Warsaw Attractions
Description
Venue: Palace of Culture & Science When: Daily
A "gift" from Joseph Stalin and the Soviet people, Warsaw's Palace of Culture & Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki) remains controversial among Warsovians, given that it had been at the expense of Poland losing its freedom to the East. Modelled on Moscow University, the 42-floor building was, for many years, the tallest in Eastern Europe. Comprising a number of venues, there is also a viewing gallery on the 30th floor, beneath which the whole of Warsaw is displayed.
In all there are 42 floors, so that the whole Gothamesque edifice reaches 550 feet (168 metres) - with television masts adding a further 207 feet (63 metres) on top of that. There are 3288 rooms in the building, including a number of venues, used as theatres, concert halls and the popular multi-screen Kinoteka cinema.
Decorated with 550 specially cast Estonian sculptures, the colloquial name for the building became "an elephant in lacy underwear"! Started in 1952, it took three years to build, by which time Stalin was dead.
Certainly one of the most striking landmarks on Warsaw's skyline, courtesy of a design team headed by Soviet architect Lev Rudniev, the palace has hosted a number of international stars over the years in its main hall, the Sala Kongresowa, including Marlene Dietrich, Jan Kiepura, Jacques Brel, Dalida, the Rolling Stones, Luciano Pavarotti and Eric Clapton.
A "gift" from Joseph Stalin and the Soviet people, Warsaw's Palace of Culture & Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki) remains controversial among Warsovians, given that it had been at the expense of Poland losing its freedom to the East. Modelled on Moscow University, the 42-floor building was, for many years, the tallest in Eastern Europe. Comprising a number of venues, there is also a viewing gallery on the 30th floor, beneath which the whole of Warsaw is displayed.
In all there are 42 floors, so that the whole Gothamesque edifice reaches 550 feet (168 metres) - with television masts adding a further 207 feet (63 metres) on top of that. There are 3288 rooms in the building, including a number of venues, used as theatres, concert halls and the popular multi-screen Kinoteka cinema.
Decorated with 550 specially cast Estonian sculptures, the colloquial name for the building became "an elephant in lacy underwear"! Started in 1952, it took three years to build, by which time Stalin was dead.
Certainly one of the most striking landmarks on Warsaw's skyline, courtesy of a design team headed by Soviet architect Lev Rudniev, the palace has hosted a number of international stars over the years in its main hall, the Sala Kongresowa, including Marlene Dietrich, Jan Kiepura, Jacques Brel, Dalida, the Rolling Stones, Luciano Pavarotti and Eric Clapton.
Warsaw Information
Warsaw Tourist Office
Address: 1/13 Zamkowy Square, Warsaw, Poland, 00-262
Phone: +48 (0) 22 635 1881
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Looking for things to do around Warsaw? Here are some of the events and attractions happening in the area.
| Chopin Memorial Sunday Concerts |
May - Sep 2009; Sun only (annual) Lazienki Park and Palace |
| Warsaw Autumn - Contemporary Music Festival |
Sep 2009 (annual) Warsaw Philharmonic Hall |
| Warsaw Chamber Opera's Mozart Festival |
Jun - Jul 2009 (annual) Warsaw Chamber Opera House |
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