• In Toruń, there were erected numerous mediaeval structures, many of which have been preserved to present times. All the buildings represent the magnificent achievements of brick Gothic architecture in Europe.
• Preserved residential buildings are the biggest and the best-maintained examples of Gothic residential architecture in Northern Europe.
  
• The unique spatial arrangement, preserved in a condition close to the original one, is a valuable source of historical evidence for the development of mediaeval cities in Europe. 
  
• The Old City Town Hall assembles in inimitable way judicial, administrative and commercial functions.
  
• Toruń Old City Quarter combines the features of a riverside port city and a double city (the Old and New Town) with the characteristic of a fortress.
  
• In Toruń, regardless of its degree of independence, one can see the noticeable influence of the leading European art centres, such as Bruges, Ghent, and Lübeck. This fact is thought of as evidence for the existence of the cultural commonwealth of Hanseatic Towns
  
• In the Middle Ages Toruń witnessed many historic events. This city took part in the process of Christianisation and colonisation of Prussia, was the main intermediary in the Hanseatic Commerce with Eastern Europe, became the major centre of creating the sense of townspeople’s identity, and a place of signing the Second Toruń Treaty in 1466.

• The valuable architecture of the historical city - mediaeval churches, the Old City Town Hall - represent the masterpieces of human craftsmanship genius. They meet all the requirements of mediaeval  system of fortification (walls, gates, the castle ruins, the location of the Old and New Towns of Toruń)
• In Toruń, there are 6 monuments of class 0, 50 of class 1, and 270 of class 2.
  
• Toruń has been placed on a list of the seven Historical Centres in Poland.
  
• The Old and New Town are part of the nomination (both are the clear examples of mediaeval arrangement of town), so are the ruins of the Teutonic Knights’ Castle.
  
• The criteria for the nomination include: the history of the mediaeval city, its particular scientific developments, and the significance of the city for the Province of Pomerania.
  
• Toruń is an excellent example of a medieval river port, which used to connect Poland, Germany, Prussia, Scandinavia, and Lithuania.
  
• In the Old and New Town districts many authentic valuable Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings have been well preserved (>>).
  
• Toruń has also a valuable double-ring system of the 19th century Fortrifications, erected by Prussians - a 19th century monument of a defensive architecture.
  
• Among other cities of the Hanseatic League, Toruń is a unique place, because here Nicolaus Copernicus, one of the greatest scientists of all times, was born.

The history of efforts to entering the city on this prestigious list goes back to 1986. Then on a resolution of the City Council the Civic Committee for the Toruń Historical Monuments Renovation was established. At the same time and on the occasion of this appointment the request to initiate proceedings that would lead to the entry the city in the UNESCO World Heritage Site started.
The purpose of the Committee was also lobbying the interests of Toruń in the state government authorities (among others Toruń was included into the list of 8 cities, which as the first had to get the materials centrally subsidized for upgrading monuments). The Committee also established contact with the authorities of Krakow, to take advantage of the local solutions and models.

However, the 10th Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party (the communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989) in 1986 failed to approve the article about the nationwide need to save the historical monuments of Toruń, in consequence of the programme that covered only the monuments of Krakow.
As a result of the Civic Committee for the Toruń Historical Monuments Renovation activity several historic preservation work was achieved.
In 1989 the Committee was abolished.