muzealna Street
Churches and monasteries
Gothic church by the market square with a tower 54 m high, rebuilt after wartime destruction
Cemeteries and monuments
the oldest cemetery in Żory, with about 130 gravestones, a lapidarium and boards on the history of the community
Churches and monasteries
modernist Lutheran church from 1929-1931 with an Art Deco interior and a Rieger organ
Historic sites
brick walls of the 13th and 14th centuries which in 1345 defended the town against Casimir the Great
Places with character
a brick reconstruction of the former town gate on a roundabout by the Żory old town
For children
Things to do in Żory: the medieval town walls, the Fire Museum, Cegielnia Park and the oldest church by the square, for a walk or a day with children.
Żory received town rights in 1272, and the medieval layout of the town is today the most interesting subject of sightseeing. In addition there are two museums, a Classicist palace in Baranowice, family attractions and traces of Jewish heritage.
Start at the Church of Sts Philip and James, the oldest church in Żory. It is a Gothic hall church with three naves by the market square, near the old walls, with a tower about 54 m high. A bull of Pope Celestine III from 1193 already confirmed a village "with a church", and the present building dates from the 13th century, although the register of monuments gives the 15th.
Fragments of the defensive walls survive along Ogrodowa and Męczenników Oświęcimskich streets. These Gothic brick walls of the 13th and 14th centuries are among the oldest in Silesia. The old walls had two gates, and the Kraków Gate is recalled by a brick sculpture on a roundabout that stands for the vanished fortification, which burned down in the 16th century. Similar monuments are gathered on the pages for architecture in Żory and historic monuments in Żory.
The Fire Museum opened in 2014 as a multimedia show inside a flame-shaped building. The theme is no accident: according to the museum, the town burned more than thirty times between 1522 and 1882. The Municipal Museum has worked in the renovated Haering Villa since 2014. It tells the story of Żory and the region, and a separate department covers the cultures of West Africa. More ideas for a wet day are in the article In the rain with a child: interactive museums, play areas and science centres and on the page for rainy-day places in Żory.
Cegielnia Park was created on the site of a former brickworks, whose buildings were demolished in 1993. Between Folwarecka and Wodzisławska streets are a playground, a rope park, a road-safety town, a skate park, an outdoor gym, a roller track and a brine tower. Entry to the park is free.
Twinpigs is a family amusement park in a Wild West style, intended mainly for children aged three to ten. It has cowboy shows, a water wheel, bumper cars, carousels, a 5D cinema, a mini zoo and pony rides.
The palace in Baranowice stands at Zamkowa 97. It dates from the 17th century, Emil von Durant rebuilt it in the 19th, and after years as a ruin it was thoroughly restored. A park with several dozen oaks protected as natural monuments surrounds it. The modernist Church of the Saviour on Osińska street is a Lutheran church of 1929-1931, designed by the brothers Hubert and Henryk Eras from Wrocław.
The synagogue at Kościuszki 3 was built in 1830-1835. During the Second World War the Germans thoroughly devastated it, after the war it was converted into a cinema, and in 2007 a major renovation began. The oldest burial ground in town is the Jewish cemetery of 1814 on Cmentarna street. About one hundred and thirty gravestones survive, and a lapidarium was set up in 2024. It is a place of remembrance, enclosed by a wall. The fate of similar cemeteries is described in the article Jewish cemeteries in Pszczyna, Żory, Mikołów, Rybnik and Racibórz. Solo travellers will find ideas under solo trips in Żory, and the events calendar for Żory lists what is on.
Start at the market square and the Church of Sts Philip and James, then walk along the surviving fragments of the walls. In the afternoon you can look into the Fire Museum or go to Cegielnia Park.
The oldest is the Church of Sts Philip and James by the market square. It is a Gothic hall church with three naves and a tower about 54 m high.
Yes, fragments survive along Ogrodowa and Męczenników Oświęcimskich streets. They are Gothic brick walls of the 13th and 14th centuries.
The town burned many times because its buildings stood close together. According to the museum, it burned more than thirty times between 1522 and 1882.
