Transportation and travel during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
An element of the history of material culture in Poland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Travel in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, despite the poor condition of roads and bridges, was frequent. Foreigners, clergy, burghers, and peasants traveled, but most often it was representatives of the nobility who embarked on journeys. They traveled to visit relatives and acquaintances, attend court trials, as well as to attend local assemblies and events. Particularly grand were the processions of the magnates, often consisting of dozens of wagons and hundreds of horses. Due to the quality of land routes, river transport of goods and people played a significant role in mass transportation. Poles also traveled across Europe for educational, sightseeing, or diplomatic purposes. However, from the mid-17th century, xenophobia and ignorance among Polish travelers began to emerge, with them often considering visited countries inferior to the Commonwealth and their inhabitants as "commoners".