Świętokrzyska
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Metro Świętokrzyska is the only metro station, where the two existing lines cross each other, in other words, this is where You get off, when You want to change from one line to another.
Close up
Metro Świętokrzyska is actually very close to Metro Centrum, and many of the sights could be described under one or the other station. I have therefore decided, that everything in the direction of the Palace of Culture will be dealt with under Metro Centrum, whereas here I will concentrate on Świętokrzyska street and the part of Marszałkowska street in the opposite direction of the Palace of Culture.
Walking down Świętokrzyska street away from the Palace of Culture we have around 500 metres till the next station – Nowy Świat Uniwersytet. Again this is an overwhelming street, where You may experience excessive communist architecture and functionalism from the interwar period.
Warsaw Philharmonic
It is worth entering the side streets, where you at Jasna street 5 can find Warsaw Philharmonic, which is a small but cosy concert hall. Directly opposite is the Supreme Administrative Court,
Hotel Gromada – 331 rooms right in the centre of Warsaw
A few minutes’ walk from the music centre we find “Warsaw Freedom fighter Square” (Plac Powstańców Warszawy), which houses the enormous Hotel Gromada from 1962. It is one of the hotels in the capital with a capacity for big groups.
Napoleon plays an important role in the history of Poland.
In the middle of the square a bust commemorates Napoleon. For a number of years the French emperor was in high esteem in Poland, as he kicked out the Russians and Prussians and from 1807-1815 formed the city state, the Duchy of Warsaw.
Hotel Warszawa – 16 floors
At the corner to Świętokrzyska street we find a tall functional building from before WWII, once belonging to an insurance company, now a luxury hotel (Hotel Warszawa). It was partly destroyed in 1944, but was reconstructed in socialist style in 1954. In 2018 it was brought back to its original look.
PAST at Zielna street 39
If You continue on Marszałkowska street walking away from the Palace of Culture You will notice the broad open area along the pavement at the left side. One of the first buildings You find here is PAST on Zielna street 39 – a tall functional style building with traits of historicism erected in 1908. At the top of the building we notice an enormous mark symbolising the Warsaw uprising from 1944 – a compound letter P and W resembling an anchor. When it was built in 1908, the 8 floors and 51 metres made it the tallest residential building in Europe. It was severely damaged in 1944 and re-erected after the war.
Modern style office building
At the right side, the street is characterised by the socialist rebuilt architecture, which is limited by the Saski park and an ultra-modern office building at the corner of Królewska street, where the Royal Danish Embassy occupies two entire floors.
Take a longer walk – 10-12 minutes
Trip no. 1– at Królewska street and continue to Grzybowska street 16/22. A communist residential block from 1972. Read more under “Communism in Warsaw”.
Plac Grzybowski – the Jewish centre in Warsaw before WWII.
From Grzybowska street You also have access to Plac Grzybowski (Grzybowski square). At the square and the close surroundings You will find a few Jewish restaurants, among others Kosher Delight (Grzybowska 2) and Koszerna kuchnia (Twarda 6), where the latter is right next to the synagogue. You can read more in “Jewish Warsaw”.
Take a longer walk – 10-12 minutes
Trip no. 1 – Turn by Królewska street and continue to Grzybowska street 16/22. A communist residential block from 1972. Read more under “Communism in Warsaw”.
Cosmopolitan
Trip no. 2– through Świętokrzyska street till Emilii Plater street. Then you turn right, which will bring You to Twarda street 4 and the Cosmopolitan skyscraper, which measures 160 metres. You can read more in “The New Warsaw”.
