Concept

Sopot

Summary
Sopot (ˈsɔpɔt; Sopòt or Sopòtë; Zoppot ˈtsɔpɔt) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city in Poland to do so. It lies between the larger cities of Gdańsk to the southeast and Gdynia to the northwest. The three cities together form the metropolitan area of Tricity. Sopot is a major health-spa and tourist resort destination. It has the longest wooden pier in Europe, at 511.5 metres, stretching out into the Bay of Gdańsk. The city is also famous for its Sopot International Song Festival, the largest such event in Europe after the Eurovision Song Contest. Among its other attractions is a fountain of bromide spring water, known as the "inhalation mushroom". The name is thought to derive from an Old Slavic word sopot meaning "stream" or "spring". The same root occurs in a number of other Old Slavic toponyms; it is probably onomatopeic, imitating the sound of running water — murmur (Šepot). The name is first recorded as Sopoth in 1283 and Sopot in 1291. The German Zoppot is directly derived from the original name. In the 19th century and in the interwar years the German name was re-Polonized as Sopoty (a plural form, closer to the German pronunciation). "Sopot" was made the official Polish name when the town came again under Polish rule in 1945. The area of today's Sopot contains the site of a 7th-century Slavonic (Pomeranian) stronghold. Initially it was a commercial trade outpost for commerce extending both up the Vistula river and to cities north across the Baltic Sea. With time the significance of the stronghold diminished and by the 10th century it was reduced to a fishing village, eventually abandoned. However, a century later the area was settled again and two villages were founded within the borders of todays city: Stawowie and Gręzowo. They were first mentioned in 1186 as being granted to the Cistercian abbey in Oliwa.
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.