History of a unique place
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The first city-like centre associated with Warsaw was established around the 13th century. On the site where the Royal Castle is located today, it is most likely that in the 13th century there was a stronghold with infrastructure serving Duke Bolesław II.
The developing city of Warsaw was on the route of an important trade route leading from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. This favoured the settlement of merchants here. Swietojanska Street, the Market Square and Nowomiejska Street are remnants of this route.
The central place of Warsaw at the time was a rectangular square around which 40 of the wealthiest settlers lived.
King Zygmunt III Waza, moving the capital to Warsaw, ordered the expansion of the former princely seat, turning it into the Royal Castle.
Beginning in 1795 and with the second partition of Poland, Warsaw's Old Town began to decline. As the years passed, it turned into a place inhabited by the poorest group of inhabitants.
During the Second World War, and especially during the Warsaw Uprising, the Old Town was almost completely destroyed during the battles fought there and later, along with the rest of Warsaw, ruthlessly destroyed by the German occupiers.
The first houses were wooden, but unfortunately they did not last very long, succumbing to fires in 1374, 1384 and 1478. In order to prevent fire hazards, wooden houses were banned in Warsaw from 1431.
In its early days, the area of the present Old Town covered about 10 hectares and consisted of 12 streets with about 170 houses and two market squares.
The town also had a landfill site, which over time turned into a large mountain now bearing the name Dung Mountain.
As early as September 1939, plans were being drawn up to rebuild the capital. Work on reconstruction began after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, just a few months before the city was liberated in January 1945.
Warsaw's Old Town was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 2 September 1980.
The first city-like centre associated with Warsaw was established around the 13th century. On the site where the Royal Castle is located today, it is most likely that in the 13th century there was a stronghold with infrastructure serving Duke Bolesław II.
The developing city of Warsaw was on the route of an important trade route leading from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. This favoured the settlement of merchants here. Swietojanska Street, the Market Square and Nowomiejska Street are remnants of this route.
The central place of Warsaw at the time was a rectangular square around which 40 of the wealthiest settlers lived.
King Zygmunt III Waza, moving the capital to Warsaw, ordered the expansion of the former princely seat, turning it into the Royal Castle.
Beginning in 1795 and with the second partition of Poland, Warsaw's Old Town began to decline. As the years passed, it turned into a place inhabited by the poorest group of inhabitants.
During the Second World War, and especially during the Warsaw Uprising, the Old Town was almost completely destroyed during the battles fought there and later, along with the rest of Warsaw, ruthlessly destroyed by the German occupiers.
The first houses were wooden, but unfortunately they did not last very long, succumbing to fires in 1374, 1384 and 1478. In order to prevent fire hazards, wooden houses were banned in Warsaw from 1431.
In its early days, the area of the present Old Town covered about 10 hectares and consisted of 12 streets with about 170 houses and two market squares.
The town also had a landfill site, which over time turned into a large mountain now bearing the name Dung Mountain.
As early as September 1939, plans were being drawn up to rebuild the capital. Work on reconstruction began after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, just a few months before the city was liberated in January 1945.
Warsaw's Old Town was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 2 September 1980.
The first city-like centre associated with Warsaw was established around the 13th century. On the site where the Royal Castle is located today, it is most likely that in the 13th century there was a stronghold with infrastructure serving Duke Bolesław II.
The developing city of Warsaw was on the route of an important trade route leading from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. This favoured the settlement of merchants here. Swietojanska Street, the Market Square and Nowomiejska Street are remnants of this route.
The central place of Warsaw at the time was a rectangular square around which 40 of the wealthiest settlers lived.
King Zygmunt III Waza, moving the capital to Warsaw, ordered the expansion of the former princely seat, turning it into the Royal Castle.
Beginning in 1795 and with the second partition of Poland, Warsaw's Old Town began to decline. As the years passed, it turned into a place inhabited by the poorest group of inhabitants.
During the Second World War, and especially during the Warsaw Uprising, the Old Town was almost completely destroyed during the battles fought there and later, along with the rest of Warsaw, ruthlessly destroyed by the German occupiers.
The first houses were wooden, but unfortunately they did not last very long, succumbing to fires in 1374, 1384 and 1478. In order to prevent fire hazards, wooden houses were banned in Warsaw from 1431.
In its early days, the area of the present Old Town covered about 10 hectares and consisted of 12 streets with about 170 houses and two market squares.
The town also had a landfill site, which over time turned into a large mountain now bearing the name Dung Mountain.
As early as September 1939, plans were being drawn up to rebuild the capital. Work on reconstruction began after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising, just a few months before the city was liberated in January 1945.
Warsaw's Old Town was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 2 September 1980.
