The Holy Cross Park (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Park Świętokrzyski'') is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is located in the district of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, between Plater Street, Świętokrzyska Street, Marszałkowska Street, and the

Palace of Culture and Science The Palace of Culture and Science (; abbreviated ''PKiN'') is a notable high-rise building in central Warsaw, Poland. With a total height of , it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland (after the Varso Tower), the sixth talle ...

. The park was opened in 1955.

Name

The Holy Cross Park (

: ''Park Świętokrzyski'') is named after the Świętokrzyska Street (''Holy Cross Street''), which in turn was named after the Holy Cross Church. Originally, it was named the ''Stalin Square Park'' (Polish: ''Park na placu im. Stalina''), and later the ''Palace of Culture and Science Park'' (Polish: ''Park przy Pałacu Kultury i Nauki''), before being given its current name.

History

The Holy Cross Park was designed by Tadeusz Nurkiewicz, as part of the surrounding of the

, in place of deconstructed fragments of Pańska,

Sienna Sienna () is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown, and it is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown, and it is called burnt sienna.''Shorter Oxford English ...

, Zielna, and Wielka Streets. It was placed between Plater Street, Świętokrzyska Street, Marszałkowska Street, and the Palace of Culture and Science.Jarosław Zieliński: ''Realizm socjalistyczny w Warszawie''. Warsaw: Fundacja Hereditas, 2009, pp. 414–415. ISBN 978-83-927791-3-1. (in Polish)Marian Gajewski: ''Urządzenia komunalne Warszawy. Zarys historyczny''. Warsaw: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1979, p. 351. ISBN 83-06-00089-7. (in Polish) The construction of the park begun in 1954. As part of it, there were planted around 400 trees and 7000 bushes. Some saplings came from

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

and

Kamieniec Ząbkowicki Kamieniec Ząbkowicki () is a town in Ząbkowice Śląskie County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Kamieniec Ząbkowicki. The town is an important railroad j ...

, while others were replanted from the area of Księcia Trojdena Street in Warsaw. The park was opened on 22 July 1955. On 1 June 2006, in the park was unveiled the Janusz Korczak Monument by Zbigniew Wilma and Jan Bohdan Chmielewski. It was placed where from 1941 to 1942 was located the

Janusz Korczak Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish pediatrician, educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). He ...

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...

. From 2007 to 2009, in the park functioned the Freedom of Speech Forum (

: ''Forum Wolności Słowa''), an area where everyone was allowed to organize protests and share their believes, even without acquiring a permit to do so. It was established by politicians of the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

party, and inspired by similar in function Speakers' Corner in the Hyde Park in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was not popular, having only a few protests organized there, and was dismantled in 2009.

Characteristics

The park is located between Plater Street, Świętokrzyska Street, Marszałkowska Street, and the

, and has the shape of a rectangle. It has a flat terrain, covered in around 400 trees, of 15 species, and around 7,000 decorative bushes. It has the total area of 6 ha. In the park is the Janusz Korczak Monument by Zbigniew Wilma and Jan Bohdan Chmielewski. There is also a

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

installation. The park borders the

Parade Square Parade Square () is a square in downtown Warsaw, laying between Świętokrzyska Street to the north, Aleje Jerozolimskie to the south, Marszałkowska Street to the east and the monumental Palace of Culture and Science to the west. With of ...

to the southeast.''Encyklopedia Warszawy''. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 133. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)

Gallery

File:Palace of Culture, Warsaw, large fountain, 3.jpg, The large fountain in the park's centre File:Statue - Palace of Culture and Science - Warsaw (53112871703).jpg, Janusz Korczak Monument File:2019 Warszawa Park Świętokrzyski, zegar słoneczny.jpg, The

File:Park Świętokrzyski - panoramio.jpg, One of the fountains in the park

References

{{Parks in Warsaw Parks in Warsaw 1955 establishments in Poland Buildings and structures completed in 1955 Parks established in the 1950s Śródmieście Północne