Photos of Poland
1961 trip to Poland with Frank and his mother.The comments are my orginal 1961 comments.
We begin our visit to Poland with its capital, Warsaw. The tallest and most noticeable building in the city is the Pałac Kultury i Nauki, the Palace of Science and Culture. The building is a gift of Russia.
In front of it is the Central Square, the scene of parades and demonstrations. Inside the Palace are institutions and scientific associations.
There is a Youth Palace, a swimming pool, sports facilities, workshops, museums, exhhibition halls, restaurants and several theaters. You see here the Congress Hall, Teatr Sensaeji, which has a seating capacity of 3000.
After going up to the 25th floor of the Palace you have a view of the city.To the west you can see many buildings. These have all been built since 1944 since Warsaw was 90% destroyed in World War II.
The view to the north shows a still newer part of Warsaw probably built since 1950. You can see two new apartments in the foregorund and the uncompleted area behind them. There are also many parks in the city.
Here is an example of shell damage on a wall. Later on you'll see more damaged buildings.
The streets of modern Warsaw are all wide. Here is a typical business street with a diamond shaped walk. Also notice the many trees and modern buildings. It is Ul. Marszałkowska. (Ul. is the abbreviation for street.)
Here is department store CDT on Al. (Street/alley) Jerozolimskie.There are few large stores. The CDT department store is usually crowded inside and space is limited. There are many people in the streets because the shopping area is small for a city of 3,000,000 people. Also notice the modern lamp post with three lights, the orange traffic light on the corner and the wires for the trolley.
Intersection Al. Jerozolimskie and Nowy Swiat. At this main intersection you can see the marked crosswalks, the circular area in the center and again new buildings.
This is Ul. Nowy Swiat (New World). Another shopping street; this one has flowers on the lampposts. Several of the main roads are paved as this one but most are just cobblestones.
This, the Church of the Three Crosses in Pl. Trzech Krzyzy, is a little church built in the middle of the street.
Pl. Konstytucji from Ul. Piękna.Constitution Square is a market square. There are shops on the ground level of the buildings and offices on the upper floors. In this square there are also booths which sell goods, but cannot be seen in this picture. The lampposts are probably 80 feet high.
Warsaw has a river flowing through it. the Wisła River.In the distance you see a bridge, Most Śląskodąbrowski, with a bus and trolley crossing and a barge in the water.
In this view of the Wisła River there is some industry in the distance behind the bridge.
Pl. Zamkowy and Pomnik (monument) Zygmunta III.We are now approaching the historical are of Warsaw. Castle Square has a monumnet of King Sigismund III. The granite column is a post-war reproduction of the original erected in 1634 and blown up by the Germans in 1944. The Royal Castle which gave the Square its name was also destroyed and it to be rebuilt soon. On the left behind the bus can be seen the old city walls.
Many of the buildings in this area have been reconstructed after the war according to their original design. The Rynek Starego Miasta Strona Barssa was rebuilt in 1951. It is the market square of the old town. The approaching streets, as you see, are narrow and the square is wide. The buildings are packed together, six stories high. Several of the buildings have art work on them.
Along Krzywe Koło. This art work is common in the old town area. Therte are not only paintings but also carvings on the buildings.
Barbakan along Nowo Miejska.There was some modern art on display here next to the Barbakan. This is a medieval fort, the defense post for the city gate.
Barbakan. Again notice the designs on the building to the right of the Barbakan.
16 Ul. Freta. This white building is the birthplace of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, now a museum.
The oldest church in Warsaw is the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, founded in 1409 and destroyed in the war, it is still in the process of reconstruction.
Warsaw University was founded in 1816. This entrance leads to the main campus although there are buildings scattered all around the city.
This is part of the library, Czytelnia, of Warsaw University, which contains 500,000 volumes.
The church, Koscioł of P. P. Wizytek is near Warsaw University.
There are many parks in Warsaw. This is a peaceful old park, Park Ujazdowski, in the district of the embassies.
It has a lovely lake with many trees. Here are weeping willows in Park Ujazdowski.
This tree might be a blue spruce in Park Ujazdowski.
Marie R. Siwiec in Park Ujazdowski.
Park Łazienki is the most beautiful public garden in Warsaw. This monument, Pomnik, is of Jana II Sobieskiego.
The park also has an orangery and a theater. Here you see the Pałac Myślewicki.
This is Pałac Belwederski in Park Łazienkowski. It was once the residence of a former ruler of Poland, Pilsudski. The palace was built in 1822 in classical style.
