Castle Square, Warsaw

I try to discover more about interesting buildings. Warsaw can offer a lot for tourist who like to learn about architecture.
At first sight, when you at Castle square, one building attracts attention because it somehow does not fit into the environment. The little palace, as I found later, is know after his copper sheets green color. It become famous for it and also was named after it. The Polish name of palaces "Palac pod Blacha" precisely means "The Copper-Roof Palace". It is build in the second half of 18th century. In one time it serve as a residence of last Polish king Stanislaw August Poniatowski. Rebuild two time trough his past and from 1989th is part of Royal Castle Museum.
From view point of St. Anna Church Bell (taras widokovy) offers a wonderful view of the palace.
The fees is 5 PZL without discount.

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The Castle square is something that you must visit when you in Warsaw. It is very know place. This square connect Old town and Praga district. The main landmark of square is Sigismund's Column and is surrounded by historic houses and Royal Castle. All main celebration is organized here.
During our visit to the city we attended the celebration of 60 years of the Warsaw Uprising.

The best view at the squire is from above - viewing point (Polish: Taras widokowy) or terrace on St. Anna Church bell tower. More about this activity you can read in my Poland review Taras widokowy.

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As came to the Old Town in the early morning so I was unable to get into the Royal Castle, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating the building itself and the building behind it. On my later trip to the Warsaw Rising Museum, I saw on the 3D movie about Warsaw’s destruction that this castle was pretty much destroyed – its reconstruction was finished in 1988. It is always difficult to view these reconstructions as I wonder how much is like the original. But saying that, I find it amazing to think that these magnificent buildings can be rebuilt from old drawings, photos, and people’s memories.

The building behind the castle, which you can easily see standing on the bridge beside the castle, is the first house in the city of Warsaw to have a tin roof instead of the traditional tiles. It is the one with the green roof as you look from the bridge.

The castle used to be a royal residence, but today it stands as a symbol of Polish independence. You can easily find it at the entrance to the Old Town, sitting off the to side from the large plaza that is marked with Zygmunt’s Column in the middle of it.

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In this square we enter to the Old Part (Stare Miasto) but before we enjoy its spaciousness, Sigismund's column, the Royal Castle and we may sit quietly to see the people walking and hear a musician because always they are round here here

Por esta plaza entraremos a la Parte Antigua ( Stare Miasto ) pero aquí disfrutaremos de su amplitud , de la columna de Segismundo , del Castillo Real y nos sentaremos tranquilamente a ver a la gente paseando y a oír a algún músico , que nunca falta por aquí

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In 1644 King Wladyslaw IV ordered that a monument be built to his father, King Zygmunt III. It stands at the entrance to Royal Castle Square; and it is Warsaw’s oldest secular memorial. It was King Zygmunt III who moved the Polish capitol from Krakow to Warsaw in 1596.

The column, 72 feet tall and made of granite, is surmounted by a bronze sculpture of King Zygmunt, who holds a cross in one hand and a sword in the other. Clemente Molli is responsible for the impressive sculpture. Two other Italian architects, who had long worked for Polish royalty, Agostino Locci the Elder and Constantino Tencalla, collaborated on the column and base.

Wars have damaged the column and base over the centuries; both have been repaired many times. The present-day column is the third one to support the bronze figure of the king, which has managed to evade destruction.

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Moving north from the centre of Warsaw, the Castle Square (plac Zamkowy) is the first part of the reconstructed old town that you will see. It's so well made you'd be hard pressed to know it wasn't the original unless you already knew.

The square contains the Royal Castle, Zygmunt's Column, a Gothic bridge and a beautifully restored row of old town houses. The place is used to host many events, and was even once used by Bill Clinton to deliver his welcome speech to Poland after they joined NATO in 1997.

While in Castle Square, take a look at the view below the terrace. There you can see the well-known Trasa W-Z or the East - West Route, which is a continuation of the Slasko-Dabrowski Bridge joining the Praga side of the Vistula River with the centre. Here it goes into a tunnel built after the war, which very much improved the city road system. I often got off the tram here as a child to take a bus or a walk in Krakowskie Przedmiescie, or, even more often, to take a ride on the first escalator in Warsaw. What fun it was to go up and down and up again until we were chased away by a guard. This escalator was out of order for many years but it has recently re-opened. Even if you don't have to use it, have a look inside the first building in Krakowskie Przedmiescie (Kamienica John'a) just opposite St. Anne's Church, which houses its upper part. The decor of the interior is in striking contrast to the outward appearance of the house - pure social realism with bas-reliefs of workers, the heroes of communism.
On the left of the photo you can see Palac pod Blacha (the copper-plate-roofed Palace), where Prince Jozef Poniatowski lived and lived it up in the years 1792 -1806. The middle part of the palace was burnt down after the Warsaw Uprising. But, restored in 1948 - 1949, to me it has always been there with its characteristic greenish roof.
If you walk down the street on the right of the photo, you will soon get to Mariensztat - a very pretty district of Warsaw built soon after the war. With its sloping red roofs and two-storey houses submerged in a sea of green it makes a very pretty picture.

One of the most beautiful places in Warsaw and the entrypoint for the Oldtown is the Castle Square (plac Zamkowy). Totally destroyed in WW2, the major elements of Zamkowy Square: the Patrican`s houses, the Zygmunt`s column and the Royal Castle have been restored. I recommend climbing the Belfry of St. Anne`s church (viewing platform): From there, you can overlook the whole square - marvelous photo opportunities.

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This square is one of the beauty sites in Warsaw. It has many retail shops for the souvenirs, cafes, and artwork. Some of the vendors have impromptu booths set up near the middle of the square, but most of these trinkets are cheap items. The square was almost totally ruined during the WWII, and rebuilt to original condition, as well as the castle. All around this square are other shops and sites.
The square was in its glory in the 1600's when Warsaw became to country capital. It became to develop in 1300's and continued to be a defensive area for the kings.

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"Castle Square" is a really nice and beautiful place and it is one of my favorite places in Warsaw. But I was a little bit dissappointed last time. I thought that I could go to a restaurant or a nice bar after 10 p.m. Sorry. No way!! Everything closed. No real and torbulant life on the square like in Cracow or Wroclaw. Where are the people? Where are the beer gardens? Everything top secret in Warsaw?