Miś Maciuś, Bronze bear monument in Gniew, Poland

Miś Maciuś is a 75 cm tall, 30 kg bronze bear statue unveiled in 2010 on Sambora Street in Gniew. The bear stands upright, and at its feet lies a boulder bearing an imprint of a bear's paw.

The sculpture recalls an old story from the period between 1626 and 1629, when the town experienced an unusual event during the conflict between Poland and Sweden. A legend tells that during a battle, St. Nicholas Church was visited by animals while residents went to fight.

Since 2010, this bronze bear serves as the official mascot of Gniew, wearing different outfits including chainmail, nobility attire, and firefighter costume.

The bear stands on Samborowa Street, a short walk from Gniew's Old Town market square and the Gniew Garden of History. The sculpture is small, 75 cm tall, so look down near the boulder with the paw imprint rather than at eye level. The street between the church walls and the townhouses is narrow and pedestrian, easy to pass on foot.

Since 2013 the bear has also been listed in the collection of the Teddy Bear Museum in Zakopane, and it wears several outfits, among them a chainmail shirt, a nobleman's kontusz and a chimney sweep's uniform.