Our Visit to Warsaw

During our stay in Tychy, Upper Silesia, at the apartment of our good friends Matt and Urszula, we also used one weekend in May for a visit of Warsaw using our privilege of a free train ride as Ukrainian war refugees, even though the trip was four hours long one way. We rented a room in an apartment in Ogrodowa Street and stayed in Warsaw for two nights. It was convenient to take a tram in Solodarity Avenue and to reach the beautiful sights of the Old Town within five or ten minutes. We also travelled across Gdansk Bridge to the opposite bank of the Wisła to see Prague Park.

We enjoyed every minute of our stay there. The first thing we did was to meet our friends from Severodonetsk, who were staying not far from Warsaw. They took a train to Wschodnia railway station, where we went to meet them, and then explored the city together.

The Palace of Culture and Science (called PKiN by locals) was the first thing we saw in Warsaw. This palace stands in Defilade Square not far from Warsaw Central Railway Station. It is the Communist times symbol and highlight of Warsaw. The Palace of Culture and Science has been the tallest building in the entire country for many years. Its height is 237 meters (778 ft), and it consists of 42 floors. They say it was the Soviet gift from Stalin to the Polish people. The building was originally called the "Stalin’s Palace of Culture and Science".

Pałac Kultury i Nauki (“Palace of Culture and Science”) has approximately one million cubic meters. This building has housed many cultural and scientific institutions, including the Polish Academy of Sciences, three theaters, a 2,880-seat room, a concert hall, 14 scientific auditoriums, three movie theaters, sports halls, a swimming pool with tributes seating 500 fans, and a technology museum – overall, 3,288 rooms of various types.
Our Polish friends are not too fond of the palace, believing that it distorts the city center and it is high time to carefully disassemble it and use the area for some other modern project that has nothing to do with the Soviet time domination.

The Palace of Culture and Science is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland after Varso, a neomodern office building complex, which is currently under construction in Warsaw. It is the tallest building in Poland and in the European Union, and the sixth-tallest building in Europe with its 310 m (1,020 ft) in height. The construction of Varso Tower will be completed in 2022.

The Palace of Culture and Science was built in 1952-1955 according to the idea of Joseph Stalin himself. You can see the date 1955 – the year of completion of the construction - on the façade. Many institutions are located there today: libraries, theaters, a post office, museums, company offices and even the Polish Academy of Sciences. Huge halls for conferences, concerts, performances and expositions, and, of course, an observation deck from where you can admire the view of the city. Today, you can have great panorama views of the city opens from the observation deck located on the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science. The entrance fee is 20 zloty.

In 2000, on New Year's Eve, a clock was built into the skyscraper, and it then became the tallest skyscraper in the world with a clock. However, the palace was pushed into second place by Tokyo's NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building.

Palace Square in Warsaw is a charming place indeed. We saw the famous Sigismund Column and the well-known Royal Palace. We enjoyed the unique atmosphere there. The Royal Castle built along the eastern side of the square looks magnificent and can surprise you with its grandeur.

Palace Square in Warsaw

Revisiting Castle Square in Warsaw

The Royal Castle was built at the beginning of the 17th century on the site of a 14th century wooden fortress. The castle houses one a popular national history museum now. The castle is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Royal Castle, Warsaw

The column of King Sigismund III is in the center of Palace Square was dedicated in 1644.

We were glad to pay a visit to another picturesque and legendary place in the Polish capital - Market Square. This is where local residents have always enjoyed to spend some spare time. The square is surrounded by ancient buildings with colorful facades of different colors. Here there are talented artists selling their works, cozy cafes, coachmen with horses, the House of Culture, the Museum of Literature and the History Museum.

I saw an unusual bas-relief attached to a corner of a house in this square: the symbolic golden lion decoration. It is attached to the Under the Lion House.

Market Square, Warsaw

Visiting Old Market Square, Warsaw

Market Square was founded at the end of the 14th century. Fairs, folk festivities, and holidays were often held there. Most of the old buildings were destroyed during the Second World War and reconstructed in recent decades.

Basilisk Restaurant, Warsaw (Restauracia/bar Bazyliszek)

The Basilisk Restaurant, Market Square, Warsaw

Hand organ player in Market Square

One of the most famous monuments is located in this square - the sculpture of the Warsaw Siren, or Mermaid, that is a symbol of the city.

We were told not to miss visiting the sculpture of the Warsaw Mermaid in the Old Town Market Square, one of the city’s top tourist attractions. The Mermaid (“Syrenka Warszawska” in Polish) is a symbol and protector of the city of Warsaw represented on the city’s coat-of-arms.

