Warsaw New Town

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Warsaw New Town (Polish: Nowe Miasto) is a Warsaw neighbourhood dating from the 15th century. It lies just north of the Old Town and is connected to it by ulica Freta (English: Freta Street), where Marie Curie was born,^[1] which begins at the Barbican. Like the Old Town, the New Town was destroyed by the Germans during World War II and rebuilt after the war.^[2][3]

Contents 1 History 2 Freta Street 3 New Town Market Square 4 References 5 Gallery 5.1 Historical images 5.2 Churches 5.3 Others 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] History

This area of Warsaw began to develop during the 14th century. In 1408 Duke Janusz the Elder granted Nowe Miasto a separate status from the Old Town that allowed it to have its own jurisdiction and administration.^[4] The New Town had its own council, a Town Hall and several churches and monasteries.^[3] The St. Mary's Church, founded in 1409, was a parish church of the New Town. It was not fortified in contrast to the Old Town. In the New Town was the entrance to the bridge (Sigismund Augustus Bridge constructed between 1568-1573) over the Vistula river connecting Warsaw with Praga.^[5] The New Town was inhabited historically by those of slightly lower social standing than those living in the Old Town. In 1791 it lost its independence and became part of the City of Warsaw.^[4] The Church of Our Mary Lady is a parish church of the New Town. It was founded in 1409.

[edit] Freta Street

Freta Street is the most important in New Town and comes from Barbican.^[6] At 5 Freta Street one can visit the Asia and Pacific Museum, whereas at 16 Freta Street there is a museum dedicated to Maria Sklodowska–Curie in a historic house (18th century), where Maria was born in 1867.^[3] This street is lined with numerous cafes, restaurants and antique shops has its own charm.

[edit] New Town Market Square

At the end of Freta Street there is the New Town Market Square, once the commercial point of the town. All the surrounding houses have been rebuilt with their 18th century style façades.

The New Town Market Square was established before 1408 for Warsaw New Town, then founded.^[7] Originally it was rectangular. Until 1818, the city hall (built in 1680) was standing on this square.^[7] Although largely destroyed during World War II, the Market Square was meticulously recreated after the war and is now one of the city's most popular districts. The comprehensive design of the market square was prepared, starting in 1949, by Mieczysław Kuzma.^[7] The construction was done in several stages between 1952 and 1957 and is now an irregular triangle.^[7]

At the eastern corner there is the Holy Sacrament church. The church and the convent was built by the project of Tylman van Gameren laid out on the plan of a Greek cross. The building of the church started in year 1688.^[8] The western corner is dominated by the new housing estate created on the preserved network of old streets. The house at the corner of Freta Street and the Market Square was designed in accordance with a painting of Bernardo Bellotto.^[7]

Nowadays, the centrepiece of the square is a historic iron cast well from the second half of the 19th century, placed here in 1958, near the junction with the its main thoroughfare – Freta Street.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] Gallery

[edit] Historical images

The New Town by Bernardo Bellotto

The Nowe Miasto Town Hall in 1784

The New Town by Jan Piotr Norblin

[edit] Churches

St. Mary's Church, 1411	St. Hyacinth's Church, 1603-1639	St. Benno Church, 1669
St. Kazimierz Church, 1688-1692	Holy Spirit Church, 1717	St. Francis Church, 1733

[edit] Others

Old Brigde Gate, 1582

Sapieha Palace, 1731-36

Sierakowski Palace, 1784

Raczyński Palace, 1786

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: New Town in Warsaw

• Warsaw Old Town

[edit] External links

• The New Town