Warsaw - The Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street, Poland
In the previous episode we visited the Pilsudski Square. Now we go to the Old Town of Warsaw. The easiest and most impressively method to achieve it is just walking one of the most representative streets of Warsaw - Krakowskie Przedmiescie (literally: "Cracow suburb"). A long time ago, this street was the beginning of the route connecting Warsaw with Krakow. Over the years, by the road was built a huge number of representative royal and baronial buildings. It was also a good place for triumphant returns to the city after victorious battles, and also for feudal tributes by Polish vassals, for example Prussia and Livonia.
Monument of Nicolaus Copernicus
Our journey starts from where the Krakowskie Przedmiescie begins - the monument of Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer, standing opposite the Palace of Science and Technology which is now the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences (A; GPS: 52.238254, 21.017658). The monument was made in 1822 by Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. Next we see the Basilica of the Holy Cross, built in sixteenth century at the place of the chapel of the same name (B; GPS: 52.239034, 21.017336). In this building, in 1683 the King Jan III Sobieski entrusted himself to God and his country before the victorious siege on Vienna in order to defend Europe against the army of the Ottoman empire.
Frédéric Chopin's house
Then we pass the Czapski Palace, where lived Fryderyk Chopin, the great Polish composer and one of the most famous pianists (C; GPS: 52.239484, 21.017054). We pass by the main gate of Warsaw University (D; GPS: 52.239767, 21.016990), the Tyszkiewicz Palace and the Church of the Visitation with a statue of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski (E; GPS: 52.240938, 21.016151).
The Bristol Hotel and the Presidential Palace
On our way we pass the luxurious Bristol Hotel, built in the early twentieth century in Neo-Renaissance style and Art Nouveau decor (F; GPS: 52.241943, 21.015437). On the same side of the street we can see the Presidential Palace from the seventeenth century, the seat of the Polish President. Before the palace we see the statue of Prince Jozef Poniatowski - Polish General and Marshal of France (G; GPS: 52.242689, 21.014981). This monument is a copy of the original statue made by Bertel Thorvaldsen from 1832, which was destroyed in December 1944 by Germans.
Monument of Adam Mickiewicz
Heading towards the Old Town we pass the monument of Adam Mickiewicz, one of the greatest Polish poets and dramaturgists (H; GPS: 52.243563, 21.014397). There are also beautiful tenement houses, constructed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One of the interesting buildings located in the immediate vicinity of the Old Town is the church of Saint Anne from fifteenth century (I; GPS: 52.245918, 21.013631), as well as on the other side of the street, a colorful tenement house of Hurtig and Roesler (J; GPS: 52.246306, 21.013609), built in the late eighteenth century.
We are entering the Castle Square (K; GPS: 52.247189, 21.013588) - more about it and about the Old Town in the next episode.
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