Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, PolandWarsaw II
Coffee in old Warsaw
Time to go towards the old town: we did saw the old field
cathedral – but it is under renovation so we skipped it and ended up having Coffee in old Warsaw, because as per
Paul: he can’t walk all day long and we need a brake. As we approached the old
town we saw some super cute outdoor coffee shops with perfect view on the “old”
houses of Warsaw. And so we enjoyed a piece a chocolate cake… so that we are
ready to explore some more:
How old is the old town of Warsaw?
- a lot of historic monuments were restored based on original drawings and photographs – from 1949-1963: the aim was to return the old town to it’s 17th century appearance: it was so complete that it got World Heritage Status in 1980
- Old town = Stare Miastro: partially surrounded by medieval walls is the oldest district of Warsaw – founded in the 13th / 14th century
- The old town is only 50 years old – but looks like over 200 years old
The Multimedialny Park
Fountain
yesterday we drove by a great fountain – so we wanted to
check it out and it is right around the corner from the old town... so after a
coffee break we made our way through some old streets down there: but first at
the top we had an amazing view down on the Viuala river and there we also saw a
statue of Marie Curie.
The fountain is awesome: a constant display – all what you
need is more time... and also: we should be here once at night and see it
then...
- Marie Curie (1867-1934) was born in Warsaw and left it when she 24 years old to study in Paris, where she co-discovered radio-activity and with her husband the elements radium and polonium. She was the warded twice the Nobel price: 1903 & 1911 and was the first women receiving it
Church of the Holy
Spirit – Paulini Kosciol Sw Ducha Church
Back up from the fountain, this church was right in front of
u. During our day we visited a few of those spectacular churches Warsaw has… With a beautiful baroque interior it was a
great start to visit the old part of Warsaw.
- With a small church of the holy spirit the people from Warsaw wanted a hospital, and so it was set up for this purpose: in 1425 it became a hostel for the poor. During the Swedish invasion it burned down
- And then the church was built again in 1707 in baroque style – it took until 1746 to finally complete it
- In 1708 Warsaw suffered from the outbreak of the war plague. The Pauline brothers were said to have organized the first pilgrimage
- During the Warsaw uprising, it was nearly totally destroyed by the German Army. In 1947 the Pauline order returned and the church was rebuilt in 1956 in the same form as it was before WWII
Barbakan Warzawiski
Continuing on to the old town and we enter the old city via
this old gate which was once part of a fortification from 1548 – ok so it is
not that old – remember restored in 1954: but nevertheless there is a moat – it
is a super cool building out of red bricks.... and the houses behind are kind
of built onto the wall. If we would have more time it would be fun to walk
along the wall
you ever wonder if you like Warsaw: this is one amazing
town... you don't even know from which house to make a picture or which street
is nicer... so many unique and cool places... I could wonder around forever
look at pictures, architecture and only enjoy it.... like Krakow both are super
amazing towns.... the only difference is: Krakow is original and Warsaw is
rebuilt
the Market square: Rynek Starego Miasta
is perfect, because Paul can sit down and relax and Gine can
wonder around and admire all those wonderful colorful houses around it, most
are quite narrow – and lots of them have beautiful paintings on them.
- originally they were townhouses of wealthy merchants and rebuilt after the war – it is the oldest part of Warsaw – they rebuilt it, so it looks like it is from the 1600s
- nly house # 34 & 36 are original
the mermaid of Warsaw:
and what Gine really likes is the little mermaid... so she
had to tell Paul the story who was super impressed!!!!!
- Her name is Syrenka. Once the baltic sea was home to 2 mermaids – they got bored, of the auatic life and wanted to come on shore – one ended up in Copenhagen – the other swam the river Vistula to the end and ended up onthe sandy bank of the old town – she entertained the fisherman with sons, a rich merchant wanted to make money with her and put her in a shed – a village boy heard her and freed her and she promised to defend the village.... and now we have a happy after....
