WARSAW – PHENOMENAL CITY
Warsaw has always been a thrilling and busy city, vibrant with life. In spite of many historical ups and downs, it never ceased to be a dynamic, Western-style metropolis, with many features characteristic for all European capitals. Its phenomenal character is best expressed by its everlasting juvenile spirit, although, as regards its ambience and appearance, it is a mixture of the old with the new: it respects tradition but quickly and decidedly moves forward, towards the future. Annihilated during World War II, Warsaw was rebuilt, thanks to the efforts of the whole nation. The Old Town – its historical centre and the heart of the capital – was restored to its former splendor so carefully that it is now included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Warsaw is not only the seat of the country’s administration but also its greatest scientific, cultural and art centre. Some 220 thousand students pursue their studies at 35 non-public and 20 public higher schools and dozens of scientific research institutes. The youth is visible everywhere. They fill the houses of opera, operetta, chamber opera and national philharmonic as well as the seats of Warsaw’s twenty-eight theatres; one sees them strolling through the rooms and halls of the capital’s thirty-five museums and sixty art galleries. Warsaw is today the most cosmopolitan, dynamic and progressive of all Poland’s cities, with many luxurious hotels, elegant shops and diverse services. Whether you are interested in theatre, good food, shopping, museums or bazaars, you will find more to choose from here than in any other Polish city.
HISTORICAL FLASHES
Hundreds of important events and dozens of interesting persons can be seen in the kaleidoscopic patterns of the capital’s history; turning the tube slowly we shall identify 8-year old Frederick Chopin (1810-49) playing organ during the Sunday mass celebrated in the Church of the Nuns of the Visitation at Krakowskie Przedmieście; King Jan III Sobieski (1629-96), embracing his beloved wife Maria Kazimiera d’Arquien in the yard of their suburban residence of Wilanów, remembered for his victory over the Turks in the Battle of Vienna in 1683.
