Park Cytadela (Polish for ''

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

'') in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

(western

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 ...

) is a large park on the site of

Fort Winiary Fort Winiary was part of ''Festung Posen'' ("Fortress Poznań"), a system of defensive fortifications around the Polish city of Poznań. Origins Fort Winiary was first constructed under Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian rule in the 19th century. ...

, a 19th-century fortified area north of the city centre. It contains a military museum, military cemeteries, and the remains of some of the fortifications. It lies within the Stare Miasto district of the city, south of Winogrady. The site is listed as one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (''

Pomnik historii Historic Monument ( pl, pomnik historii) is one of several categories of objects of cultural heritage (in the singular, '' zabytek'') in Poland. To be recognized as a Polish historic monument, an object must be declared such by the President ...

''), as designated November 28, 2008, along with other portions of the city's historic core. Its listing is maintained by the

National Heritage Board of Poland The National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland ( pl, Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa NID) is a Polish governmental institution responsible for documenting cultural property and the intangible cultural heritage, as well as for supporting and ...

The park and cemeteries

In the post-war period the site of the Fort Winiary was converted into ''Cytadela'' park. Most of the fortifications were demolished, although some structures can still be seen. The ''Spezial-Kriegs-Laboratorium'' building now houses a military museum. There is also a

Poznań Army Army Poznań ( pl, Armia Poznań) led by Major General Tadeusz Kutrzeba was one of the Polish Armies during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Tasks Flanked by Armia Pomorze to the north and Łódź Army to the south, the Army was to provide f ...

museum on the southern edge of the park. A

rosarium A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses ma ...

is located near the northern edge of the park, and an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

(now disused) was built at the eastern end, on the site of Ravelin IV. The park contains a large number of walkways and open spaces, and various open-air sculpture displays. On the slope on the south-western edge of the park are a series of military cemeteries. These include a Commonwealth cemetery (" Poznań Old Garrison Cemetery"), set up after World War I, and containing graves mostly of prisoners-of-war from World War I and airmen from World War II (many killed during bombing of Stettin, now Szczecin; but someincluding at least one Polish airman, Pawel "Peter" Tobolski murdered by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

after the "Great Escape" from Stalag Luft III in 1944). There are also Polish and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

cemeteries on the slope. A "Heroes' Monument" overlooks the cemeteries, standing at the top of the flight of steps which form the main entrance to the park.

References

*''The information in this article is based on that in its Polish equivalent''.

Gallery

Muzeum Cytadela Poznań.jpg, The military museum Abakany Cytadela Poznan.jpg, Sculpture display: ''Nierozpoznani'' ("The Unrecognized Ones") by

Magdalena Abakanowicz Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz-Kosmowska (20 June 1930 – 20 April 2017) was a Polish sculptor and fiber artist. She was known for her use of textiles as a sculptural medium and her outdoor installations. She is widely regarded as one of Poland ...

Monumento a los Héroes, Parque Ciudadela, Poznan, Polonia, 2019-12-18, DD 03.jpg, Heroes' Monument Campana de la Paz y Amistad entre las Naciones, Parque Ciudadela, Poznan, Polonia, 2019-12-18, DD 01.jpg, Peace Bell {{Poznań Cytadela, Poznan Poznań Parks in Greater Poland Voivodeship