A fat black and white cat has become a major tourist attraction in the Polish city of Szczecin.
Gacek, a free-roaming feline who lives in a box on Kaszubska Street in Poland’s seventh largest city, has captured the attention of cat enthusiasts around the world.
The rotund animal had a five-star rating on Google Maps, clocking up more than 2,500 reviews, according to local reports, before it was removed.
A new listing for Gacek attracted almost 500 reviews and an average five-star rating in its first 48 hours, according to Insider, beating other attractions in the sea port city, including the 12th-century Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle.
The cat, whose name means “long-eared bat” in Polish and is pronounced “gats-ek”, has been a resident of the city for many years, earning the affections of locals and visitors alike, but his international reputation exploded after a 2020 video by local news outlet wSzczecinie went viral.
Now, ailurophiles from around the world are being drawn to the city in a bid to meet the “King of Kaszubska Street” in the fur.
“I flew from Oslo with transit in Gdańsk to see Gacek,” wrote one five-star review from August 2021.
“As expected, he didn’t pay any attention to me which made the experience fully wholesome. If I could have dinner with anyone in the world, I would fly again in an instant to feed him,” it continued.
“It was worth travelling three hours to feel ignored by him,” wrote another.
A third reviewer commented: “I am very fortunate to meet this distinguished gentle creature.”
