POLAND | Warsaw Is the Most Surprising City in Europe!

Hello sweet friends,

I took the train to Warsaw and what I found was so surprising!

Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is an alpha- global city, a major cultural, political and economic hub, and the country's seat of government. Its historical Old Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Warsaw traces its origins to a small fishing town in Masovia. The city rose to prominence in the late 16th century, when Sigismund III decided to move the Polish capital and his royal court from Kraków. Warsaw served as the de facto capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1795, and subsequently as the seat of Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. The 19th century and its Industrial Revolution brought a demographic boom which made it one of the largest and most densely-populated cities in Europe. Known then for its elegant architecture and boulevards, Warsaw was bombed and besieged at the start of World War II in 1939.

Much of the historic city was destroyed and its diverse population decimated by the Ghetto Uprising in 1943, the general Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and systematic razing.

In 2012, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world. Jointly with Frankfurt and Paris, Warsaw features one of the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, while Varso Place is the tallest building in the EU as of 2022.

The city hosts the Polish Academy of Sciences, National Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Warsaw, the Warsaw University of Technology, the National Museum, Zachęta Art Gallery and the Warsaw Grand Theatre, the largest of its kind in the world. The reconstructed Old Town, which represents examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period, was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980. Other main architectural attractions include the Royal Castle and the iconic King Sigismund's Column, the Wilanów Palace, the Palace on the Isle, St. John's Cathedral, Main Market Square, as well as numerous churches and mansions along the Royal Route. Warsaw possesses thriving arts and club scenes, gourmet restaurants and large urban green spaces, with around a quarter of the city's area occupied by parks.

I also went on a tour of the former Warsaw Ghetto.
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II. It was established in November 1940 by the German authorities within the new General Government territory of occupied Poland. At its height, as many as 460,000 Jews were imprisoned there, in an area of 3.4 km2, with an average of 9.2 persons per room, barely subsisting on meager food rations. It was really moving to see this in person and cannot recommend it enough. Everybody should try to understand the history and learn from it for our future.

Have you ever been to Poland?

- Franzi

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