COMMUNIST WARSAW TOUR

Communist Warsaw mixed tour

Time: 4-6 hours including driving time

Participants: 1-4 persons

For larger groups extra transportation (min-van, bus) cost will be added - please contact for details

Type: walking and car tour

Price includes: guiding service, tax, car transportation, parking fees

Additional costs: Optional - Palace of Culture and Science panorama terrace (5 € per person)

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Warsaw was liberated in January 1945, and by 1948 a Communist regime firmly controlled Poland. Under the Communists, Warsaw was physically restored but the terror began. Rebuilding of Warsaw coincided with emergence of socialist realism. The city fate was determined by Moscow, a fact symbolized by the Palace of Culture (originally named in honour of Joseph Stalin) towering over the city centre since 1955.

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ROUTE: Palace of Culture and Science (including 30th-floor city panoramic view terrace), social-realistic architecture, communist terror monuments

Dominating the city skyline, the fearsome Palace of Culture (PKiN) towers at just over 231 metres in height - making it the tallest and largest structure in Poland. Commissioned by Stalin as a 'gift from the Soviet people,' it was originally interpreted as a reminder from Moscow that Big Brother really was watching. To this day it still stirs mixed feelings from locals and architecture buffs, and the collapse of communism even saw calls to demolish it. Designed by Soviet architect Lev Rudnyev (also responsible for Lomonosov University in Moscow), it is a fabulous example of socialist era architecture and also incorporates several more traditional styles.