What to see in Warsaw, itinerary including the main monuments and places of interest, including the Royal Castle, St. John's Cathedral and the Palace on the water.
Tourist information
Capital of Poland crossed by the Vistula River, Warsaw presents itself as a modern city, characterized by the questionable architecture of socialist realism and an ancient part brought back to its former glory.
In fact, the history of the city, which began in the thirteenth century with the construction of the first nucleus next to the first Castle of the Dukes of Masovia, was marked by periods of prosperity and development and by tragic periods, such as the almost total destruction caused by the Nazis later to the Warsaw uprising in 1944, of most of the houses, churches and palaces of the historic center, which were subsequently meticulously rebuilt with original materials respecting their ancient forms.
At the entrance to the old city, there is Piazza del Castello, closed on the east side by the Royal Castle, whose origins date back to the fourteenth century.
It was chosen as royal residence by King Sigismund III Wasa, when in 1596 Warsaw became the capital of Poland and, between the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth, the castle was renovated by Italian architects.
After the dramatic destruction of 1944, reconstruction work began in 1971, which ended in 1988.
In the square there is the column with the original statue dedicated to King Sigismund III Wasa, erected in 1644.
On the southern side of the Castle stands the Baroque Palazzo Pod Blacha, called the tin palace because it has a roof made of this material, which houses part of the collections of the Royal Castle.
What see
The old town is crossed by a network of alleys and streets, including via Piwna, with the Church of San Martino, and via Swietojanska, overlooked by the Cathedral of San Giovanni and the Jesuit Church of Santa Maria Misericordiosa, the street empties into the market square, the heart of the old town.
Warsaw's main avenue is the royal road, which runs from the Royal Castle to Wilanow's residence.
Along the first stretch of the avenue are the President of the Republic Palace, the Church of Sant'Anna, a statue dedicated to Niccolò Copernico, the Church of the Holy Cross, which houses an urn with the heart of Chopin inside, the monument to the national poet Adam Mickiewicz, the university city, from here begins the Via Ulica Nowy Swiat which, flanked by ancient buildings, is among the most beautiful in the city, proceeding up to the Lazienki park, a very suggestive place where in summer live music of Chopin, the great Polish composer and pianist of whom, about 50 km from Warsaw, it is possible to visit the birthplace.
Recommended readings- Warsaw (Poland): what to see in the capital
- Sopot (Poland): what to see
- Hel (Poland): what to see in the peninsula
- Poland: useful information
- Krakow (Poland): what to see
In the park you can admire the Lazienki Palace, in neoclassical Baroque style and commonly called "Palace on the water", inside there are the Royal Baths, lazienki means the bathroom, a place dedicated in the past to relaxation and rest.
On a small island, in the artificial lake in the center of the park, there is the theater.
Another royal residence to see is the Wilanow Palace, a magnificent complex of palaces and gardens that is a precious example of Polish Baroque architecture, as well as an important testimony to the splendor of Poland in the past.
To remember also the Saxon Garden, where there is the monument to the unknown soldier, and the ritual of changing the guard.
In the place where the ancient Ghetto was located, in memory of the atrocities committed, various monuments were placed, which mark the Via della memoria.
