Warszawa
SUMMARY:
THE TOWN
WHERE...
BICYCLES
Once upon a time… There was a fisherman called Wars, who lived beside the Vistula river. One day he went hunting and shot a deer with his arrow. The deer did not die at once but ran away. When Wars was looking for it, he found a beautiful girl. Her name was Sawa. They got married and founded a city named after their own names: WarsSawa. The earliest historical notes about the city of Warsaw come from 1294. In 1596, when the castle of the Polish kings burned in Cracow, Warsaw became the capital of Poland. The King's Castle was built. During World War II the city was destroyed, almost 100 % - as you can see in the pictures above. After the war only the oldest part of the city was rebuilt in the form it was before the war. Other parts, built in communist times, are not reminiscent of old Warsaw. Interesting historical places to visit are situated along the King's route, which connects King's Castle in the old town with the residence of King Jan III Sobieski in Wilanow. Along the route there are many old churches and places old Polish noble families. Nowadays in the old palaces there are: the residence of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Justice, Warsaw University, Academy of Art, Parliament and a lot of embassies. There you can also see the monuments of famous Polish scientists, writers and composers and monuments in memory of the victims World War II, for example: F. Chopin , M. Kopernik, Mme Curie-Sklodowska(foto), A. Mickiewicz, King Jan III Sobieski, the little rebel 1
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Other monuments worth seeing (although they are not situated on the Kings route) are: Nike, a strange siren with a huge sword who is supposed to protect the city monument of the Soldiers of Warsaw Insurrection monument of the Ghetto in old jewish area of Warsaw a new monument of the Polish army near the Sejm a monument raised in memory of Polish people, murdered during centuries in the East - people, who fought for freedom. Along the King's Route there are a lot of expensive shops, but we would not advise you to go shopping there. These shops are the most expensive of Poland. If you want to have a rest, you can visit one of many parks situated along this route: Saski Garden, Ujasdowski Park, Lazienki Park, Wilanow Garden. The real treasure of Warsaw is the old city, reconstructed after the World War II, surrounded by defence walls, called Barbacan. The central part of the old city is the Old Market Place and the cathedral. The newer Part of the Old City is so called New City. Our school is situated near the centre between the Krasinski Square with the National Library and the new City Market Square with the beautiful old Wizytki church. 4 1 2 3 |
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Where can you stay when you come to visit Warsaw? There are a lot of hotels as in every big town - but you should book in advance. As for young people they usually stay in youth hostels in Smolna Street and Karolkowa Street and on a campsite in Zwirki i Wigory Street. The centre of the town This area has developed rapidly recently. There are a lot of modern buildings designed by famous European architects: Silverpoint House (1), Hotel Merkur (2), Atrium Centre of Commerce (3). We have also rebuilt the City Hall in its original form; it was destroyed during the World War II. At the moment we are building two new bridges, which should facilitate communication in the very heavy traffic of the city. What do young people like doing in Warsaw in the evening? Listen to what Ania says… I like going to the cinema with my friends. 1-3
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I often go to the old town because I like its special atmosphere: small buildings and narrow streets. There are a lot of people who sing and play in the market and I like to listen to them. Besides you can buy so-me pictures from the exhibitions around the Market Place. I also love buying clothes in the city centre with my friends. We sometimes go to feed swans in Lazienki Park and there are other animals to look at, too. If you are fond of pop music you can go to the open air concerts in Agricola Street. If you prefer jazz (which is my favourite music) you can go to Aquarium Club, to the Filharmony or to Jazz Jambore Concerts. Other places I like to go to are the pubs. There are a lot of new pubs in Warsaw and they are not always English. If you like discos, you will find some of them in Warsaw. You can dance in: Park, a disco especially for students at the Academy of Economics, Stodola, a disco especially for students of Polytechnics, Hybrida, a disco especially for University students. Of course you are also welcome, if you are not a student of the University or an Academy.3 1
Bicycle routes in Warsaw Bicycle routes appeared in Warsaw about two years ago and that's why not everybody knows how to use them. You have to be careful! You can sometimes meet pedestrians on them or parked cars! But during course of time things are getting better. Parks, Botanical Gardens, Nature Reserves There are many parks in Warsaw for walking and enjoying nature. One of them is the park of Lazienki with wonderful trees, pools, castles; if the weather is fine, you can stay here for hours. A part of this area has become the University Botanical Gar-den, Aleje Ujazdowskie 4. Another place of this kind is the Polish Academy of Science Botanical Garden in Powsin, ul. Prawd-ziwka 2, which was created in the last 20 years and belongs to a forest of reservation status. To the west of Warsaw there is the Puszcza Kampinoska, a National Park of 67000 ha. Here there are different sorts of natural environment: humid muds, dry dunes with 1 3-4 oaks, pine trees, willows, birches; which remind us of the original forest that has existed here for centuries. There you can see elks, wild pigs, deer, wild cats and many other wild animals, also birds. In some seasons, especially in spring, there are a lot of mosquitoes. In ancient times the-re were also bears and European bisons here. - There are some villages in the area of Kampinos. One of them is Kampinos, about 50 km from War-saw, after that this area has got its name. Another one is Laski, where is a training centre for blind people since 1921, a Franciscan foundation. In Palmiry, 25 km from Warsaw, there is a National Rememberance, a cemetery of people murdered by the Gestapo between 1939 and 1943. BIALOWIEZA NATIONAL PARK It is the oldest National Park in Poland, protected since 1921, and covers 5348 hectares. Located in the central part of the Bialowieza Forest, the area of strict nature preservation lies between the Hwozna and Narewka rivers and covers 4747 hectares. It preserves Europe's last fragment of natural lowland forest from the deciduous and mixed forest zone and contains elements of the primeval forest. The Palace Park and the Europe-an Bison Breeding Centre can also be found within the National Park. In 1977, Bialowieza National Park was recognised by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve and in 1979 as a World Heritage Site. In 1992, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee enlarged the existing site to include the eastern part of the Belovezhskaya Puszcza, a National Park belonging to Belarus, to create the only cross-border World Heritage Site in Europe. If you want to go there, it's better to stay over night in Hajnowka, because it is about 200 km from Warsaw.
