The mermaid statue in Warsaw's Old Town Market Square is a symbol of the indomitable spirit of its ... [+]
As the notes of Chopin’s piano sonatas filled the air of Warsaw’s historic center during a delightful Sunday afternoon open-air concert at the Royal Łazienki Park, beyond the surrounding trees more than 500,000 people gathered to protest against the government in one of Poland's largest demonstrations since the fall of communism in 1989.
The piano concert—performed under the shadow of an immense statue of Poland’s most famous composer, Fryderyk Chopin, unveiled in 1926, destroyed during World War II and rebuilt in 1958 — is a weekly summertime tradition every year since 1959 featuring renown pianists from all over the world.
Chopin concert
Along with Chopin, Warsaw boasts a number of historical figures, both past and present. Among them: twice-Nobel prizewinner Marie Curie (the first female and only winner in two scientific fields), Karol Józef Wojtyła (better known as Pope John Paul II), artist Tamara de Lempicka and soccer superstar Robert Lewandowski.
Protests and democracy
The protest against a new law promulgated by the conservative national government and believed by many, including the governments of the United States and the European Union, to undermine Poland's democracy, triggered outrage among the public because it is seen as a tactic by the ruling party to block opposition politicians from public office.
“Dubbed ‘Lex Tusk’ given that its highest-profile potential target is opposition leader Donald Tusk, the law “unduly interferes with the democratic process,” the European Commission declared on June 8 and “violates the principles of legality and of non-retroactivity,” reports the Financial Times.
The opposition, according to CNN, regards the legislation as a government attempt to launch a witch hunt against political opponents.
More than half a million people in Warsaw participated in the nationwide protest supporting the ... [+]
The confluence of Chopin’s moving music and the protesters chants was a contrasting experience that very much reflects the complex and fascinating character of Poland’s capital.
Today’s Warsaw is an intellectual center steeped in its past, present and future, where the glories and tragedies of its history are acknowledged throughout the new vibrant face of a wholly reinvented, dynamic destination.
Rising from the ashes
Declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site for its “Outstanding Universal Value,” the city “was deliberately destroyed in 1944, in repression of Polish resistance against the Nazi German occupiers.”
The capital, today known as “The Paris of the East,” was reduced to ruins in an effort to obliterate the centuries-old tradition of the Polish state and its 375,000-strong Jewish population, which accounted for nearly one-third of the city’s population.
The reconstruction of the Old Town to its historic urban and architectural form “embodies the desire to ensure the survival of one of the most significant testimonies of Polish culture, symbol of elective power and tolerance, where the first democratic European constitution was adopted in 1791,” writes UNESCO.
Warsaw in ruins, circa 1945, at the end of World War II. Part of the city had been turned into a ... [+]
A group of Jewish civilians being held at gunpoint by German SS troops after being forced out of a ... [+]
The rebuilding of the complex urban ensemble has made a significant contribution to the principles relating to urban conservation and planning and to the safeguarding of local districts in most European cities following the continent-wide destruction after the world.
The integration within the framework of a conservation program, as explained by the United Nations, has resulted in the creation of Warsaw’s unique urban space, in material terms (the shape of the oldest part of the city), functional (a residential area and the site of historical, social and spiritual events) and symbolic (an invincible city).”
Beautiful, traditional, versatile
“The historic center of Warsaw is an exceptional example of the complete reconstruction of a deliberately and completely destroyed city, the Organisation des Villes du Patrimoine Mondial (OVPM), explains. “This material reconstruction finds its origin in the inner strength and unfailing will of the nation, which allowed the reconstruction of heritage on a scale unique in world history.”
Warsaw's versatility is inescapable, best seen while meandering through the maze of its street or taking a boat tour on the 651-mile long Vistula River that runs along the city. Skyscrapers and luxury boutiques rub shoulders with museums and libraries in a cosmopolitan and yet traditionally picturesque space.
Stare Miasto or Old Town Square at the heart of old Warsaw
Charged with an electrifying and rejuvenating energy, it’s the perfect destination for a city break, which explains its selection as the No. 1 European place to visit in 2023 by the European Best Destinations (EBD) organisation.
With more than 400 European candidates on the list and based on a record number of 700,000-plus votes from travelers representing 78 countries, Warsaw won the top spot of the 20 trendiest destinations in Europe, followed by Athens (Greece), Maribor (Slovenia), Vienna (Austria) and Cittadella,(Italy) in the first five spots.
“Warsaw is a city that defies all stereotypes,” EBD explains. “Poland’s capital, with its unusual and complex history, is a dynamic and modern city oozing traditional beauty and contemporary energy. It surprises and delights those who choose to visit.”
