History:.

of a special facility, a clog that was used to block the way to the ships entering the port or putting out to sea. Starting from the end of XIII th century the ships landed also at the island Lasztownia, located close to the right bank of Odra river facing the city. The port location between the two bridges was legally approved and maintained for fairly long time, up to the middle of XVIII the century. There were also some smaller landing places outside the port however they were mainly used by local citizens living on fishing.

The favourable location at Odra estuary, well planned investments and gain of the right to store the goods floated by Odra downstream and upstream made Szczecin to become one of the biggest Baltic ports in Middle Ages. The port of Szczecin made use of its position as a transit port in trading with overseas partners and inland hinterland. The particular sectors of hinterland remained under various countries administration that caused difficulties of political nature. In many cases such relationships restricted and even unabled effective trade with other regions, e.g. Wielkopolska, Silesia or Brandenburg.

The technical infrastructure of Szczecin port was constantly developed and expanded. Starting from XIV the century there certainly existed the bridges cut far into the river, facilitating unloading of goods without using smaller boats. The above bridges had to have been of great importance as they were given special names, e.g. Butcher's Bridge, Fishing Bridge, "Kurza Stopka" Bridge, Seminarist's Bridge, etc. There were also two more bridges located outside the main harbour and perhaps were usd mainly to deliver goods to nearby monasteries. In the middle of XVI the century the left bank of Odra got consolidated and about 20 m long wharf was constructed. The wharf was used to handle