Kings, Legends & Secret Stones: Warsaw Family Adventure

From royal castles to mermaid myths — a city walk built for curious minds of all ages

Warsaw · 8 stops · 1.9 km · ~0.7 h · Generated

  1. 1. Copernicus Monument & Musical Benches

    Pomnik Mikołaja Kopernika, Krakowskie Przedmieście 72, Warszawa

    Copernicus Monument & Musical Benches

    You're standing at one of the most storied spots on all of Krakowskie Przedmieście. Right in front of you sits the bronze figure of Mikołaj Kopernik... Nicolaus Copernicus... holding a compass and an armillary sphere, gazing upward as if the sky still owed him answers.

    This statue was designed by the Danish sculptor Bertel Torvaldsen in eighteen twenty-two, and unveiled here in eighteen thirty. But here's what most people don't know. It was Never supposed to be in Warsaw. The original plan was to place it in Toruń, Copernicus's hometown. The idea came after Napoleon Bonaparte himself visited Toruń in eighteen oh seven and was shocked that no monument existed to the great astronomer. But Napoleon fell, borders shifted, Toruń ended up under Prussian control... and so the statue landed here instead, in Russian-controlled Warsaw.

    Now look closely at the pedestal. On one side, Latin... on the other, Polish. Both say the same thing: "To Copernicus, from his grateful countrymen." During World War Two, the Nazis scraped away Both inscriptions and bolted on a new plaque reading, "To the Great German Astronomer." They were trying to claim Copernicus as their own.

    But on the night of February eleventh, nineteen forty-two... an eighteen-year-old boy scout named Maciej Aleksy Davidowski, code name "Alek," led a group disguised as city workers right up to the monument... directly in front of a German police station... and pried the plaque off. It took Ten Days before the Nazis even noticed it was gone! When they did, they were furious. They retaliated by hiding another Warsaw statue. So Davidowski struck again, this time attaching a brand-new plaque that read: "For removal of the Kiliński statue, I am extending winter by two months. Signed, Kopernik." It became one of the most legendary acts of the Polish resistance.

    Now... turn around. Do you see that sleek black granite bench nearby? That is one of Warsaw's fifteen hidden Chopin benches, placed along the route where young Frederyk Chopin lived, studied, and performed. Press the silver button... and for about thirty seconds, Chopin himself fills the air around you. Each bench plays a Different piece. They were designed by Professor Jerzy Porębski and placed here beginning in two thousand nine, for Chopin's two hundredth birthday.

    And just a short walk up this same street stands the Holy Cross Church, where Chopin's actual Heart rests inside a pillar... smuggled from Paris in a jar of cognac by his sister after his death in eighteen forty-nine. Two geniuses, steps apart... one who moved the Earth, and one who moved the soul.

  2. 2. Holy Cross Church — Chopin's Heart

    Kościół Świętego Krzyża, Krakowskie Przedmieście 3, Warszawa

  3. 3. University of Warsaw Gate

    Brama Główna Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, Warszawa

  4. 4. Presidential Palace

    Pałac Prezydencki, Krakowskie Przedmieście 46/48, Warszawa

  5. 5. St. Anne's Church Bell Tower

    Kościół Świętej Anny, Krakowskie Przedmieście 68, Warszawa

  6. 6. Sigismund's Column & Castle Square

    Kolumna Zygmunta III Wazy, Plac Zamkowy, Warszawa

  7. 7. Little Insurgent Monument

    Pomnik Małego Powstańca, ul. Podwale 15, Warszawa

  8. 8. Warsaw Barbican

    Barbakan Warszawski, Nowomiejska 2, Warszawa