A colourful Old Town
Zamkowy Square, containing Sigismund’s Column, is the most prominent feature of the Old Town. The 15th century Gothic St. John’s Cathedral stands on narrow Świętojańska Street. Its crypt houses the sarcophaguses of the princes of Mazovia and the tombs of many famous Poles. The cathedral is the summertime venue of the International Festival of Organ Music. Świętojańska Street leads into the Old Town Square, with its colorful, narrow fronted tenement houses. The Old Town’s history dates back to the early 14th century. Due to the amazing reconstruction that followed the destruction of World War II, the Old Town was included on the UNESCO World.
Heritage List in 1980
The Old Town’s charming little streets and alleys are home to numerous galleries, cafés and restaurants. In the Old Town Square, which becomes a busy open-air gallery in the summer, painters sell landscapes, panoramas of Warsaw and portraits of passersby. Also on the square is the Warsaw History Museum, which presents the history of the city. Jazz concerts are held here in summer on Saturday nights and horse-drawn carriages are available for visitors. Beyond the Barbican, the gate that sealed the old defensive walls of the Old Town, Freta Street leads to the New Town, founded in the early 15th century. The New Town Square is dominated by the Church of the Nuns of the Order of the Holy Sacrament. It is not far from here to the Baroque Church of the Franciscan Order and Warsaw’s oldest church, the Church of the Virgin Mary.
