Piłsudski Square ( pl, plac marsz. Józefa Piłsudskiego), previously Victory Square (''plac Zwycięstwa'', 1946–1990) and Saxon Square (''Plac Saski'', 1814–1928), is the largest city square of Poland's

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

, located in the Warsaw city centre. The square is named for

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

Józef Piłsudski who was instrumental in the restoration of Polish statehood after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

.Strona placu Józefa Piłsudskiego.
Official website.

Current and previous names

Over the centuries, the square has been named successively as Saxon Square (''Plac Saski'') after Poland's Saxon kings with the Saxon Palace standing adjacent to the square, but destroyed in World War II; then Piłsudski Square (after Józef Piłsudski) during the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

; then briefly, Adolf-Hitler-Platz during Germany's World War II occupation of Warsaw; and, after 1946, Victory Square ( pl, plac Zwycięstwa) in honour of Poland's and her allies' victory in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Since the fall of communism in Poland, it is again called Piłsudski Square. Piłsudski Square is the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, erected on top of the underground foundations of the Saxon Palace, destroyed by the Nazis in World War II.

History

The square has been the scene of many historic events over the centuries. Important guests of Warsaw and Poland have been officially welcomed there. Military parades have been held at the square since the 19th century Polish

partitions Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of ...

. From the 1890s to the 1920s, the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral stood there. As with most of the other Moscow Patriarchate churches in Warsaw it was demolished in mid-1920s by the Polish authorities less than 15 years after its construction, and in 1928 the square was renamed after Józef Piłsudski. It was on the Piłsudski Square (then Victory Square) in 1979 that

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

addressed a large gathering of his countrymen at an open-air

Holy Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Chri ...

during his first visit to Poland soon after his 1978 elevation to the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. This event marked a more confrontational approach to the Soviet Union by the papacy and contributed to the eventual fall of communism in Poland. In April 2005, his death was mourned there also.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

celebrated an open-air Mass on the square on 26 May 2006, during his first pastoral visit to Poland. The square is now a location of some luxury shops, such as Italian '' Valentino'' and others.

Location

The square is located in front of the 15–hectare Saxon Gardens extending south-west, close to the

Zachęta The Zachęta National Gallery of Art ( Polish: ''Zachęta Narodowa Galeria Sztuki'') is a contemporary art museum in the center of Warsaw, Poland. The Gallery's chief purpose is to present and support Polish contemporary art and artists. With numer ...

and the Holy Trinity Church. The nearest metro station is Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet, a seven-minute walk away.

Notes and references

*
Virtual Tour
at ''Warszawa.vr360.pl''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilsudski Square Squares in Warsaw Śródmieście, Warsaw Józef Piłsudski

Current and previous names

History

Location

See also

Notes and references