My daughter and I travelled to Gdansk recently. The Spring weather was magnificent and perfect for visiting the Zaspa neighbourhood. Zaspa is known for its’ transformation from a bleak soviet-style concrete block to a cool colorful neighbourhood filled with interesting murals.
Zaspa was built on an airfield in the 1970s. The area is so huge that we only managed to scratch the surface on our visit.
The first murals were painted in 1997! We did spot a few bare walls, so I’m sure there’s still room for more.
Zaspa came about as a peaceful neighbourhood. We were the only travellers around and I noticed the locals eyeing us curiously.
We discovered that some of the entrances were also covered in murals.
I was drawn to the vivid colors on this piece of art.
All the murals have a story behind them. You can print a map and even look into the guided tour here.
Here’s a photo to showcase how huge some of the murals are. You can see how tiny my daughter looks in comparison.
Here’s a robotic futuristic mural.
These are my two favourites. The first one is quite surreal. It is a birdlike woman with a hatching egg on her head. Don’t ask me what it means! The artist is called Dem and he is known for his work on abandoned buildings and factories.
This mural, “The New Future”, is a reminder of socialist-realist propaganda art. It fits perfectly in these surroundings. The mural has been painted by a German artist called Klaus Klinger.
Last but not least, I have to mention how I love the cool look of the newer buildings which have been adjusted to fit the idea in Zaspa.
This is my contribution to the Monday Murals photo challenge hosted by Sami.
What are your impressions of Zaspa? Are you a fan of murals?
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
i Love people who took a neighborhood of the lower class and they made it a unique and interesting place for the people living there. Gave them something to be proud of and by the way attracts visitors as well!! i viisted Gdansk this year here my Blogpost https://www.kdexplorer.com/2019/05/visit-gdansk-poland.html
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Hey Dimitris! Thanks for visiting my blog and linking your Gdansk article, it’s fun to see that you enjoyed many of the same things I did 😀 Zaspa was definitely a must see and I also love the social aspect of it. Happy travels!
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I like the minimalistic guy with the broom on that expanse of wall!
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I was quite taken with that one as well! I read that the man has been modeled after the artist’s neighbor who had a routine of sweeping outside the house every morning.
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These are so cool! I love Gdansk, I had no idea this neighborhood existed. I like the idea of keeping the soviet architecture but jazzing it up. Thanks for sharing!
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I only discovered this area when in Gdansk, as my daughter wasn’t so excited about what I had planned to see and I had to look for something new that would pique her interest too 😅 Thanks for taking a look!
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Haha, that sounds like traveling with kids! I’m glad you got to do this together.
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These murals look amazing! It’s a great idea to handle the soviet style heritage. Back in my childhood all the houses looked the same. Even inside the apartments you would see the same things and same designs. Boring, very boring!
I also like that in Zaspa newer buildings blend in with older ones. This is important for carrying out the whole plan. Wonderful pictures 🙂
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Thanks so much Elena! I was quite taken with Zaspa and keep seeing areas in Helsinki and Espoo which would benefit from this kind of urban planning. There are some murals eg. in Karakallio and Matinkylä but not to this extent!
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Wow! After reading your blogpost and admire those large scale murals… it’s on my bucket list:)! Thanks for sharing. Gr Stef
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Oh yes, just grand. I’d have much fun exploring here as well.
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I would have liked to explore all of the area but my daughter wanted to go and do other things 😛
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Thanks for contributing Suvi. Loved the variety of murals, and they are huge! The town looks very peaceful and colourful too.
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Thank you Sami for taking a look! I went to see some of the other posts but the commenting for blogger stopped working for me and I couldn’t comment on anyone’s posts ☹️
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Wonderful murals. They go in the surroundings so well.
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Thanks so much, I was also really impressed.
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I thoroughly enjoyed your little tour of Zaspa, and it was really encouraging to see that they are trying to make the old Soviet environments less sterile. The murals are awesome. There are so many I really like. I think the last one is quite poignant.
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Yes, I have to say that the idea of the murals and colorful buildings is a really good one. Actually there are many areas in Helsinki and Espoo which should look into doing this as well – with the winter often so bleak over here, grey concrete buildings look so boring and dull. Everyone needs more fun and happiness!
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Beautiful! I live in Lodz, which is known for its murals that can be found all over the city, so I was surprised to learn that they have such murals going on in a neighborhood in Gdansk too. They all look really cool! If you’re interested in how the murals from Lodz compare :
https://lostinprettyeurope.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/lodz-poland-and-its-murals/
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Wow thanks for linking the Lodz murals, they look really cool! Murals seem to be very versatile, I like the thought of murals in the city center but at the same time, my experience of them in Zaspa was awesome too. It’s a pity some people do not respect the art and spray graffiti on them ☹️
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Graffiti seems to be quite common in post-Soviet countries.. I don’t remember seeing them so much when I lived in Finland, but here in Poland, it’s everywhere.. such a shame.
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Oh we have it too! ☹️
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