Tourist attractions in Warsaw - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The city of Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, the capital of Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, offers a variety of tourist attractions: historical sights, monuments, museums, theatres, places connected with Marie Curie

Marie Curie

Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...

, Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

and composer's enchanting music. Since 1980, the old town

Warsaw Old Town

Warsaw's Old Town is the oldest historic district of the city. It is bounded by Wybrzeże Gdańskie, along the bank of the Vistula, and by Grodzka, Mostowa and Podwale Streets. It is one of Warsaw's most prominent tourist attractions....

, one of the main attractions, has been a UNESCO World heritage site.

Major sights

The oldest part of Warsaw, founded at the turn of the 13th century, is the Old Town. Its streets form a regular chessboard pattern typical for medieval towns. Among the most notable landmarks of the Old Town are the Royal Castle

Royal Castle, Warsaw

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...

, King Sigismund's Column

Zygmunt's Column

Sigismund's Column , erected in 1644, is located in Castle Square, Warsaw, Poland. It is one of Warsaw's most famous landmarks and one of the oldest secular monuments in northern Europe...

, Market Square

Old Town Market Place, Warsaw

Warsaw's Old Town Market Place is the center and oldest part of the Old Town of Warsaw, capital of Poland. Immediately after the Warsaw Uprising, it was systematically blown up by the German Army...

, and the Barbican

Warsaw Barbican

The Warsaw barbican is a barbican in Warsaw, Poland, and one of few remaining relics of the complex network of historic fortifications that once encircled Warsaw. Located between the Old and New Towns, it is a major tourist attraction.-History:The barbican was erected in 1540 in place of an older...

. Another important historic district

Historic district

A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....

is the New Town

Warsaw New Town

Warsaw's New Town is a neighbourhood dating from the 15th century. It lies just north of the Old Town and is connected to it by ulica Freta , which begins at the Barbican...

. It was formed at the turn of the 14th century as an independent city and after 1791, due to the tenets of the Constitution of May 3, 1791

Constitution of May 3, 1791

The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was adopted as a "Government Act" on that date by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Historian Norman Davies calls it "the first constitution of its type in Europe"; other scholars also refer to it as the world's second oldest constitution...

, was incorporated into Warsaw

Warsaw

Although today's Warsaw is a fairly young city, it has many tourist attraction

Tourist attraction

A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....

s. Apart from the Warsaw Old Town

Warsaw Old Town

quarter, carefully reconstructed after World War II, each borough has something to offer. Among the most notable landmarks of the Old Town are the Royal Castle

Royal Castle, Warsaw

, King Zygmunt's Column

Zygmunt's Column

Sigismund's Column , erected in 1644, is located in Castle Square, Warsaw, Poland. It is one of Warsaw's most famous landmarks and one of the oldest secular monuments in northern Europe...

, Market Square

Old Town Market Place, Warsaw

Warsaw's Old Town Market Place is the center and oldest part of the Old Town of Warsaw, capital of Poland. Immediately after the Warsaw Uprising, it was systematically blown up by the German Army...

, and the Barbican

Warsaw Barbican

.

Further south is the so-called Royal Route

Royal Route, Warsaw

The Royal Route in Warsaw, Poland, is a former communication route that led southward from the city's Old Town. It now comprises a series of connecting Warsaw streets that feature a number of historic landmarks....

, with many classicist

Classicism

Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...

palaces, the Presidential Palace

Presidential Palace, Warsaw

The Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, is the elegant classicist latest version of a building that has stood on the Krakowskie Przedmieście site since 1643. Over the years, it has been rebuilt and remodeled many times...

and the Warsaw University

University of Warsaw

The University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland and one of the most prestigious, ranked as best Polish university in 2010 and 2011...

campus. Also the popular Nowy Świat Street

Nowy Swiat Street

Ulica Nowy Świat is one of the main historic thoroughfares of Warsaw.It comprises part of the Royal Route that runs from Warsaw's Royal Castle and Old Town, south to King Jan III Sobieski's 17th-century royal residence at Wilanów....

, one of the principal business streets, is worth mentioning. Wilanów Palace

Wilanów Palace

Wilanów Palace is a royal palace located in the Wilanów district, Warsaw. Wilanów Palace survived the time of Poland's partitions and both World Wars and has preserved its authentic historical qualities, also is one of the most important monuments of Polish culture.The palace and park in Wilanów...

, the former royal residence of King John III Sobieski

John III Sobieski

John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...

, is notable for its baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

architecture and beautiful parks.

Warsaw's oldest public park, the Saxon Garden

Saxon Garden

The Saxon Garden is a 15.5–hectare public garden in downtown Warsaw, Poland, facing Piłsudski Square. It is the oldest public park in the city...

, is located within 10 minutes' walk from the old town. Warsaw's biggest public park and said to be the most beautiful is the Royal Baths Park. It is also very old established in the 17th century and given its current classical shape in late 18th century is located further south, on the Royal Route

Royal Route, Warsaw

, about 3 km (1.9 mi) from the Warsaw Old Town

Warsaw Old Town

The Powązki Cemetery

Powazki Cemetery

Powązki Cemetery , also known as the Stare Powązki is a historic cemetery located in the Wola district, western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city, and one of the oldest...

is one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe, full of sculptures, some of them by the most renowned Polish artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Since it serves the religious communities

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

of Warsaw, be it Catholics, Jews, Muslims or Protestants, it is often called a necropolis. Nearby is the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery

Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery

The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Located on Warsaw's Okopowa street and abutting the Powązki Cemetery at , the Jewish Cemetery was established in 1806 and occupies 33 hectares of land. The cemetery contains over 200,000 marked graves, as well...

