Set on Warsaw’s right bank Saska Kępa is Warsaw’s sexiest district, home of the rich, the powerful, the artists and the intellegentsia (and also the new National Stadium). You won’t see many rusty Maluch’s gasping around the streets, here it’s all embassy cars with blacked out windows, pristine streets and a nutty collage of architectural styles that range from 19th century manor houses to classic 30s to bland Cold War tower blocks.
First settled by Dutch farmers in 1628, the following century saw it become the hunting ground of choice for Warsaw’s nobility, though it was not just wild beasts on the agenda – it was in the palaces of Saska Kępa that the aristocracy would conduct their frivolous affairs with the local maidens. By the 19th century it emerged as a favourite weekend destination with the bourgeoisie classes, who would sail across to enjoy the bowling alleys, shooting ranges and fairground attractions that had by now sprung up. But it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the district really took off. The inter-war years saw a particularly intense period of development as the monied classes flocked across the river to what had become Warsaw’s best piece of real estate. After the war the communist authorities attempted to keep an eye on the middle classes as well as the embassies, building concrete horrors to house members of the militia and secret police. In fact, Władysław Gomułka – the first secretary of the United Polish Workers Party (1955 – 1964) – liked the area so much he lived here, in a flat on ul. Saska 109. A plaque commemorating his presence since taken down following persistent vandalism.
Crossing from Poniatowskiego Bridge your first taste of Saska will be Rondo Waszyngtona, officially re-christened as such in 2000. While the rest of Saska Kępa enjoys a reputation for its serenity this is anything but. Rondo Waszyngtona is battlefield of tramlines and concrete subways, with the skyline sprinkled with the sight of dozens of cranes – it’s hear that Poland’s new national stadium has taken root.
Begin your Saska safari by crossing across al. Zieleniecka to hit Skaryszewski Park - one of the most beautiful in Warsaw, but also one of its most notorious thanks chiefly to its popularity with people who do odd things in bushes at night. Visit by day though and you’ll find a pleasant 55 hectare site filled with wide alleys originally designed for horse drawn carriages, artificial hills, waterfalls, lakes and flowerbeds. Originally founded in 1905 it first went under the name of Paderewski Park up until 1945. There are several points of interest including a monument commemorating allied pilots killed when their B24 bomber was shot down in 1944 while trying to supply insurgents fighting in the Warsaw Uprising. Only seven crew members survived and one of them, Henry Lloyd Lyne, unveiled the memorial in 1988. Refreshments can be found in the Miśianka café, a former public lavatory which now serves cracking homemade pierogi.
To penetrate the heart of Saska take a walk down its principal high street, ulica Francuska, lined with low level housing, restaurants and private boutiques. Yet for all its village atmosphere - everywhere is ‘just down the road’, or ‘two minutes away’ - Saska has a surreal crossroads of the world atmosphere. Every street corner comes with arrows pointing in exotic directions: Yemen, Colombia, Iraq, Argentina. Welcome to embassy land. There’s 17 in total here, all occupying sinister looking villas complete with barred windows and twitching curtains. Although these nests of intrigue are all gated away you can do the next best thing and visit the butchers. Situated on the corner of ul. Meksykańska and ul. Wandy Le Diplomatique is Warsaw’s best meat market, run by a former Lebanese diplomat who had enough of the day job and traded it all in to sell hunks of lamb instead. But then Saska has never been short of quirky characters. Old timers recall one nutter back in the 70s who used to stand on the corner of Francuska and Zwyciężców for hours on end wearing nothing but nylon stockings and a sailor’s shirt and cap. What became of him, no-one knows, though its unlikely he shared the grisly fate of Teresa Roszkowska. Poland’s first female stage designer was another well known Saska ‘character’, and never seen without odd makeup and three Pekinese dogs running wild. She met her end when she was murdered in her house on Zwyciężców in 1992.
The district has always been traditionally home to Warsaw’s artists and bohema with other noted residents include poet Agnieszka Osiecka and sculptor Stanisław Sikora. A plaque on his house on Obrońców 28/30 commemorates Pablo Picasso’s passing visit, and the garden is home to numerous freaky statues and installations. This is by no means a closed community. Mix with modern day intellectuals at the artistic-literary salon run by journalist and camerawoman Małgorzata Bocheńska. Held each Thursday and Saturday at her house on ul. Saska 101 everyone is welcome for artsy discussion and complimentary bigos with the one rule being guests have to make their own tea. Sessions traditionally end at midnight with a waltz and past guests have numbered Paco Rabbane and jazz musicians Urszula Dudziak and Michał Urbaniak.
