Medieval sights can’t compete with fat cat as top tourist draw
A FAT cat called Gacek has become the top tourist attraction in a Polish city that was, until now, better known for its medieval castle.
Nestling on the River Oder near the German border, the ancient city of Szczecin boasts a rich and varied history dating back to the eighth century.
Visitors there can enjoy a Gothic town hall, the tower-blessed St James Cathedral, with 14th-century triptych and city views, and the justly renowned renaissance Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle.
But none of those cultural delights holds a candle to the sedentary spectacle of Gacek the cat – at least not according to tourists leaving reviews on Google Maps.
The chunky stray scored an impressive five out of five stars in more than 4,000 reviews posted on the site, making the animal Szczecin’s number one tourist attraction.
“I came all the way from Lancaster UK to see Gacek. We chatted for a while. It was good,” wrote one reviewer named Roy.
“A beautiful chonker who is worthy of his adoring fans,” said another tourist, while a third said it “was worth travelling three hours to feel ignored by him.”
Gacek, whose name means “longeared bat” in Polish, lives independently in a wooden shelter built for him by caring shopkeepers on Kaszubska Street.
After a local news broadcaster did a story about Gacek and posted it on Youtube about three years ago, the feline’s fame began to grow.
Gacek has now lived on the street for almost a decade, and his fans regularly pay pilgrimage to his home to take photos. He has his own Instagram and Facebook page, set up by admirers, but Google Maps appears to be less adoring. The company recently removed Gacek’s reviews from the site but, since then, “Kot Gacek” has reappeared.
He is already attracting new glowing reviews, including one describing meeting him as “life-changing”.
It is unclear how many reviewers have genuinely visited Gacek or are enjoying playing cat and mouse with the US tech giant.
In 2021, a golden retriever in Gdansk, Poland, was rated the top attraction on Google Maps before being removed from the site.
‘I came all the way from Lancaster to see Gacek the cat. We chatted for a while. It was good’