Warsaw Old Town, Warsaw, Poland. By Ben Bender,

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Warsaw Old Town


 

This is the oldest part of Warsaw, the capital city of Poland. It is bounded by the Wybrze偶e Gda艅skie (Gda艅sk Boulevards), along with the bank of the Vistula river, Grodzka, Mostowa and Podwale Streets.

It is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in Warsaw. The heart of the area is Old Town Market Place, rich in restaurants, caf茅s, and shops.

Surrounding streets feature medieval architecture such as the city walls, St. Johns Cathedral, and the Barbican which links the Old Town with Warsaw’s new town.

Here are some of the fascinating facts about Warsaw Old Town;

1. There are two mermaid statues in this square

Mermaid statue in the old town of Warsaw, Poland. By Guillaume Speurt

So while there is still a mermaid statue in Old Town Square, this is not the original. This is a new statue, which was placed here in 2008.

The original mermaid statue is currently on display in the Museum of Warsaw, which itself is located in the Old Town Square, meaning there are two mermaid statues here in the square.

2. The Barbican was built in 1548, in the Old  Town

Barbican in Warsaw, Poland

The Barbican was built in 1548, it is directly situated where the Old Town merges into the New Town.

It served as an access gate for the Old Town and is integrated directly into the Warsaw City Wall that surrounds the Old Town.

Most part of the Warsaw Old Town Wall has survived since the time it was built in the 14th century. It took the workers about 200 years till it was fully completed.

3. The town has four sides each with their own name

Warsaw鈥檚 Old Town Square has four sides each with its own name. They are all named after 18th-century Polish politicians.

Starting from the north side, which is Strona Dekert (named after Jan Dekert); the east side is Strona Barssa; the south side is Strona Zakrzewskiego; the west side is Strona Hugo Ko艂艂膮taja.

Despite this fact, most Polish people don鈥檛 even know about these names, and when arranging to meet a friend they will use compass directions, meet at the mermaid or cite the name of one of the restaurants to meet outside.

4. Old Town Buildings have their addresses on nine different streets

 

Despite being a single square, there are nine different addresses here. This is because each corner of the square has two streets that meet and end at the Old Town Square.
 
The first numbered buildings on each corner are on each of those eight streets. However, all flats facing into the square have merely one street address 鈥� Rynek Starego Miasto (Old Town Square).
 
The other eight street names are Ulica Celna, Ulica Jezuicka, Ulica Kamienne Schodki, Ulica Krzywe Kolo, Ulica Nowomiejska, Ulica Waski Dunaj, Ulica Zapiecek and Ulica Swietojanska.

5. The Town was rebuilt after the World war

When the Second World War came to an end, the people of Warsaw (and Poland more generally) were faced with a decision, What to do about the Old Town?  Seems that there wasn鈥檛 too much debate. It needed to be rebuilt.

It wasn鈥檛 just about the physical city that had been destroyed 鈥� it was also about what it represented. The Nazis, by razing Warsaw to the ground, had been trying to wipe out Polish culture and history, to make their identity cease to exist.

But what happened next was quite incredible. The city was gradually built almost identically to how it had been previously.

It took about five years to do the first stage. They used old photos and paintings, historical records, and people鈥檚 memories. The aim was not just to put buildings back in the right place, but to also give them the same artistic designs and colors.

6. Bernardo Bellotto was a great painter during the rebuilding

Bernardo Bellotto. By Bellotto

One of the greatest resources in the whole process was a collection of paintings by an Italian artist called Bernardo Bellotto (also known as Canaletto).

He was the court painter to the King of Poland in the late 18th century and he did a series of works that captured the streets and squares of the Warsaw Old Town perfectly and in great detail.

Although obviously, it was architects and engineers who did the heavy lifting, the reconstruction of Warsaw was an effort by the whole city. Ordinary citizens helped clean away the rubble and they gave their leaders the public support they needed.

7. Warsaw is a UNESCO Heritage site

Warsaw possesses a wide variety of architectural monuments,  whether replicas or originals.

In the  Old Town which was designated by  UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1980, the Gothic ST. Johns Cathedral and the red-brick fortifications known as the Barbican remain from the medieval period.

The houses of the Old Town Market Square have been rebuilt in the splendor of their 15th-century style.

There are many  Baroque churches of the Counter-reformation period, including the Jesuit Church next to the cathedral and the Church of the Holy Cross, which contains the heart of the Polish-French composer  Frederic Chopin.

8. The Town is connected with different modes of transportation

Warsaw is the hub of main rail, road, and air routes that are of importance to eastern Europe.

Expressways have been built through the city along both banks of the  Vistula River and in the form of a ring road through the inner suburbs. Motor traffic still shares the capital鈥檚 main streets with a surface tramway system.

The city also began constructing an underground railway system in the 1990s. The Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, with international and domestic services, is in Ok臋cie, south of the city center.

9. The Old Town houses all the central institutions of the national government 

As the capital of the Republic of Poland, Warsaw houses all the central institutions of the national government. It also hosts the residence of the Polish president (the Presidential Palace).

The Sejm, Poland鈥檚 national legislature, is not far from the crossroads of Nowy Swiat and Aleje Jerozolimskie. The government of Warsaw is run by the elected City Council, headed by a city president.

Warsaw鈥檚 seven subdivisions also have their own elected legislatures. Until 1990 the city administration was only nominally elective and subject to the Warsaw Committee of the Polish United Workers Party, the country鈥檚 communist party.

10. The Town has formed the major center of Education in Poland

Warsaw University Library. By Szczebrzeszynski –

Education in Warsaw benefits from the presence of the headquarters of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which coordinates research in both physical and social sciences through a number of institutes and industrial establishments.

The Technical University of Warsaw and the University of Warsaw are notable institutions.

Major libraries include the library (established in 1817) of the University of Warsaw and the National Library (1919). There are also a number of specialist libraries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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