First settled by Dutch farmers in 1628, the following century saw it become the hunting ground of choice for Warsaw’s nobility, though it was not just wild beasts on the agenda – it was in the palaces of Saska Kępa that the aristocracy would conduct their frivolous affairs with the local maidens. By the 19th century it emerged as a favourite weekend destination with the bourgeoisie classes, who would sail across to enjoy the bowling alleys, shooting ranges and fairground attractions that had by now sprung up. But it was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the district really took off. The inter-war years saw a particularly intense period of development as the monied classes flocked across the river to what had become Warsaw’s best piece of real estate. After the war the communist authorities attempted to keep an eye on the middle classes as well as the embassies, building concrete horrors to house members of the militia and secret police. In fact, Władysław Gomułka – the first secretary of the United Polish Workers Party (1955 – 1964) – liked the area so much he lived here, in a flat on ul. Saska 109. A plaque commemorating his presence since taken down following persistent vandalism.
Crossing from Poniatowskiego Bridge your first taste of Saska will be Rondo Waszyngtona, officially re-christened as such in 2000. While the rest of Saska Kępa enjoys a reputation for its serenity this is anything but. Rondo Waszyngtona is battlefield of tramlines and concrete subways, with the skyline sprinkled with the sight of dozens of cranes – it’s hear that Poland’s new national stadium has taken root.
Begin your Saska safari by crossing across al. Zieleniecka to hit Skaryszewski Park - one of the most beautiful in Warsaw, but also one of its most notorious thanks chiefly to its popularity with people who do odd things in bushes at night. Visit by day though and you’ll find a pleasant 55 hectare site filled with wide alleys originally designed for horse drawn carriages, artificial hills, waterfalls, lakes and flowerbeds. Originally founded in 1905 it first went under the name of Paderewski Park up until 1945. There are several points of interest including a monument commemorating allied pilots killed when their B24 bomber was shot down in 1944 while trying to supply insurgents fighting in the Warsaw Uprising. Only seven crew members survived and one of them, Henry Lloyd Lyne, unveiled the memorial in 1988. Refreshments can be found in the Miśianka café, a former public lavatory which now serves cracking homemade pierogi.
To penetrate the heart of Saska take a walk down its principal high street, ulica Francuska, lined with low level housing, restaurants and private boutiques. Yet for all its village atmosphere - everywhere is ‘just down the road’, or ‘two minutes away’ - Saska has a surreal crossroads of the world atmosphere. Every street corner comes with arrows pointing in exotic directions: Yemen, Colombia, Iraq, Argentina. Welcome to embassy land. There’s 17 in total here, all occupying sinister looking villas complete with barred windows and twitching curtains. Although these nests of intrigue are all gated away you can do the next best thing and visit the butchers. Situated on the corner of ul. Meksykańska and ul. Wandy Le Diplomatique is Warsaw’s best meat market, run by a former Lebanese diplomat who had enough of the day job and traded it all in to sell hunks of lamb instead. But then Saska has never been short of quirky characters. Old timers recall one nutter back in the 70s who used to stand on the corner of Francuska and Zwyciężców for hours on end wearing nothing but nylon stockings and a sailor’s shirt and cap. What became of him, no-one knows, though its unlikely he shared the grisly fate of Teresa Roszkowska. Poland’s first female stage designer was another well known Saska ‘character’, and never seen without odd makeup and three Pekinese dogs running wild. She met her end when she was murdered in her house on Zwyciężców in 1992.
The district has always been traditionally home to Warsaw’s artists and bohema with other noted residents include poet Agnieszka Osiecka and sculptor Stanisław Sikora. A plaque on his house on Obrońców 28/30 commemorates Pablo Picasso’s passing visit, and the garden is home to numerous freaky statues and installations. This is by no means a closed community. Mix with modern day intellectuals at the artistic-literary salon run by journalist and camerawoman Małgorzata Bocheńska. Held each Thursday and Saturday at her house on ul. Saska 101 everyone is welcome for artsy discussion and complimentary bigos with the one rule being guests have to make their own tea. Sessions traditionally end at midnight with a waltz and past guests have numbered Paco Rabbane and jazz musicians Urszula Dudziak and Michał Urbaniak.
