Archives for “Art & culture” tag

Cemeteries in Poland have a special meaning to most Poles. I believe it is not only due to religious reasons but also, and more importantly because of the great respect Polish people have for their history. 

I personally consider some of the old cemeteries to be somewhat of a gateway into another time.

The Evangelical Cemetery of the Augsburg Confession is located close to the city center and is very different from other cemeteries in Warsaw due to its closeness to nature and what was left from before the Second World War.

Even though it is a relatively small cemetery, it has a couple of notables buried here, for instance the founder of Poland’s most famous chocolate brand Wedel. 

The Warsaw Uprising Museum is located in the western district of Warsaw, Wola. The museum is devoted to the Warsaw uprising of 1944. The Warsaw uprising is a very important historical event for the Polish people, and in particular those from Warsaw. It was the Polish resistance who fought the Nazi Germans in order to liberate Warsaw.

The museum was opened in 2004 during the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. The reason why I find this museum worth visiting is that it presents the historical event in a very interesting way. You will find full scaled replicas of used aircraft and vehicles as well as original uniforms and even a scale model of the Warsaw sewer which was used by Polish opposition.

The museum is really worth a visit. The high level of interactivity makes the visit interesting for everyone! Yet another valuable reason of visiting the museum is to see how Warsaw looked after the second world war.

The museum is free on Sundays, however, keep in mind that if you come after noon it becomes very crowded.

We all know that Frederic Chopin is Polish 2010 was the official year of Chopin in Poland, as part of the Chopin celebrations, the museum was extended by an multimedia section which makes a visit to the museum a must! The idea behind the extension was to increase the amount of senses that each visitor will experience when visiting the museum.

The museum itself is located in the Ostrogski Palace which is just below the Nowy Swiat – the heart of Warsaw.

I would recommend visiting the museum on Tuesday because then you will not have to pay for the entrance, but keep in mind that the lines are long on that day.

Also remember that most museums including the Chopin museum are closed on Mondays!

Keret’s house

The skinniest house in the world.

Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer who is very popular in Poland. I too am a fan. He is known best for his short stories which are amazing and absurd. It’s hard to write about them, it’s best just to read them, but… hey… why am I writing about him on Spotted by Locals?

I should start from the beginning. Jakub Szczęsny, a young architect, took a look at Warsaw and saw a city broken and later put together out of pieces that didn’t necessarily go together. Remnants of pre-war neighborhoods, brand new skyscrapers, social realist apartment blocks and in between bits and pieces of empty spaces and mysterious places left over from decades of recreating Warsaw over and over and over again. And so he decided to fill a 152 centimeter hole in the city. In between the buildings on Chłodna 22 and Żelazna 74 the world’s skinniest house was created. At its skinniest point it is a mere 92 centimeters wide. Hard to believe… and also hard to miss if you don’t know to look for it!

Keret has spent time in the house and will stay there during his frequent visits to Warsaw and invite guests to join him. When he is away however, the house serves as a creative studio for artists.

The next Open House!:

May 25th, 2013, 12:00 – 16:00

It’s fitting: a house as amazing and absurd as the writer it was created for.

If you take pleasure in visiting fascinating architectural objects in Warsaw or if you are an architect looking for examples of previous architectural trends and eras, make sure you see the bent Goodyear and BenQ Siemens blocks of flats near Łazienkowski Bridge.

The spring of 2013 might be an ideal moment to visit, as the time of strolling around comes again.

The buildings seem to remind of Warsaw’s past and bygone epoques and when their greyness is most intensive. The best view may be admired from the other side of the street when you stand on ul. Solec, looking from the river towards the city centre.