, one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe.

In many places in the city the Jewish culture

Secular Jewish culture

Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena; above all, it is the international culture of secular communities of Jewish people, but it can also include the cultural contributions of individuals who identify as secular Jews...

and history

History of the Jews in Poland

The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...

resonates down through time. Among them the most notable are the Jewish theater, the Nożyk Synagogue

Nozyk Synagogue

The Nożyk Synagogue is the only surviving prewar Jewish house of prayer in Warsaw, Poland. It was erected prior to 1902 and was restored after World War II...

, Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit was a Polish-Jewish children's author, and pediatrician known as Pan Doktor or Stary Doktor...

's Orphanage and the picturesque Próżna Street. The tragic pages of Warsaw’s history are commemorated in places such as the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, the Umschlagplatz, fragments of the Ghetto wall on Sienna Street and a mound in memory of the Jewish Combat Organization.

There are also many places commemorating the heroic history of Warsaw. Pawiak

Pawiak

Pawiak was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Poland.During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia....

, an infamous German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

Gestapo

The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

prison now occupied by a Mausoleum

Mausoleum

A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...

of Memory of Martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

dom and the museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

, is only the beginning of a walk in the traces of Heroic City. The Warsaw Citadel

Warsaw Citadel

Cytadela is a 19th-century fortress in Warsaw, Poland. It was built by order of Tsar Nicholas I after the suppression of the 1830 November Uprising in order to bolster imperial Russian control of the city. It served as a prison into the late 1930s.- History :The Citadel was built by personal...

, an impressive 19th century fortification built after the defeat of the November Uprising

November Uprising

The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...

, was a place of martyr for the Poles. Another important monument, the statue of Little Insurgent located at the ramparts of the Old Town, commemorates the children who served as messengers and frontline troops in the Warsaw Uprising, while the impressive Warsaw Uprising Monument by Wincenty Kućma was erected in memory of the largest insurrection of World War II.

In Warsaw there are many places connected with the life and work of Fryderyk Chopin

Frédéric Chopin

Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....

. The heart of Polish-born composer is sealed inside Warsaw's Holy Cross Church

Holy Cross Church, Warsaw

The Church of the Holy Cross is a Roman Catholic house of worship in downtown Warsaw, Poland. Located on Krakowskie Przedmieście opposite the main Warsaw University campus, it is one of the most notable Baroque churches in Poland's capital....

. During the summer time the Chopin Monument in the Royal Baths Park is a place where pianists give a concerts to the park audience.

Also many references to Marie Curie

Marie Curie

Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...

, her work and her family can be found in Warsaw: Marie's birthplace at the Warsaw New Town

Warsaw New Town

Warsaw's New Town is a neighbourhood dating from the 15th century. It lies just north of the Old Town and is connected to it by ulica Freta , which begins at the Barbican...

, the working places where she did her first scientific works and the Radium Institute

Curie Institute (Warsaw)

The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology in Warsaw was founded in 1932 as the Radium Institute by Maria Skłodowska-Curie in collaboration with the Polish Government, especially President Ignacy Mościcki....

at Wawelska Street for the research and the treatment of cancer which she founded in 1925.

The surroundings of Warsaw also offer many tourist attractions - medieval castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

s, mansions of the Polish nobles and historic places. Around the city county many medieval monuments can be found including Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

church and monastery in Czerwińsk (1129–1156) 52 km (32.3 mi) west of Warsaw, and Czersk

Czersk, Masovian Voivodeship

Czersk is a settlement in the administrative district of Gmina Góra Kalwaria, within Piaseczno County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Góra Kalwaria, south-east of Piaseczno, and south-east of Warsaw....

castle (1388–1410) a legendary ruined castle sitting atop an escarpment about 33 km (20.5 mi) from Warsaw. 16th-century parish church in Brochów at the Bzura River, 52 km (32.3 mi) west of Warsaw, where Chopin's parents were married (1806) and Fryderyk was baptised is another interesting monument. The church was constructed as a fortified Gothic shrine. Bieliński Palace in Otwock Wielki

Otwock Wielki

Otwock Wielki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Karczew, within Otwock County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately south of Karczew, south of Otwock, and south-east of Warsaw....

(1682–1689), 25 km (15.5 mi) from Warsaw city center, houses the Museum of Interiors while palace in Jabłonna, 18 km (11.2 mi) north of Warsaw, is a part of an 18th century elegant palace-and-park complex. Żelazowa Wola

Zelazowa Wola

Żelazowa Wola is a village in Gmina Sochaczew, Sochaczew County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies on the Utrata River, some northeast of Sochaczew and west of Warsaw. Żelazowa Wola has a population of 65....

about 60 km (37.3 mi) west of Warsaw is the birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin. The annex of the former 19th century mansion of the Chopin family, was turned into a museum devoted to the composer. A 19th century health spa

Spa

The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...

in Konstancin-Jeziorna

Konstancin-Jeziorna

Konstancin-Jeziorna is a town in Piaseczno County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 16,963 inhabitants . It is located about 20 km south of downtown Warsaw and is a part of the metropolitan area of that city....

is located about 20 km (12.4 mi) south of Warsaw. Narrow-gauge train museum in Sochaczew

Sochaczew

Sochaczew is a town in central Poland, with 38,300 inhabitants . Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship , previously in Skierniewice Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sochaczew County....

, about 50 km (31.1 mi) from Warsaw, has the largest collection of narrow-gauge trains in Europe.

Major sights

See also