Wawrzyszew is a neighbourhood, and a City Information System area, 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 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 ...

, located within the district of

Bielany Bielany () is a district in Warsaw located in the north-western part of the city. Initially a part of Żoliborz, Bielany has been an independent district since 1994. Bielany borders Żoliborz to the south-east, and Bemowo to the south-west. Its ...

History

The first known mention of Wawrzyszew in historical documents comes from 1367. In 1379, Janusz I the Old, the Duke of Warsaw, has granted all profits from five nearby villages, including Wawrzyszew, to the city of Old Warsaw, for eight years. It was done as one of a few policies, to help it financially offset the costs of building the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

. The village was also historically known as ''Wawrzyszewo''.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): ''Encyklopedia Warszawy'', vol. 1. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 942. ISBN 9788301088361. (in Polish) In the 16th century, Baltazar Smosarski, a physician of the Polish royal court, bought the village of Wawrzyszew. There he founded the construction of the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Church of St. Mary Magdalene, which lasted between 1543 and 1548. It is located at the current 64 Wólczyńska Street.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): ''Encyklopedia Warszawy'', vol. 1. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 375. ISBN 9788301088361. (in Polish) On 26 August 1794, Wawrzyszew was captured and burned down by

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

forces during the Siege of Warsaw in the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

. In the 19th century, next to the Church of St. Mary Magdalene was opened the Wawrzyszew Cemetery. The oldest known grave there comes from 1830.Karol Mórawski: ''Warszawskie cmentarze. Przewodnik historyczny''. Warsaw: PTTK Kraj, 1991, pp. 96-98. ISBN 83-7005-333-5. (in Polish) In 1819, the Institute of Agronomics and Forestry had acquired a portion of Wawrzyszew, where around the 1820s, it built three artificial

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s, connected with canals, which later become known as the Brustman Ponds. Two ponds, and a canal connecting them, survive to the present day, with the third pond being filled up at some point.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): ''Encyklopedia Warszawy'', vol. 1. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 97. ISBN 9788301088361. (in Polish) In 1868, the area of four settlements, including Wawrzyszew, was given by Alexander II, the

Emperor of Russia The emperor and autocrat of all Russia (, ), also translated as emperor and autocrat of all the Russias, was the official title of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarch from 1721 to 1917. The title originated in connection with Russia's ...

, to Alexandr Vladimirovich Patkulov, a general in the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, as an award for his service. Patkulov has built there his residence, located next to the Brustman Ponds. In the 1880s, the Fort II had been built to the south-east of Wawrzyszew, as part of the series of fortifications of the

Warsaw Fortress Warsaw Fortress (, ) was a system of fortifications built in Warsaw, Poland during the 19th century when the city was part of the Russian Empire. The fortress belonged to a Western Russian fortresses, chain of fortresses built in Congress Poland an ...

, built around Warsaw by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

. In 1909, it was decided to decommission and demolish the fortifications of the Warsaw Fortress, due to the high maintenance costs. As such, Fort II was decommissioned and partially demolished. Currently, it is located within the City Information System area of

Chomiczówka Chomiczówka is a neighbourhood, and a City Information System (Warsaw), City Information System area, in Warsaw, Poland, located within the district of Bielany. Etymology Chomiczówka is named after Bolesław and Józef Chomicz, brothers and b ...

. In 1909, Wawrzyszew was partitioned and sold off. Its southern portion was bought by brothers Bolesław and Józef Chomicz, who then had established the branch of their agricultural company Bracia Chomicz (lit. ''Chomicz Brothers''), with headquarters at 8 Zgody Street. In 1920, they had begun selling plots of land in a suburban residential neighbourhood of villas, named Chomiczów. In 1933, the project was renamed to ''Przylesie''. In the late 1930s, it gradually became known as

while its former name fell out of use. Bracia Chomicz company functioned until 1937. By 1921, Wawrzyszew was administratively divided into the village of Wawrzyszew Stary (''Old Wawrzyszew'') to the north, and the settlement of Wawrzyszew Nowy (''New Wawrzyszew'') to the south. In 1921 Wawrzyszew Stary had a population of 328 people, while Wawrzyszew Nowy, 245 people. By 1933 there were also smaller village of Wawrzyszew Poduchowny, and the settlements of Wawrzyszew Polski, and Wawrzyszew Parafialny. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, on 21 September 1939, the area had been captured by German forces. During the conflict, the Fort II was used as a warehouse. Between 13 and 14 June 1943, a division of the People's Militia of the Worker's Party of Polish Socialists had attacked it, destroying a portion of the supplies stored there. Following the beginning 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 ...

