Jerusalem Avenue ( pl, Aleje Jerozolimskie) is one of the principal streets of the capital city of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It runs through the City Centre along the East-West axis, linking the western borough of

Wola Wola (, ) is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into an office (co ...

with the bridge on the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

River and the borough of

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

on the other side of the river.

History

The name of the street comes from a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

erected in 1774 by prince and marshal August Sułkowski for the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

settlers in

Mazovia Mazovia or Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the unofficial capital and largest city. Throughout the centurie ...

. The name of the village was Nowa Jerozolima (''New Jerusalem''), and the road to Warsaw was named ''Aleja Jerozolimska'' (singular, as opposed to the modern Polish name, which is plural). Although the village was abandoned shortly after its foundation, and most of the Jews eventually moved to the city itself, the name stuck and has been used ever since. It was there that the first railway station in Warsaw was built. In the late 19th century, the easternmost part of it became one of the most representative—and the most expensive—areas of the ever-growing city. In the early 20th century, and especially after Poland regained its independence in 1918, the street was extended westwards, and the borough of

was eventually incorporated into the city. Most of the houses along the avenue, including priceless examples of art nouveau and modernist architecture, were destroyed during the systematic destruction of the city by

Nazi German Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

forces in the aftermath of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Stalinist regime demolished what was left of the buildings, and since then the northern side of the street is currently dominated by the gigantic Palace of Culture and Science and the

Warszawa Centralna railway station Warszawa Centralna, in English known as Warsaw Central Station, is the primary railway station in Warsaw, Poland. Completed in 1975, the station is located on the Warsaw Cross-City Line and features four underground island platforms with eight tr ...

. The only surviving blocks of pre-war architecture are located to the south of the street, including the historic Hotel Polonia Palace and the Hoserów townhouse apartment building at 51 Jerusalem which host the

Warsaw Fotoplastikon The Warsaw Fotoplastikon is a stereoscopic theatre based on the Kaiserpanorama system of rotating stereoscopic images located in Warsaw, Poland. Operating at the same location since 1905, it is the oldest stereoscopic theatre in Europe still in ...

vintage stereoscopic theatre in its courtyard. Halfway down the street, at the junction with Krucza and Bracka streets, Warsaw's original main post-war department store, CDT 'Smyk' is located.

Images

File:Aleje Jerozolimskie and Smolna in Warsaw.jpg, View on the Smolna street from

Rondo de Gaulle'a The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

and Nowy Świat Street File:Warta Tower, Warszawa.jpg, Warta Tower File:Polonia Palace Hotel fasada.jpg, Hotel Polonia Palace File:Al jerozol 61 63.JPG, 61 & 63 Jerusalem Avenue File:Wars88DSC 1214.jpg,

Poniatowski Bridge The Poniatowski Bridge ( pl, Most Poniatowskiego) is a bridge in Warsaw, Poland. Originally built between 1904 and 1914, it was damaged in each World War and rebuilt after each. It spans the Vistula River, connecting Warsaw's Powiśle and Praga ...

File:Atrium Reduta w Warszawie 2019.jpg, Atrium Reduta Mall

References

Streets in Warsaw Śródmieście, Warsaw {{Poland-road-stub