Rzeszów, Poland

Rzeszów is a city of roughly 197,000 residents on the Wisłok River in southeast Poland and serves as the capital of the Podkarpackie region. Beneath the Old Town, the 18th-century Lubomirski Castle underground route stretches 364 meters through passages originally dug for merchants and shelter. Nearby, the multimedia Rzeszów Cellars trace 17th-century brewery vaults dating to 1895, while the 1892 monument to Rev. Jan Pająk stands as the first free-standing monument to a peasant in Poland. Beyond its heritage, the city supplies engines to Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky, anchoring a regional aerospace industry. What drew global aviation to this riverside capital is worth a closer look.