Warsaw is just one of the cities with mermaids as their icon. The bronzed statue of the Mermaid of Warsaw defending the capital city of Poland with sword and shield was designed by Konstanty Hegel in 1855. The statue was made in bronze in 1855, but today’s sculpture is zinc cast from the original.

There are different stories of how the mermaid came to be the city’s protector. One story has it that the Syrenka, whose name actually is Melusina, is the sister of the famous mermaid in Copenhagen. One of the sisters swam up to the Danish straits and stayed there. The other sister swam to Poland and up the Vistula River, right to where the Old Town Market is today. She liked it and stayed and was popular with the people there for her singing. Then she was caught and held prisoner by a man who wanted to profit by her, but local people freed her. In gratitude, she promised to protect the people, if they were ever in danger. In this statue, the Syrenka is a two-tailed mermaid, with a tail on each “leg”.

The Old City (“Stare Miasto” in Polish) is considered the most wonderful district of the city. It can immerse you in the world of stunning architecture and help you discover the innermost secrets of Warsaw. We enjoyed our walks in this area. We were surprised to know that the architectural masterpieces that we saw there were built only in the last century.

Located across the street from Jan Kalinski statue, it is a Zodiac signs wall clock, stuck on a side wall of a building, and for some mysterious reason is named after the all mighty King Sigismund III. It's hard to miss Sigismund's clock if you take a walk along the fortress walls. It's a modern depiction of an astronomical clock which combines yellow and brown stones (perhaps made of amber) which serve as the backdrop of the elements of the clock. Aside from regular numbers the zodiac signs are also represented as well as the lunar phases. In Polish the clock is called Zegar Zygmunta , and under it , in the same building , there a good restaurant called Pod Zegarem (Under the Clock).

We also visited the New Town Square, where we went to St.Casimir’s Church and saw sculptures of bears and the old water well.

The Kraków Suburb is a beautiful area in Warsaw that impresses with its architectural charm and atmosphere. The University of Warsaw is located on its territory, as well as the picturesque palace of the Radziwills with a memorial monument dedicated to Prince Poniatowski.

Ikaria is one of the most recognizable sculptures of Igor Mitoraj. This sculpture was created in 1996. It is a three-meter version of Ikaria. It stands in the courtyard of the Copper Roofs Palace. The artist was inspired by the Greek and Roman mythology. Ikaria is a clear reference to the myth of Daedalus and Icarus. In fact, it’s the name of a small island in the sea where the legendary Icarus fell and died during his courageous flight. The winged statue of Ikaria is reminiscent of a person's eternal attraction to self -realization and development, to raising to the pinnacles of their abilities. It depicts a winged woman, proud of her grandeur. She is ready to take off. However, we see a male face that we see in several places: in the cut on one of the wings, in the side and the womb of a woman. The male face serves as both inspiration and an obstacle in this flight. The male hand does not allow the woman to fly into the sky...

St. Augustine’s Parish Church

This church was the nearest one to the apartment where we stayed in Warsaw. According to the story on the information board at the entrance, the church was founded by Countess Aleksandra Potocka and built between 1892-1896 in the classical style. Renowned Warsaw architects, Edward Cichocki and Jézef Huss were the church's architects.
In 1903, a parish was founded at the church. The church was consecrated on September 3, 1905. During World War II, the church was situated within the Jewish ghetto marked out by the German invaders. The priests, who served there, provided assistance and spiritual support for the residents of the capital despite the prohibitions of the invaders. The church was a place where Poles helped their fellow-countrymen - Jews. The church building, despite serious damage, survived the Holocaust of the Jewish district of Warsaw. It became an eloquent witness to the martyrdom and suffering of Jews and Poles.
In the years 2011-2019, there was a thorough renovation and revitalization of the church with the support of a subsidy from the Capital City of Warsaw.

St. Florian's Cathedral, Warsaw

St. Florian's Cathedral, Warsaw

We were amazed by the organ music inside St.Anna Church.

St.Anna's Church, Warsaw

St.Anna's Cathedral, Warsaw

Skyscrapers of Warsaw

Warsaw is known not only for its cultural and historical monuments. It is truly impressive with modern skyscrapers towering high above the city. The city is often called the Polish New York. These skyscrapers are shopping malls, office spaces and luxury residential buildings.

The scenery of the skyscrapers area is no worse than the one in New York. The tallest buildings in Warsaw are located in the western part of the city in Wola District.

Warsaw's tallest buildings include about 40 existing skyscrapers that are over 65 m high and almost 55 new ones (between 70 m and 350 m high) in various stages of implementation.

Skyscrapers of Warsaw