Cathedral of St. John
ok – so one thing is for sure if you want to see churches –
you find a lot in Poland. Most of them are in barrock, but there are some they
are really unique – so this church was another surprise: it is in gothic style
and when you enter the first thing that you see are all the flags... that is
when you then read up and realize it is not only used as a church:
- built in the 14th century is a UNESCO heritage – it started as a church and became in 1798 a cathedral
- here was the coronation of Stanislaw August Ponialowski in 1764 – the last king of Poland
- yes it also got rebuilt after WWII
- here you find a lot of plagues of politians and in the crypt are the tombs from a lot of famous polish people, like Poland's first president Gaburek Barytiwucz, who got assasinated 2 days after taking office
Church of St. Martin
We walk
through more narrow beautiful cobble stone streets and then we came by this
church. It is built right in with the neighbouring houses… and you can’t really
stand far enough back to admire it because there is not enough space.
Built in
1631, we went to have a look into this baroque church – and it is so different then
what you expect from the outside: inside it is totally modern and new – a big
difference on all the historic places we saw.
at the Palace square – Plac Zamkowy
you walk and you can miss that red building in front of you:
the Royal Castle (Zamek Kroleski) – also rebuilt 1971-84 after it got destroyed
and it is not only Poland’s symbol of independence but I was once the residence
of Poland’s monarch
and since we are already talking about the kingdom of Poland:
right there is the Zygmunts column – Sigismund column: actually there are 2:
one stands in the middle of the square and the other in pieces is near the
palace broken up and you can see all the bullet holes in it.
What is so special about Sigismund?
- it is the oldest secular monument built in 1644 and commerates King Sigismund III Vasa – he moved the capital of Krakow to Warsaw
- he was the son of king John III of Sweden and got elected to the throne of the polish-lithuanen commonwealth and was the king of Poland from 1587 – 1632, he also was king of Sweden from 1592-99
- he invaded Russian and had a hold of Moskow from 1610-12
- he was a very controversial figure in Poland – he reigned for a long time and is associated with prestige and power of the Polish-Lithuanina union – but his reign lead to the destruction of it too
St. Anne’s
church:
right at the Castle Square is the St. Anne’s church - founded in 1454
is one of the oldest churches in Warsaw and the most ornate church with Roccoco
high altar and a façade in baroque style: if you in this church you don’t even
know where to start looking: up on the ceiling with the beautiful paintings,
the amazing organ.
Saxon Park
another tram ride and we are at the park – walk through it to come to the fountain: as
per Paul it is the nicest fountain he ever saw!!!! I told Paul that Chopin was often here when
he was a kid... but I guess he was not so impressed with that he liked the
fountain way better, and there were also quite a bit of cute statues around
here.... we enjoyed some sunshine before going to:
the tomb of the unknown Soldier (grob nieznanego
zolnierza):
it got erected after WWI and is the only surviving part of
the Saxon Palace. When you stand there you see the 2 soldiers guarding it – I
thought it is very interesting they brought earth of numerous battlefiedls
where polish soldiers fought... in front of the grave is a huge squareL the
Plac Pilsudski (by the way we saw the grave of this famous Joseph Pilsudski
earlier today in a cathedral)
- Joseph Pilsudski was considered the father of the Second Polish Republic established after WWI in 1918 (123 years after the partition)
- He believed in a multi-ethnic Poland “a home of nations” including indigenous ethnic and religious minorities
- He wanted to create an intermarium federation of Central and Eastern Europe states between the Baltic and the Black Sea, serving as a bridge between Germany and Russia – meant to secure the countries against Europe and Russia
after we seen it we went back again through the park and
after another tram ride we came to
Lazienki Royal Garden
Ok this is another big park… what Paul liked the best was:
right at the entrance there is this huge glass vitrine with an old black car
inside: Cadillac 355D Series 30… that was all I could read all other was
polish. We didn’t had time to explore a lot of the park: so Paul liked the car
and Gine said we have to go to the pond and the Chopin Monument. It should be
to get inspirations: as where we were sitting there and relaxing after a long
day!!
Time to go back with
the Metro
On the ride back – we came by again a lot of apartment
buildings some old and some new…. With the sun going down and a storm coming it
was amazing site… we also came by one of
the buildings where you could still see all the bullet holes in one of the old
homes.
And after a long day we had some great Turkish supper in
Poland. It was yummy!
2025-05-23