Warszawa [antikvár]

. Vi> m H iA-*] - Ss I WARSAW Warsaw is a relatively young city with a unique character, charm and an unusual history. In the olden days, the many primeval forests and poor roads made the regions adjacent to the Vistula hardly accessible. Neither was the land attractive for new settlers as it required too much backbreaking work before it could be made fertile. Even the Mazovian dukes preferred to li-ve in Czersk. Their only possession within the present city limits was a wooden stronghold at Jazdów-the current grounds of the Botanical Garden-which was burned down by the Lithuanians in 1262. This event marks the beginning of Warsaw's history. A new stronghold and a settlement were founded north of Jazdów, near the steep slope of the Vistula, on the estate owned by a knight named Warsz Rawicz Niedzwiadek, the alleged owner of the village of Solec. Hence, the origin of the name of the settlement-Warszowa (Warsaw). True, legend has it that the name was derived from the names of fishermen or boatmen-Wars and Sawa. But this particular theory-just like the beginnings of the settlement-cannot be verified, if only for the lack of written records. The first entry in historical annals was made only in 1339 when St. John's Church was the site of the trial of the Knights of the Teutonic Order. It was only then that Europe learned about a town called Warsaw situated on the Vistula River. Before long, Warsaw was made the capital of Mazovia and granted numerous privileges. The town was surrounded by defense walls to protect it from potential enemies. Later, when the walls became useless, they functioned as the revetment for burgher houses. These were uncovered in 1936 after Mayor Stefan Starzyriski decided to tear down the old, unserviceable and ramshacled houses. The walls, rising all along Podwale Street and down to the Vistula, determined the actual shape of the city which was divided into the Old and the New Towns. Today, they are considered among the most valuable historical monuments in Warsaw along with St. John's Cathedral, the Church of Virgin Mary in the New Town and the Royal Castle. Indeed, they are one of the very few remaining Gothic sections of the city which have been preserved despite Warsaw's ongoing development and expansion. On September 13, 1526 King Sigismund the Old arrived in Warsaw to become the ruler of Mazovia following the sudden and mysterious death of the last two Mazovian dukes whose bodies lie in the vaults of the Cathedral. The region subsequently lost its autonomy and became an integrál part of the Polish Kingdom retaining, however, all its laws and privileges. The Jagiellonians got down to work starting with the remodelling of the Castle from the Gothic to Renaissance and made it a royal residence. Sigismund the Old's successor, Sigismund Augustus, took a liking to this town and often stayed here. Though, the popular rumors cited another reason for his frequent visits to Warsaw, namely, the local women who have always been famous for their beauty and elegance. After all, even the city's coat-of-arms displays a mermaid-a legendary half-girl and half-fish. This particular figure can be found on the seal attached to a Town Council document of 1400. In this way Warsaw became the center of the country's political life. It was here that subsequent Polish monarchs were elected. Somé of them, like the Vasas, greatly contributed to the city's splendor by giving the final architectural shape to the Royal Castle and erecting the first monument in Warsaw: the Sigismund III Column to honor the hereditary ruler of Sweden and Finland, later elected king of Poland. In his desire to be closer to his beloved land, Sigismund III moved the seat of the royal court from Cracow to Warsaw in March 1596. The Castle was then turnéd into a magnificent residence capable of accommodating the expanded royal court while splendid palaces built by aristocrats who wanted to be as good as the king mushroomed up all over town. Though Warsaw's history should not divert our attention from the city's present, nevertheless it is respect for the past and its achievements which is one of the most characteristic features of Warsaw's post-war reconstruction. The future of the war-ruined city was decided after 1945. One option was to build an entirely new town, totally different from that burnt to the ground in 1944. Suggestions like this were actually motivated on the ground that the reconstruction costs would be prohibitive, indeed, that the cost would be out of proportion to any real benefits. Meanwhile, the people who had returned to the city had no shelter whatsoever. Was it worthwhile, then, to bother with the reconstruction of the historical monuments? Warsaw, however, would not be the same without them. In this way, Krakowskie Przedmiescie and Nowy Swiat Streets, the Old and the New Towns rose from ashes like so many other monuments which are now even more beautiful than before their destruction. Hence, many of the old houses were rebuilt in their originál shape, according to the best mason's traditions of the past, and quite a number of people had previously hardly noticed just how much charm those old burgher houses actually had. The heart of every big city is its central quarter. Starting in the 16th century, when it became Poland's capital city, Warsaw expanded not so much around the Old and the New Towns where there was no more space for further development, but southward in the direction of Ujazdów. There were two distinctive areas of that growth: one, along the so called