Warszawskie (Mazowieckie) Province, with its exceptionally picturesque scenery, is a historic
region of Poland situated in the central Vistula river basin. The heart of the
Warszawskie region is Warsaw, the pulsating capital of Poland. The City of Wars and
Sawa can be proud of the many monuments that are included on UNESCO's World
Heritage list of objects of culture.
Warsaw is Poland's largest city and the main economic, cultural and educational
centre. The city spans the Wisla (Vistula River), and all of the main
tourists sites are on the left bank, while the right bank contains the
increasingly fashionable Praga district. It was here that the Russians
halted while the occupying Nazis finished off the Polish resistance (the
Russians later crossed over the frozen river). The river itself is not
navigable, owing to shoals and sandbars.
Warsaw itself, with its exceptionally
convenient geographic position, is the largest economic centre of this region.
The city boasts the best infrastructure in the country and so constitutes an
excellent location for any form of economic initiative.
Virtually
everything in Warsaw (Warszawa) today has been constructed in the last
five decades. At the end of World War II roughly 85% of the city had been
destroyed and most of the population deported or sent to concentration camps.
More than a third of Warsaw's pre-war population was Jewish, but there are
hardly any traces remaining of this heritage, other than a couple of small
museums and a number of monuments, although new initiatives are underway to
remember and recreate a touch of Warsaw's rich Jewish heritage. Much of the
city's history can be explained by its location on the main east-west trade
route from Germany to Russia - it has been attacked or overrun numerous times
throughout the centuries, most recently by the Soviet Union.
The Province covers an area of 35,597 square kilometres and is the largest
administrative region of the country. The area accounts for 11,4% of Poland's
territory. Mazovia lies in the centre of Polandin the great central plain
between the Warta and Vistula Rivers. From the west the Province borders on
Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Lodzkie Provinces; from the north on Warminsko-Mazurskie,
from the east on Podlasie and Lubelskie, and from the south on Swietokrzyskie
Province.
Warsaw's 'mile zero' is at the intersection of aleje Jerozolimskie and ulica
Marszalkowska - the Palace of Culture and Science is located on the northwest
corner and serves as a good reference landmark. The main rail and bus stations
are in the surrounding area, as well as most of the major hotels. From here to
the river are the major tourist destinations - the 'Royal Route' runs
north-south from the New and Old Towns, past the fashionable shops of Nowy
Swiat, the palaces that survived the war and the royal gardens of Park
Lazienkowski, before reaching Wilanow Palace to the south of the city centre.
An important trip for all lovers of
classical music is a visit to the manor house in Żelazowa Wola, the
birthplace of Fryderyk Chopin.
Air Tickets Online -
