Prague is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people. During the thousand years of its existence, the city grew from a settlement stretching from Prague Castle in the north to the fort of Vyšehrad in the south. The Czech name Praha is derived from an old Slavic word, práh, which means “ford” or “rapid”, referring to the city’s origin at a crossing point of the Vltava river.
Oświęcim is a town in southern Poland, situated 50 kilometres west of Kraków. The town is commonly known for being the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II when Poland was under the control of Nazi Germany.
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. Its historical Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once described as the ‘Paris of the North’, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. After the war, Warsaw gained the new title of Phoenix City because of its extensive history and complete reconstruction after World War II, which had left over 85% of its buildings in ruins.
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. The name of the city originates from the Vilnia River. Historian Romas Batūra identifies the city with Voruta, one of the castles of Mindaugas, crowned in 1253 as King of Lithuania. During the reign of Vytenis a city started to emerge from a trading settlement and the first Franciscan Catholic church was built.
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava river. Riga was founded in 1201. Riga’s historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau / Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture.
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. From the 13th century until 1918 (and briefly during the Nazi occupation of Estonia from 1941 to 1944), the city was known as Reval. Tallinn, first mentioned in 1219, received city rights in 1248, but the earliest human settlements date back 5,000 years.[