Wola () is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in western

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. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into a major financial district, featuring various landmarks and some of the tallest office buildings in the city.

History

Village Wielka Wola was first mentioned in the 14th century. It became the site of the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

, from 1573 to 1764, of Polish kings by the

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

(nobility) of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The Wola district later became famous for the Polish Army's defence of Warsaw in 1794 during the

Kościuszko Uprising The Kościuszko Uprising, also known as the Polish Uprising of 1794, Second Polish War, Polish Campaign of 1794, and the Polish Revolution of 1794, was an uprising against the Russian and Prussian influence on the Polish–Lithuanian Common ...

and in 1831 during the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

, when

Józef Sowiński Józef Sowiński (1777–1831) was a Polish artillery general and a hero of Poland's November 1830 Uprising. Life Józef Longin Sowiński was born on 15 March 1777 in Warsaw. After graduating from the famous Corps of Cadets in Warsaw, he jo ...

and

Józef Bem Józef Zachariasz Bem (, ; 14 March 1794 – 10 December 1850) was a Polish engineer and general, an Ottoman pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European patriotic movements. Like Tadeusz Kościus ...

defended the city against

Tsarist Tsarist autocracy (), also called Tsarism, was an autocracy, a form of absolute monarchy in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, the Tsar possessed in principle authority and ...

forces. In the 17th century, the jurydyki of Wielopole, Leszno, Nowolipie and Grzybów were established, which were incorporated into Warsaw in 1791, and today are wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Wola district. In the 19th century, Wola developed as a factory and workers' district. During the

1905 revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, a May Day march led by

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

ended in clashes with the police, resulting in 25 deaths. The village of Wielka Wola was incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. During the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

(August–October 1944), fierce battles raged in Wola. Around 8 August, Wola was the scene of the largest single massacre by German forces in Poland, of 40,000 to 50,000 civilians. The area was held by Polish fighters belonging to the ''Armia Krajowa''. Wola is currently divided into the

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

of Czyste,

Koło Koło () is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship and it is the capital of Koło County. History Koło is one of the oldest towns in Poland. It was granted ...

, Mirów, Młynów, Nowolipki, Odolany, Powązki and Ulrychów, which in many cases correspond to old villages or settlements.

Skyscrapers

Numerous office and residential high-rises of up to 53 stories have been built in Wola since the 1990s. Most of them are concentrated along the Towarowa and Prosta streets; these include Varso Tower (),

Warsaw Spire The Warsaw Spire is a complex of Neomodern architecture, neomodern office buildings in Warsaw, Poland, constructed by the Belgian real estate developer Ghelamco. Description Located in the Wola district of Warsaw, the complex consists of a 220 ...

(), Warsaw Unit (),

Skyliner The is an airport limited express train service between Tokyo and Narita Airport in Japan. It is operated by Keisei Electric Railway and runs on the Narita Sky Access route. This article also covers the and services. Service The ''Skyli ...

(), Warsaw Trade Tower (), The Warsaw Hub ( x2), Łucka City (),

Ilmet Ilmet is a skyscraper in Warsaw, 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 ...

() and Warta Tower (). Many other buildings rising over are currently undergoing construction in Wola, such as the office skyscrapers

The Bridge The Bridge may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Art * ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US * Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists * ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...

() and Skyliner II (), the Towarowa 22 complex ((, ( and (), and the residential Towarowa Towers ( x2).

Historic landmarks

* St. Lawrence's Church - built 1695–1755 * Church of St Charles Borromeo - designed by

Enrico Marconi Enrico Marconi, known in Poland as Henryk Marconi (7 January 1792 in Rome – 21 February 1863 in Warsaw), was an Italian- Polish architect who spent most of his life in Congress Poland. Initially he was taught by his father Leander, later on, be ...

, built 1841–1849 in

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style * Krongold Tenement House - built 1896–1899 * Church of St. Adalbert - designed by

Józef Pius Dziekoński Józef Pius Dziekoński (born 5 May 1844, Płock – died 4 February 1924, Warsaw) was a Polish people, Polish architect and heritage conservator, a representative of the 19th-century historicism (architecture), historicism. He became the first de ...

, built 1898–1903 in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style * St. John Climacus's Orthodox Church - built 1903–1905 in

Russian Revival The Russian Revival style comprises a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in the second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of Byzantine elements ( Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian E ...

style * PDT Wola - department store built 1949–1956 * Za Żelazną Bramą housing estate - housing estate built 1965–72, inspired by the

Unité d'habitation The ''Unité d'habitation'' (, ''Housing Unit'') is a Modern architecture, modernist residential housing Typology (urban planning and architecture), typology developed by Le Corbusier, with the collaboration of painter-architect Nadir Afons ...

Warsaw Rising Museum The Warsaw Rising Museum (), in the Wola district of Warsaw, Poland, is dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. The institution of the museum was established in 1983, but no construction work took place for many years. It opened on July 31, 20 ...

- established in 2004 in the buildings of the former tram power station (built 1905–1909) * Norblin - shopping and entertainment complex on the site of the former Norblin factory * Electio Viritim Monument - monument in the area where Polish Kings were elected during 1575-1764 period in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth * Keret House - art installation described as the narrowest house in the world *

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

* Warsaw Insurgents Cemetery

Gallery

File:Varso 05.2022.jpg,

Varso Varso or Varso Place is a Neomodern architecture, neomodern office complex in Warsaw, Poland. It was designed by Foster + Partners and developed by HB Reavis. The complex features three buildings; the main one, Varso Tower, is the List of talles ...

File:Warsaw Spire, Poland 22 June 2016.jpg,

File:Plac Europejski w Warszawie.jpg, Plac Europejski - public green space near

File:Unit PBPA.jpg, Warsaw Unit File:Warsaw Trade Tower overwiev.jpg, Warsaw Trade Tower File:Kościół św. Karola Boromeusza w Warszawie 2021a.jpg, Church of St Charles Borromeo File:Kamienica Wolfa Krongolda w Warszawie 2023.jpg, Krongold Tenement House File:Kościół św. Stanisława Biskupa i Męczennika w Warszawie 2017.jpg, Church of St. Adalbert File:Cerkiew św. Jana Klimaka w Warszawie 2020.jpg, St. John Climacus's Orthodox Church File:PDT Wola w Warszawie 2020.jpg, PDT Wola department store File:Osiedle za Żelazną Bramą ul. Żelazna róg Chłodnej 2021.jpg, Za Żelazną Bramą housing estate File:Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego 2023.jpg, Former tram power station, now

File:Warsaw Rising Museum.JPG,

File:Fabryka Norblina 2022.jpg, Former Norblin factory, now shopping and entertainment complex File:The election area statue Warsaw.jpg, Electio Viritim Monument File:Keret's house eastward 1.jpg, Keret House

References

External links