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Wilson Square

Coordinates: 52°16′08″N 21°59′11″E / 52.26889°N 21.98639°E / 52.26889; 21.98639
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Thomas Woodrow Wilson Square
Wilson Square in 2023
Wilson Square is located in Poland
Wilson Square
Former name(s)
  • Stefan Żeromski Square (c. 1923–1926)
  • Danzig Square (1940–1944)
  • Paris Commune Square (1951–1990)
NamesakeThomas Woodrow Wilson
LocationŻoliborz, Warsaw, Poland
Coordinates52°16′08″N 21°59′11″E / 52.26889°N 21.98639°E / 52.26889; 21.98639
NorthMickiewicza Street
EastKrasińskiego Street
SouthMickiewicza Street
West
  • Krasińskiego Street
  • Słowackiego Street
Construction
Completionc. 1923
Other
Designer

Thomas Woodrow Wilson Square (Polish: Plac Thomasa Woodrowa Wilsona), also simply known as Wilson Square (Polish: Plac Wilsona), is an urban square and a roundabout in Warsaw, Poland, within the district of Żoliborz. It forms a roundabout at the intersection of Mickiewicza, Krasińskiego, and Słowackiego Streets. The square was constructed around 1923.

Name

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The square is named after Woodrow Wilson, who was the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. The full name of the square is Thomas Woodrow Wilson Square (Polish: Plac Thomasa Woodrowa Wilsona), although it is usually known simply as Wilson Square (Polish: Plac Wilsona).[1]

It was originally named around 1923 as Stefan Żeromski Square (Polish: Plac Stefana Żeromskiego), after Stefan Żeromski, a 19th- and 20th-century novelist and dramatist.[2]

On 27 September 1926, it was renamed to Thomas Woodrow Wilson Square.[1] The idea for the name originated on 21 February 1924, when, shortly after Wilson's death on 3 February 1926, the city council had decided to name a street, a city square, or an institution, after him.[3]

In May 1940, during the Second World War, while the city was under German occupation, the square was renamed to Danzig Square (German: Danziger Platz; Polish: Plac Gdański), after the city of Gdańsk (German: Danzig). However the local population refused to use said name. The name was returned to the previous one after the end of the war.[4][5]

In March 1951, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Paris Commune seizing power in Paris on 18 March 1871, the square was renamed to Paris Commune Square (Polish: Plac Komuny Paryskiej).[6]

In 1990, it was again renamed to T. W. Wilson Square (Polish: plac. im. T.W. Wilsona).[1] In August 2012, its name was returned again to Thomas Woodrow Wilson Square (Polish: Plac Thomasa Woodrowa Wilsona).[7]

History

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Wilson Square in 1964

Between 1849 and 1851, to the southeast from future square, Sokolnicki Fort (originally known as the Sergei Fort), which was part of Warsaw Citadel, was constructed. It was expanded between 1864 and 1874, and was mainly used as a police building and prison.[8]

The square was designed by Józef Jankowski, Antoni Jawornicki, and Tadeusz Tołwiński, and constructed around 1923.[2]

Between 1926 and 1928, in the northeast corner of the square, four tenements of the Warsaw Housing Association, designed by Bruno Zborowski, were constructed.[9] Between 1928 and 1932, the building of the Fenix Housing Association, designed by Roman Feliński, was also constructed there.[10]

Between 1925 and 1932, to the southeast, the Stefan Żeromski Park was developed.[2]

On 3 May 1943, at 6 p.m., while the city was under German occupation during the Second World War, the patriotic audition made by Directorate of Civil Resistance was played from the loudspeaker at the square. It ended with the recording of the anthem of Poland. The audition was heard by the people gathered at the square, including a group of German soldiers, and the news of the incident quickly spread across the city.[11][12] A portion of the buildings around the square were destroyed in 1944, including the entirety of the Warsaw Housing Association complex.[2][9]

The square was remodeled around 1955, with changes to the shape of streets and tram tracks, and the addition of lawns.[13]

On 8 April 2005, the Plac Wilsona (Wilson Square) station of the M1 line of the Warsaw Metro underground rapid transit system was opened there.[14][15]

Characteristics

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One of the tenements around Wilson Square in 2012

Wilson Square is located in the district of Żoliborz, within the neighbourhood of Old Żoliborz. It is surrounded by roads, forming a roundabout at the intersection of Mickiewicza, Krasińskiego, and Słowackiego Streets. It is also crossed by tram tracks, and a road directly connecting Mickiewicza and Słowackiego Streets.[2][13]

The square is covered with a lawn and greenery.[13] Around it are tenements. At its southeast corner is the main entrance to the Stefan Żeromski Park, which also includes the 19th-century Sokolnicki Fort.[2][8]

It is also the location of the Plac Wilsona (Wilson Square) station of the M1 line of the Warsaw Metro underground rapid transit system.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kwiryna Handke: Słownik nazewnictwa Warszawy. Warsaw: Slawistyczny Ośrodek Wydawniczy, 1998, p. 242. ISBN 83-86619-97X. (in Polish).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 958. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)
  3. ^ Z Rady Miejskiej. Uczczenie pamięci Wilsona. In: Kurier Warszawski, no. 53, p. 5. Warsaw. 22 February 1924. (in Polish).
  4. ^ Krzysztof Dunin-Wąsowicz: Na Żoliborzu 1939–1945. Warsaw: Książka i Wiedza, 1984, p. 39. ISBN 83-05-11180-6. (in Polish)
  5. ^ Tomasz Szarota: Okupowanej Warszawy dzień powszedni. Studium historyczne. Warsaw: Czytelnik, 2010, p. 48. ISBN 978-83-07-03239-9. (in Polish).
  6. ^ Kronika wydarzeń w Warszawie 1945−1958. In: Warszawskie Kalendarz Ilustrowany 1959, p. 61. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Tygodnika Ilustrowanego Stolica. 1958. (in Polish).
  7. ^ Uchwała nr XLI/1103/2012 Rady miasta stołecznego Warszawy z dnia 30 sierpnia 2012 r.w sprawie nazw niektórych ulic i placu w Dzielnicy Żoliborz m.st. Warszawy. In: Dziennik Urzędowy Województwa Mazowieckiego. no. 6527. Sejmik of the Masovian Voivodeship Sejmik. 25 September 2012. (in Polish)
  8. ^ a b Lech Królikowski: Twierdza Warszawa, Warsaw: Bellona, 2002. ISBN 8311093563. (in Polish)
  9. ^ a b Łukasz Heyman: Nowy Żoliborz 1918–1939. Wrocław: Ossolineum, 1976, p. 93–94. (in Polish)
  10. ^ Michał Krasucki, Monika Powalisz: ŻOL. Ilustrowany atlas architektury Żoliborza. Warsaw: Centrum Architektury, 2014, p. 45. ISBN 978-83-937716-2-2. (in Polish)
  11. ^ Władysław Bartoszewski: 1859 dni Warszawy. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak, 2008, p. 476–478. ISBN 978-83-240-10578. OCLC 938718461. (in Polish)
  12. ^ Czesław Michalski: Wojna warszawsko-niemiecka. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Czytelnik, 1971, p. 350–352. (in Polish)
  13. ^ a b c Eugeniusz Szwankowski: Ulice i place Warszawy. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1970, p. 79. (in Polish)
  14. ^ a b "Metro kursuje od 25 lat". um.warszawa.pl (in Polish). 7 April 2020.
  15. ^ a b "Dane techniczne i eksploatacyjne istniejącego odcinka metra". metro.waw.pl (in Polish).
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