Flowers in the Botanical Gardens of Park Łazienkowski.
Rose in the Botanical Garden. The gardens are operated by Warsaw University.
Flowers in Centralny Park Kultury. This park is one of the biggest in Warsaw; it stretched from central Warsaw down to the Wisła River.
We stayed at the Grand Hotel-Orbis which has 450 rooms, 3 restaurants and is one of the most modern in Warsaw.
New and old on Al. Jerozolimskie.Here is an example of one of Warsaw's new apartment houses. It is hardly finished and people have been living in it for at least a month. And right in back of it are some of the war ruins.
Apartment house on Ul. Piękna (?).Most apartments are low and wide. Here, however is a seven story apartment. Land right in town apparently is expensive.
Apartment house on Ul. Piękna (?).Many of the buildings in Warsaw are unfinshed to cut down the expense. In addition usually used bricks are used.
Apartments on Al. Wyzwolenia.In this block there is a whole row of new apartments. These are very well situated near the manin business area, offices and parks.
Also near those apartments is this Polish government building. This is opposite Łazienki Park, and outside the building there were several expensive Russian and American automobiles.
Now we leave Warsaw and see a view of farmland. What you see is mainly flat countryside and scattered trees.
Cracow, a city of 1,200,000 people is our next visit. Here you see the famous Cloth Hall. Since Cracow was not destroyed in the war, the Cloth Hall is about 400 years old.
Beneath the umbrellas flowers are for sale in front of Rynek, Cloth Hall.
There are shops in the Cloth Hall and a walk is provided alongside. On the second floor there is an art gallery.
Inside the Cloth Hall there are shops that sell cloth goods.
Wieza Ratusza Bell tower is near the Cloth Hall.
The Cloth Hall and Bell Tower are situated in Rynek Square, the market square of Cracow. Here you see the larhe cobblestone area and shops along the sides.
There is a statue, pomnik, of Adamowi Mickiewiczowi who lived from 1798 to 1855 in the square. The majority of the people that you see are people from Poland, shoppers or visitors from other parts of Poland. American visitors are seen much less often.
The Domincian Church of the Three Saints, Koscioł O. O. Dominikanow, is a beautiful old church on the outside and on the inside.
There was a display of religious art inside the church including a stained glass display of Christ.
From our hotel, the Orbis Francuski, we could see this Arch on Ul. Pijarska, and part of the old city walls.
City walls at Florjanska gate.
The Florian Gate is the entrance through the city walls into Cracow. In Cracow however most of the old walls have been removed and a park has been built in theor place. This park which now encircles the city has many flowers and some fountains.
There are even swans in a nearby pond in Planty.
The Barbakan, the Cracow fort, was a protection for the city gate. It is partly round similar to the Barbakan in Warsaw.
Once more within the city, here you see a typical narrow street with old buildings. It is quite different from the streets of Warsaw.
Wawel Castle was the residence of the rulers of Poland when Cracow was the capital of Poland. Here you see the entrance gate.
Here is Building square in Wawel Castle. Now the buildings are used as museums and open to the public. In this one we saw the art collection that was stored for safe keeping in Quebec since the war and was returned recently to Poland.
The castle has a chapel named after King Sigismund.
This street and part of the park encircling Cracow can be seen from Wawel Castle.
The Wisła River also goes through Cracow, but it is narrow and shallow compared with Warsaw.
Marie is standing in front of Castle Chrabiny Lubiemiersk on Ul. Lubicz. Polskie Akademia Nauk (Polish Academy of Sciences). She believes that she was born in this Castle.
After a short walk from town you can see houses that are very old and falling apart. Here we are on Ul. Mazowiecka.
Only a half mile from town are farms. This building even has a thatched roof.
Adjoinging Cracow is the new City of Nowa Huta. It is the biggest industrial and residential area in Poland started in 1949. The apartments are new and the people who live there are more than satisfied with them, even though they are not even finished on the outside.
A few of the apartments such as this seven story one are finished. Notice that these apartments are wide rather than high as is usually true and also notice the many television antennas.
The last city we visited in Poland was Czestochowa. Here Jasna Gora (Bright mountain) is a famous shrine comparable to Lourdes in France.
The bell tower is the highest in Poland and can be seen for many miles. According to legend St. Luke painted an image of the Hold Virgin on a slab of wood, cur from the table of the Holy Family
This painting is kept inside the Basilica at Jasna Gora.
Surrounding the basilica the stations of the Cross have been built of which you see number XIV here. This ends our tour of Poland, the freeest of the satellite countries.