Bydgoszcz is a city located in northern Poland, on the Brda and Vistula rivers, with a population of 358,029 (June 2009), agglomeration more than 460, 000, which makes it the 8th largest city in Poland. Due to its location between the Vistula and Odra rivers, and the water course of the Bydgoszcz Canal, the city forms part of a water system connected via the Noteć, Warta, Odra, and Elbe with the Rhine and Rotterdam.

The oldest building in the city is the Church of St Martin and Nicolaus, commonly known as Fara Church. It is a three-aisle late Gothic church, erected between 1466 and 1502, which boasts a late-Gothic painting entitled Madonna with a Rose or the Holy Virgin of Beautiful Love from the 16th century. The colourful 20th-century polychrome is also worth noticing.