, between 1 and 2 August 1944, the Polish partisans of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

had attacked the nearby Bielany Aerodrome, which was heavily guarded by German forces. The attack was unsuccessful, ending in a German victory, and retreat of the partisans. There were also clashes in the area of

, including a few small fights in Wawrzyszew.Szymon Datner, Kazimierz Leszczyński (editors): ''Zbrodnie okupanta w czasie powstania warszawskiego w 1944 roku (w dokumentach)''. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo MON, 1962, pp. 21–24. On 3 August 1944, German forces attacked partisants in Bielany, which fought of the attack with heavy losses.Karol Mórawski (editor): ''Żoliborz-Bielany. Warszawskie Termopile 1944''. Warsaw: Fundacja Wystawa Warszawa Walczy 1939–1945, 1999, p. 92. ISBN 83-87224-15-4. (in Polish) Following the unsuccessful attack, German forces had decided to take revenge on the population of Wawrzyszew. Later that day, German forces, who according to the testimonies of the witnesses were from the Protection Squadron, had entered the village. They had set buildings on fire, destroyed them with grenades, and expelled the population. People who fought back, or were to slow to leave, were killed at the scene. Additionally, the attackers had d also executed several men. In total 30 people, including women and children, were killed, while a portion of the village was burned down. The surviving population was displaced. On 14 May 1951, the area, including Wawrzyszew Stary, Wawrzyszew Nowy, and Chomiczówka, was incorporated from the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Młociny into the city of Warsaw, within the district of

Żoliborz Żoliborz () is one of the northern dzielnica, districts of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the Warszawa-Śródmieście, City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50,000 inhabitants and is ...

. In the 1960s, at 53 Wolumen Street was opened the Wolumen Marketplace. In the 1970s, the Warsaw Housing Cooperative built a neighbourhood of Wawrzyszew, consisting of the

multifamily residential Multifamily residential, also known as multidwelling unit (MDU), is a classification of housing where multiple separate housing units for residential inhabitants are contained within one building or several buildings within one complex. Units can ...

large panel system building A large-panel-system building is a building constructed of large, Concrete slab#Prefabricated, prefabricated concrete slabs. Such buildings are often found in Housing development, housing developments. Although large-panel-system buildings are ...

s. Simultaneously, to the south was built the neighbourhood of

, also consisting of the multifamily residential large panel system buildings. In 1980, at 1 Goldoniego Street was opened

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

, now known as the Bielany Cultural Centre. On 19 June 1994, it became part of the city subdivision of the municipality of Warsaw-Bielany. On 27 October 2002, it became part of the district of

. Between 1994 and 1997, at 64 Wólczyńska Street, next to the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, the new Catholic Church of Mary the Mother of Entrustment was built. In 1997, Bielany was subdivided into areas of the City Information System. The neighbourhood was divided into two divisions, that being, Wawrzyszew to the north, and

to the south. On 25 October 2008 in Wawrzyszew were opened two stations of the M1 line of the

Warsaw Metro The Warsaw Metro () is a rapid transit underground system serving the Poland, Polish capital Warsaw. It currently consists of two lines, the north–south M1 (Warsaw), M1 line which links central Warsaw with its densely populated northern and sou ...

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

underground system. They were Wawrzyszew, located at the intersection of Kasprowicza Street, Lindego Street, and Wolumen Street, and Młociny located at the intersection of Kasprowicza Street, Nocznickiego Street, and Zgrupowania AK "Kampinos" Street.

Characteristics

Wawrzyszew is a residential neighbourhood consisting of the

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

buildings. In the central portion of the neighbourhood is located an urban park centred on the Brustman Ponds, two artificial ponds connected by a cannal. In Wawrzyszew are located two stations of the M1 line of the

underground system. They are Wawrzyszew, located at the intersection of Kasprowicza Street, Lindego Street, and Wolumen Street, and Młociny located at the intersection of Kasprowicza Street, Nocznickiego Street, and Zgrupowania AK "Kampinos" Street. There are two

churches, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, and the Church of Mary the Mother of Entrustment. Both are located next to each other, at 64 Wólczyńska Street. Next to them, between Wólczyńska Street, Gotycka Street, and Kwitnąca Street, is located the Wawrzyszew Cemetery. At 1 Goldoniego Street, is located the Bielany Cultural Center. At 53 Wolumen Street is located the Wolumen Marketplace.

Location and administrative boundaries

Wawrzyszew is a neighbourhood, and an area of the City Information System, located in the city of

, within the central southeastern portion of the district of

. To the north its border is determined by Kasprowicza Street; to the east, by Oczapowskiego Street, and Reymonta Street; to the south, by Wólczyńska Street, Kwitnąca Streer, and Gotycka Street; and to the west, by Nocznickiego Street. It borders Wrzeciono to the north, Old Bielany to the east,

to the south, and Radiowo, and Huta to the west.

References

{{Reflist Neighbourhoods of Bielany Populated places established in the 14th century Former villages in Poland Planned communities in Poland