Walking through History

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Sunday, Easel and I took the tram and went to Old Town. This is in central Warsaw and is the area where Warsaw began as a city. What visitors see today is a reconstruction of the area because the Nazis destroyed the area. Their goal was to leave the entire area leveled. This was a response to the Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1944. The uprising was organized by the underground Home Army and was a valiant attempt to liberate the city from the Germans and prevent the communists from taking over from the east. This mass revolt ended in defeat after two months of fighting. Around 200,000 inhabitants were killed and survivors were expelled by the Germans. The city was systematically looted and then it was burned to the ground and destroyed with dynamite. There is a marvelous sculpture commemorating the Warsaw Uprising just outside of Old Town.
As we walked the streets of Old Town, you could feel the history all around. Those who rebuilt this area did a great job of creating the feel of antiquity. We wandered along until we came to St John’s Cathedral. I saw people entering and leaving so we walked over and entered. As we left the entryway, we stepped into a beautiful sanctuary with vaulted ceilings of stucco and brick, old wooden pews and amazing stained glass windows. After standing and taking in the whole, we decided to sit on a pew and just be still for a few moments. As we sat down, an organist began to play and the music filled the cathedral. I looked at the stained glass windows and was amazed. They were each 50 feet tall and full of colors as they depicted a large number of people. I don’t think there was a single piece of glass in any of the windows that was more than an inch square. The sun was shining brightly and it made the stained glass windows glow with jeweled light. I sat there feeling a little overwhelmed by the beauty and the majesty surrounding me.
We left the cathedral and walked to pl. Zamkowy (pronounced platz zamkov-e). In the center of this open area is a statue on a column. It is the Zygmunt Column which was the first secular monument in Warsaw. It was erected in 1644. The current granite column is the third column. The first two are near the Royal Castle which is across the square from the Column. We did not go into any museums on this, our first trip to Old Town. That will have to wait for another day. We did see the Mermaid statue which is the coat of arms for Warsaw and several other statues and buildings of note. We walked down the street where Marie Curie was born and stopped to eat at a lovely outdoor restaurant. We walked back to the tram (taking a rather long and roundabout route) and rode home. I almost forgot to mention that on this trip I saw the Palace of Culture for the first time. The best thing I can say about it is that it is very large and has a lot of decoration on it—it is not pretty but it is decorated. I may talk about it more, later.