Jerusalem Avenue () is one of the principal streets of the capital city of

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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It runs through the

City Centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

along the east–west axis, linking the western borough of

Wola Wola () is a district in western Warsaw, Poland. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into a major financial district, featuring various landmarks and some of the tallest offi ...

with the bridge on the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

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 the e ...

on the other side of the river.

History

The name of the street comes from a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

erected in 1774 by prince and

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

August Sułkowski for the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

settlers in

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 ...

. 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). The village was established despite an antisemitic law which forbade Jews from living within a two-mile radius of Old Warsaw. A lawsuit was brought against Sulkowsi and the neighborhood was destroyed on 23 January 1776. The Jewish community was expelled, their houses torn down, and their belongings confiscated. 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. Under the Nazi regime, the name was changed to Bahnofstrasse. Most of the houses along the avenue, including priceless examples of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

and modernist architecture, were destroyed during the systematic destruction of the city by

Nazi German Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

forces in the aftermath of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

. After

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 ...

, the

Stalinist regime Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism incl ...

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 The Palace of Culture and Science (; abbreviated ''PKiN'') is a notable high-rise building in central Warsaw, Poland. With a total height of , it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland (after the Varso Tower), the sixth talle ...

and the

Warszawa Centralna railway station Warszawa Centralna (official Polish name since 2019 Dworzec Centralny im. Stanisława Moniuszki), 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 ...

. 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 1946, 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. In 2002, Jewish-Polish artist Joanna Rajkowska created a memorial of the area's Jewish community. She struggled to find funders who were willing to take on the project, and her initial request for permission to install the piece was denied. The piece, '' Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue'', is a 15-metre tall replica palm tree that was inspired by a trip the artist took to Jerusalem.

Images

File:Aleje Jerozolimskie and Smolna in Warsaw.jpg, View on the Smolna street from Rondo de Gaulle'a 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 () 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 districts. Its viaduct ...

File:Atrium Reduta w Warszawie 2019.jpg, Atrium Reduta Mall File:Sztuczna palma w Warszawie 2019a.jpg, alt=Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue, an artificial palm tree in the middle of the street, installed by Joanna Rajkowska in 2002., ''Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue'', Joanna Rajkowska, 2002.

References

Streets in Warsaw Ursus, Warsaw Włochy Śródmieście Południowe Śródmieście Północne Wola Ochota {{Poland-road-stub