The Łazienki Route () is a road 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. It connects the center of Warsaw with the east-bank of Warsaw. It was built from 1971 to 1974. The road is an important part of the east–west transportation infrastructure of Warsaw. It is classified as a

class GP road Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used di ...

("fast traffic road") and has two or three lanes of traffic in each direction. The length of the route is . The name of the road refers to

Łazienki Park Łazienki Park, or the Royal Baths Park (), is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in the Downtown, Warsaw, Downtown district, on Ujazdów Avenue, which is part of the Roy ...

and

Łazienki Palace The Palace on the Isle (), also known as the Baths Palace (), is a classicist palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park, the city's largest park, occupying over 76 hectares of the city center. From 1674 this palace and the nearby Ujazdów Castle belong ...

, located to the south-west of the

Łazienki Bridge The Łazienki Bridge () is a five- span steel bridge, across the Vistula in Warsaw, Poland. It is 423 m long and 28 m wide, holding three lanes for vehicles each way, dedicated cycling lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians. The name refer ...

History

The oldest plans for the route date to the 1930s. It was built in the years 1971–74 in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, during the era of

Edward Gierek Edward Gierek (; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish communist politician who served as the '' de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as the First Secretary of the ...

. It was opened on 22 July 1974, on the 30th anniversary of the People's Republic. The construction was one of three major infrastructure projects in Warsaw (the two others being the

Warszawa Centralna railway station Warszawa Centralna (official Polish name since 2019 Dworzec Centralny im. Stanisława Moniuszki), in English known as Warsaw Central Station, is the primary railway station in Warsaw, Poland. Completed in 1975, the station is located on the Warsaw ...

and Wisłostrada route). It was extended in the 1990s. It has been subject to various major repairs over its history; the most recent one in preparation for the UEFA 2012 (the route was part of the main transportation route between the

Okęcie Airport Warsaw Chopin Airport (, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is the busiest airport in Poland and the 28th busiest airport in Europe with 21.3 million passengers in 2024, handling approximately 40% of ...

and the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

). The original plans for the road were to service 5,000 cars per hour; currently it serves over 7,000.

Location

The road is a key element in the east–west transportation infrastructure of Warsaw. It connects the center of Warsaw (

Ochota Ochota () is a district of Warsaw, Poland, located in the central part of the city's urban agglomeration. It is Warsaw's most densely populated district and home to the scientific campus of the University of Warsaw. The biggest housing estate ...

and Śródmieście) with the eastern side of the river (

Praga Południe Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at the e ...

). The road is classified as a " fast traffic road" (GP) in Poland, with two to three lanes of traffic in each direction. The length of the route is . Until the end of 2013, most of the route was the part of the National road 2.

(formerly the

Zygmunt Berling Zygmunt Henryk Berling (27 April 1896 – 11 July 1980) was a Polish general and politician. He fought for the independence of Poland in the early 20th century. Berling was a co-founder and commander of the First Polish Army (1944–1945), First ...

Bridge) over the

River Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

is part of the route.

In popular culture

The route was popularized in the 1970s Polish TV series ''

Czterdziestolatek ''Being Forty'' ( Polish: ''Czterdziestolatek'', alt. spelling: ''40-latek'', lit.: ''The Forty-Year-Old'') is a Polish television comedy series originally broadcast in Poland between 1975 and 1978. The initial series enjoyed so much popularity ...

'', and a 2012 article in Polish daily noted that thanks to the popularity of the show, it is most likely the "most famous road in Poland".

References

External links

* {{authority control Streets in Warsaw Fast traffic roads in Warsaw Roads in Poland Ochota Śródmieście Południowe Ujazdów, Warsaw Solec, Warsaw Praga-Południe

History

Location

In popular culture

See also

References

External links