''Parade Square'' ( pl, Plac Defilad w Warszawie) is a square in downtown Warsaw. Located between ulica '' Świętokrzyska'' (Holy Cross Street) in the north, ''

Aleje Jerozolimskie Jerusalem Avenue ( pl, Aleje Jerozolimskie) is one of the principal streets of the capital city of Warsaw in Poland. It runs through the City Centre along the East-West axis, linking the western borough of Wola with the bridge on the Vistula Ri ...

'' (Jerusalem Avenues) in the south, ulica '' Marszałkowska'' (Marshal's Street) in the east and the monumental

Palace of Culture and Science A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

to the west, it is one of Warsaw's central squares. It's one of the largest city squares in the world, and the second largest in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, after the

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is one of the youngest squares in Warsaw, built in the 1950s together with the Palace of Culture and Science. It was used extensively by the government of

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

for various

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

s. The biggest parade held was in 1966 to mark the millennium year of the Polish nation. Parade Square held a key place in the events of 1956. After

Władysław Gomułka Władysław Gomułka (; 6 February 1905 – 1 September 1982) was a Polish communist politician. He was the ''de facto'' leader of post-war Poland from 1947 until 1948. Following the Polish October he became leader again from 1956 to 1970. Go ...

's restoration to power, on 24 October a rally was held in the square attended by around 400,000 people. During his speech at the rally, Gomułka condemned

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

and announced reforms aimed at democratizing the political system. A symbol of the changes was the refusal to accept

Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who becam ...

, while the microphone was given to activist Lechosław Goździk. The crowd in the square expressed support for the reforms of

Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...

, but they also demanded the release from prison of Cardinal

Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...

, the leader of the Catholic church in Poland. Gomułka's singing of ''One Hundred Years'' (

Sto lat ''Sto lat'' (One Hundred Years) is a traditional Poland, Polish song that is sung to express good wishes, good health and long life to a person. It is also a common way of wishing someone a happy birthday in Polish. ''Sto lat'' is used in many bi ...

) became legendary. On 14 June 1987, during the third apostolic journey to Poland,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

celebrated Mass in the square, ending the Second National Eucharistic Congress. The altar was located at the main entrance to the Palace of Culture and Science. During the Mass, the pope

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

Bishop Michał Kozal, who died in the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

during the Second World War. The square lost its importance after the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

, becoming the site of a giant

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

for some time. Criticized for unplanned ugliness and chaos in the center of a modern

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

, several plans have been made to modernize it and/or replace with something else including plans to construct a Museum of Modern Art in its place (opening 2019) and general gentrification of a square with a new concert hall, different skyscrapers and other facilities. UEFA Euro 2012, Warsaw, Fanzone 16

During the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

, which Warsaw was a host city for, a large Fan Zone was located there. Currently (2017) it is mainly used as a car park and the marketplace has been removed, its role mostly absorbed by the new suburban market at Marywilska 44. The city plans to allow construction on the site of the square. The parking spaces are to be moved to a new, underground facility.

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External links

{{Coord, 52, 13, 56, N, 21, 0, 32, E, type:landmark, display=title Squares in Warsaw National squares Stalinist architecture Śródmieście, Warsaw

See also

References

External links