Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły Park, often simplified to Rydz-Śmigły Park, is a major parkland in the historic

Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...

and Solec neighbourhoods of central

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 is situated in the administrative South Downtown (

Śródmieście Południowe South Downtown (Polish language, Polish: ''Śródmieście Południowe'') is a Districts and neighbourhoods of Warsaw, neighbourhood in Warsaw, Poland, located in the Downtown, Warsaw, Downtown district. It is mainly a mid-rise residential area, ...

) district, on the western bank of 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. The 53-hectare park opened on 22 July 1955 and was continuously enlarged up until 1964.

History

The park was founded on the former estate of prince

Kazimierz Poniatowski Prince Kazimierz Poniatowski (15 September 1721 – 13 April 1800) was a Polish nobleperson, ''podkomorzy wielki koronny'' (1742–1773), Lieutenant general of the Royal Polish forces, ''generał wojsk koronnych''. Knight of the Order of th ...

(1721–1800), lord chamberlain of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

and brother of Poland's last king

Stanisław II Augustus Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

. The previous palatial gardens were designed by renowned architect

Szymon Bogumił Zug Szymon Bogumił Zug (20 February 1733 – 11 August 1807), born Simon Gottlieb Zug, and also known as Zugk, was a renowned Polish- German classicist architect and designer of gardens. Born in Merseburg in Saxony, he spent most of his life in t ...

. When the property passed to the aristocratic Branicki family, a large

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

-styled residence was erected on the site, which became known as the "Red Palace" (''Czerwony Pałac''). The building hosted the offices of the

French Embassy The French Republic has one of the world's largest diplomatic networks, and is a member of more multilateral organisations than any other country. France's permanent representation abroad began in the reign of Francis I, when in 1522 he sent a d ...

until its destruction in

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 sole remainder of the palace today are two grand staircases with decorative balustrades and an elevated

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

which once overlooked the gardens. The project of creating a new central parkland to the once-densely populated suburb was initiated in 1952. The majority of the pre-war dwellings were either completely destroyed or had to be demolished in the post-war years due to their structural vulnerability and poor design. The chief landscape architects who composed the layout of the new park were Alina Scholtz, Zygmunt Stępiński and Longin Majdecki. The main alley was opened in 1955; the site was subsequently extended into the adjacent Solec neighbourhood, closer to the riverside. Up to 1992, the parkland grounds were collectively known as the "Central Park of Culture" (''Centralny Park Kultury''). With the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, the new authorities decided to rename the parkland in honour of Poland's marshal and military commander in World War II,

Edward Rydz-Śmigły Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz also called Edward Rydz-Śmigły, (11 March 1886 – 2 December 1941) was a Polish people, Polish politician, statesman, Marshal of Poland and Commander-in-Chief of Poland's armed forces, as well as a painter and ...

Sights

Siedziba Muzeum Ziemi PAN w Warszawie al

Museum of the Earth of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Museum of the Earth in Warsaw ( pol. ''Muzeum Ziemi PAN w Warszawie''), established in 1948 and continuing a tradition initiated by Earth Museum Society back in 1932, has been operating within the structure of the Polish Academy of Sciences s ...

(''Muzeum Ziemi PAN''), situated in the Little White Palace (''Biały Pałacyk'') on Na Skarpie Street. *"Unity" Monument, representing the bond between the

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and Warsaw as well as the relations between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and Poland. Erected in 2012. *Glory to Sappers Monument (''Pomnik Chwała Saperom''), honouring the

sappers A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses, ...

employed in the

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

of Warsaw and Poland after the Second World War. Erected in 1975. *Iringh Square (''Skwer M. Iringha''), honouring

Mirosław Iringh Mirosław "Stanko" Iringh (born 28 February 1914 in WarsawPatrycja Bukalska, "Pytania Mirosława Iringha" (Mirosław Iringh's Question), Tygodnik Powszechny, 2005-08-07 died 28 May 1985) - was a Polish-Slovak lieutenant and a commander of a Slo ...

and the Slovakian battalion ( Platoon 535) which fought in 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 ...

in 1944. *Restaurants, cafes and historical pre-war

tenements A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

at Rozbrat Street. *Playground area at Wilanowska Street. *Jutrzenka Skatepark * Zbigniew Ścibor-Rylski Monument

References

{{Warsaw landmarks Parks in Warsaw Śródmieście Południowe Solec, Warsaw

History

Sights

See also

References