Krakowskie Przedmiescie street

Krakowskie Przedmiescie street

Warsaw (Warszawa), Poland (Polska). Krakowskie Przedmiescie is easily one of Poland’s most prestigious and well-known streets. It stretches from the Royal Castle in the Old Town until it blends into Nowy Swiat street. With the Royal Castle and Old Town covered extensively elsewhere in the guide (see Sightseeing), we begin our stroll from the sabre-rattling King Sigismund’s Column just outside the castle. Head across the street to visit the Church of the Holy Cross. This is the famed final resting place of Fryderyk Chopin’s heart, which was sealed in an urn at his own request and placed behind a tablet featuring his likeness, becoming a place of pilgrimage for his legions of fans. Finish your Krakowskie Przedmiescie wander with a visit to the Nicolaus Copernicus monument, located opposite the church, appropriately seated in front of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The monument was unveiled in 1830 and has seen plenty of action, particularly during WWII when the Nazis added a bronze plaque suggesting the astronomer was actually German. In 1942 a brave boy scout removed the plaque, causing the Nazis to remove the monument and bomb several others as retribution. Fortunately Copernicus was recovered and restored following the war.