Castle Square (, ) is a historic

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

in front of the Royal Castle – the former official residence of Polish monarchs – located in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Poland. It is a popular meeting place for tourists and locals. The square, of somewhat triangular shape, features the landmark Sigismund's Column to the south-west, and is surrounded by historic townhouses. It marks the beginning of the bustling Royal Route extending to the south.

History

The

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

commemorating King Sigismund III of Poland (a work by Clemente Molli, erected in 1644) is the oldest and one of the symbolic landmarks of the city and the first

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

monument in the form of a column in modern history. On the east side of the square stands the Royal Castle, reconstructed after the devastation of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was formerly the residence of the dukes of

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

, and then of the Polish kings and grand dukes of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

from the 16th to 18th centuries. The

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

bombed and blew it up at the beginning of

(September 1939), and then it was completely destroyed in 1944–45 (see picture below). In 1949, the square was connected by an escalator to the newly formed (East-West Route), which runs under Castle Square through a tunnel; and the viaduct (leading to the Silesian-Dąbrowski Bridge) was built in the place of viaduct Pancer, destroyed during World War II. In 1907, the viaduct was modernized to handle electric trams that went over there less than a year later. This square has witnessed many dramatic scenes in Polish history. Patriotic demonstrations took place there during the period before the outbreak of the

January uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

of 1863. On 27 February 1861,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

bullets killed five people. On 8 April 1861, five rota of infantry and two

troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

s of Russian cavalry (about 1,300 people) led by General carried out a bloody massacre of civilians, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people. During

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

on 3 May 1982, the square became the scene of the particularly brutal riot, with ZOMO police rushing through demonstrations.

Events

The square is a hub for tourists and locals, who gather to watch street entertainers, participate in rallies, watch concerts and even engage in

breakdancing Breakdancing or breaking, also called b-boying (when performed by men) or b-girling (women), is a style of street dance originated by African Americans and Nuyorican, Puerto Ricans in The Bronx borough of New York City. Breakdancing consist ...

. In 1997, at the Castle Square, US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

gave a speech welcoming Poland to membership in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Castle Square featured the United Buddy Bears exhibition in summer 2008 – an array of 140 two-metre-high sculptures, each designed by a different artist, touring the world as a symbol of cultural understanding, tolerance and mutual trust. According to official information, more than 1.5 million visitors were counted.

Notes

External links

Virtual tour through Royal Castle

Squares in Warsaw Landmarks in Poland Old Town, Warsaw Odonyms referring to a building {{authority control

History

Events

See also

Notes

External links