A fat cat has become the top-rated tourist attraction in a Polish city with a perfect 5-star average on Google Maps
by sstacey
A fat black-and-white cat called Gacek has become the top-rated tourist attraction in the Polish city of Szczecin.
Gacek has a perfect five-star rating on Google Maps. His name, pronounced gats-ek, means “long-eared bat” in Polish.
The rotund feline has beaten out Szczecin’s other tourist hotspots, including a Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle built in 1346.
Gacek’s been living in a covered wooden box on Szczecin’s Kaszubska Street for several years and he gets plenty of snacks from passers-by, according to local news outlet wSzczecinie.
Gacek first drew international attention when he appeared in a YouTube documentary in 2020. He even began to lure visitors from neighboring Germany, according to Notes From Poland.
Gacek’s previous listing — which had almost 2,600 reviews according to Mental Floss — appears to have been removed, but a new listing has attracted nearly 500 reviews and an average 5-star rating in its first 48 hours.
One reviewer wrote: “I am very fortunate to have come here and meet this distinguished gentle creature.”
In August 2021, one person said they’d flown all the way from Oslo, Norway, to see Gacek: “As expected, he didn’t pay any attention to me, which made the experience fully wholesome. If I could have a dinner with anyone in the world, I would fly again in an instant to feed him.”
Nevertheless, Gacek’s appeal apparently isn’t universal. One person gave him a one-star rating in 2022 because he “stole a sausage.”
A local animal shelter has urged visitors not to feed Gacek, per Gazeta.pl.
His box is located outside a shop whose workers act as his de-facto guardians. They recently put up a sign asking that any edible offerings for Gacek be left in sealed containers, according to Notes From Poland.
