60 Cities
01 Warszawa
The Palace of Culture and Science, built in the fifties, as a ‘gift’ from the Soviet Union is the city’s main orientation point, a loved and loathed element of the skyline.
to Polish historical architecture. Until recently, the city has tried to ignore its presence, many have campaigned to get rid of it altogether. But to the new generation, the Palace is as much a symbol of Warsaw as the Mermaid, and its communist connotations have ceased to be significant. The edifice – itself home to several cultural institutions – is finally being reintegrated into the fabric of the city. Behind it loom the towers of Warsaw’s new business centre – a living monument to Poland’s economic power and the confidence of its private sector. At their base is another communist-era landmark that is just now returning to favor: the Central Station, hastily completed for Leonid Brezhnev’s visit, it was considered an irredeemable eyesore for decades, until a quick scrub proved that under the grime lay hidden a modernist masterpiece. This feeling of reinvigoration extends to Krakowskie Przedmieście, part of the Royal Route connecting the Old Town to former royal residences in the south. Come summer, the partly pedestrianised boulevard, which has undergone major renovation work in the past few years, teems with people; significantly, not all of them are tourists. Cafes, bars and restaurant gardens line the pavement, along with granite benches that each play a different Chopin tune – erected there in 2010 as part of the composer’s bicentenary celebrations. Fryderyk Chopin, widely considered to be the world’s most famous Varsovian, also lends his name to Warsaw’s airport. The