LIB'S LABYRINTH: Maze: Warsaw

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Maze: Warsaw

Poland

Polians, meaning dwellers of the fields, are descendants of slavic people around 400 A.D. In 966 A.D., the Poles converted to Christianity. Boleslav the Brave (992-1025) was crowned first king of Poland. The country was divided and weakened upon the death of Boleslav III in 1138. In 1241 Mongols invaded Poland. Ladislas I ruled from 1260-1333 but Poland prospered under his son Casimir the Great. In 1347 he established the first statute of laws in Europe, founded the University of Krakow, and gave refuge to the Jews. Poland had the highest percentage of Jews of any European country after that. In 1384 Judwiga (1370-1399) became queen and married Ladislas Jagello, Duke of Lithuania, establishing the Jagellon dynasty. It died in 1572. In 1575 Stephen Bathory was crowned king. From 1587 to 1668, three Swedish nobles ruled Poland. In 1674 General John Sobieski became King John III and he defeated the Turks. The many partition of Poland started in 1772 with Thaddeus Kosciusko (1746-1817) opposing the breakup but was defeated. Kosciusko built the military academy at West Point. Pulaski founded the U.S. Cavalry. In 1807, Napoleon I united the territory, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The Treaty of Versailles gave Poland access to the Baltic Sea, also called the Polish Corridor. The Curzon Line, the proposed boundary line between Poland and Russia was rejected by both.

Palace of Culture & Science

Nickname: Russian wedding cake.

It's a "gift" of Stalin to the Polish people. It was inspired by the Empire State Building, symbol at the time of Capitalism not Communism or Socialism. Stalin had even sent a secret delegation to New York to learn about the building and American method of construction. It wasn't until 1952 that his designer Lev Rudynev & Associates put their knowledge into practice and the "monstrous" structure was finished after three years. Up to this day, the "peoples castle" became the object of hate and a "stain" on the skyline. In spite of recent highrises it remains the tallest building in Poland. The palace had 3,288 rooms and during our visit had an interactive exhibit of Einstein.

Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury I Nauki)

Statue of Frydryck Chopin (1810-1849). He immortalized the folk cultures, preludes, mazurkas, sonatas and polonaises.

Hotel Novotel

17th Floor - beautiful view of the illuminated Palace of Culture & Science

At the Hotel's Le Bar, we listened for a while to the one and only Filipino performer in Poland - Sherie and Joe Rosimo at the piano. Imagine that! We were told there are about 78 Filipinos in Warsaw doing domestic and miscellaneous jobs.