Szczecin (Stettin), Poland

Szczecin, also known as Stettin, sits on the Oder River near the Baltic Sea and is home to roughly 400,000 residents, making it Poland's seventh-largest city. The 14th-century Pomeranian Dukes' Castle preserves about 3,000 artefacts of the Griffin dynasty. Along the riverbank, the 1900 Wały Chrobrego terraces extend for 500 metres. Laid out in 1882, the city's star-shaped street grid is one of only three such plans in Europe, following those of Paris and Karlsruhe. Szczecin was also the 1729 birthplace of Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who would rule Russia as Catherine the Great.