The first building in Warsaw to surpass fifteen floors. Built using 1,250,000 bricks Warsaw’s first true skyscraper became a major point of attack on opening day of the Rising, the symbolic meaning of a Polish flag on Poland’s tallest structure not lost on the insurgents. The Nazis shelled it heavily, and though it was gutted its prototype steel skeleton refused to topple. After the war the tower was given a thinner look, and for decades operated as the Hotel Warszawa. Closed in 2003, and currently in various stages of reconstruction courtesy of the Likus Group, the tower is due to be given a refit and new lease on life as both a hotel and top-class apartment block. 

fot. Cezary Piwowarski, wikipedia.org