In the Centre of Education and Regional Promotion in Szymbark at the foot of the highest mountain in the Kaszubian Province – Mount Wiezyca (329m above sea level), a house, the only one in Poland, was built on its roof. The “Upside Down House” evokes a strange feeling – entry is through a roof window and visitors walk around on the ceilings. The interior is furnished in the style of socialist realism – there is a TV room and a dresser with crystal objects, a toilet from the 1970’s and propaganda of the time coming from the television.

The building of this house took longer and was a lot more expensive than a normal house of this size. The foundations alone required 200m³of concrete. The house is not the only attraction of the Centre – the worlds longest plank can also be found here (it is 36.83m long, weighs 1.1 tons and is registered in the Guinness Book of Records). The Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa’s table is also here.

The Centre of Education and Regional Promotion is not just a place of fun but is also of historical education. Apart from the Upside Down House and longest plank there is still the House of the Siberian – a farmhouse from Siberia which reminds us of the tragedy of the Polish exiles. This farmhouse was a gift from the residents of Zapleskino near Irkutsk. There is also the Museum of Carpentry with its 2300 exhibits of woodworking tools as well as the Museum of Snuff.

Centre of Education and Regional Promotion – Szymbark (woj. Pomorskie)

www.cepr.pl