Piłsudski Square ( pl, plac marsz. Józefa Piłsudskiego), previously Victory Square (''plac Zwycięstwa'', 1946–1990) and Saxon Square (''Plac Saski'', 1814–1928), is the largest city square of Poland's

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

, located in the Warsaw city centre. The square is named for

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Józef Piłsudski who was instrumental in the restoration of Polish statehood after World War I.Strona placu Józefa Piłsudskiego.
Official website.

Current and previous names

Over the centuries, the square has been named successively as Saxon Square (''Plac Saski'') after Poland's Saxon kings with the Saxon Palace standing adjacent to the square, but destroyed in World War II; then Piłsudski Square (after Józef Piłsudski) during the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

; then briefly, Adolf-Hitler-Platz during Germany's World War II occupation of Warsaw; and, after 1946, Victory Square ( pl, plac Zwycięstwa) in honour of Poland's and her allies' victory in World War II. Since the fall of communism in Poland, it is again called Piłsudski Square. Piłsudski Square is the site of the

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, erected on top of the underground foundations of the Saxon Palace, destroyed by the Nazis in World War II.

History

The square has been the scene of many historic events over the centuries. Important guests of Warsaw and Poland have been officially welcomed there. Military parades have been held at the square since the 19th century Polish

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. From the 1890s to the 1920s, the Russian Orthodox Church Alexander Nevsky Cathedral stood there. As with most of the other Moscow Patriarchate churches in Warsaw it was demolished in mid-1920s by the Polish authorities less than 15 years after its construction, and in 1928 the square was renamed after Józef Piłsudski. It was on the Piłsudski Square (then Victory Square) in 1979 that Pope John Paul II addressed a large gathering of his countrymen at an open-air Holy Mass during his first visit to Poland soon after his 1978 elevation to the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. This event marked a more confrontational approach to the Soviet Union by the papacy and contributed to the eventual fall of communism in Poland. In April 2005, his death was mourned there also. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air Mass on the square on 26 May 2006, during his first pastoral visit to Poland. The square is now a location of some luxury shops, such as Italian '' Valentino'' and others.

Location

The square is located in front of the 15–hectare Saxon Gardens extending south-west, close to the

Zachęta The Zachęta National Gallery of Art (Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, ...

and the

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. The nearest

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station is Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet, a seven-minute walk away.

Notes and references

*
Virtual Tour
at ''Warszawa.vr360.pl''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilsudski Square Squares in Warsaw Śródmieście, Warsaw Józef Piłsudski

Current and previous names

History

Location

See also

Notes and references