Warsaw - From A Bird's-Eye View [antikvár]

A Few Words about the PastA few years ago, Warsaw celebrated the 700th anniversary of its existence. The end of the seventh century closed a certain stage in the rich history of the city. It should be assumed that the history began when Prince Conrad of Mazovia decided at the end of the 13th century to establish, near the settlements on the Vistula, a town which was to serve as the Prince's seat. For this purpose, a site was staked out for the town area; it was situated on a high bank, near the highroad connecting the Mazovian stronghold of Czersk with Za-kroczym.Colonization in that region of the Vistula had begun much earlier. The crossing of Mazovian highroads in that area as well as convenient fords across the Vistula were decisive for the localization there of strongholds and riverside settlements. As early as in the 10th century, the stronghold and settlement of Brodno were to be found on Warsaw's present site; in the 11th century, the village of Kamion on the right bank of the Vistula, and the village of Solec on the left bank, were connected by a crossing over the river. In the 12th century, the prince's stronghold, Jazdow, rose on the ground bordering on those settlements; it was destroyed less than one hundred years later during the Jatvingian invasion.At the turn of the 13th/14th century, beside the already existing stronghold and church (today's Cathedral), a town was erected on an area of 16 hectares (42.5 acres) according to a plan prepared in advance. In the centre of the town there was a market square with a regular network of streets converging there and the confines of Warsaw were marked by an earth rampart which was later replaced in the 14th and 15th century by a double line of fortified walls. Already at the end of the 14th century, however, the city had no longer enough room within its limited confines of that time, and suburbs began to rise outside of the wall line. Those were actually independent settlements, situated mainly along the highroads connecting Warsaw with the other parts of the principality of Mazovia. One such settlement was the New Town which in 1408 became an autonomous administrative organism and which is today one of the sections of Warsaw.The animation of Poland's economic life in the 16th century brought about a particularly dynamic development of Warsaw. Another contributing factor was the growing economic importance of the city in the relations between Poland and Lithuania. In the second half of the 16th century, Warsaw already had 14 thou-