Royal Castle, Warsaw

THE HISTORY LESSON The history of Warsaw’s Royal Castle very much reflects the turbulent, bloody and destructive history of the city in which it is so prominently situated. The ‘short history’ is that only 40 years ago there was virtually nothing on this site, the Nazis firstly, in 1939, severely damaging the castle with incendiary bombs and subsequently meticulously dynamiting this whole, enormous, structure immediately prior to withdrawing from Poland in 1944. Along with the rest of Warsaw, the castle lay in total ruin, deserted and desolate. Whilst the adjacent Old and New town areas were ... more

On the south side of the Old Town in Warsaw lies the monumental red brick building known as the Royal Castle. The building which has been reconstructed in minute detail and has been enrolled on the UNESCO World Heritage List along with the Old Town totally dominates this part of the Old Town. Having waked past the castle on numerous occasions and visited the magnificent interiors at least three times I am still not sure whether I like the exterior of the building. I find the bright red colour of the bricks too outlandish and the overall size of the complex too large for the area it has been ... more