One of the most attractive Warsaw’s district has been praised by The Guardian. - Time to abandon preconceptions that Warsaw is grey and cold because in the best part of the year it really is green and hot - writes the newspaper listing the district of Powiśle as 10 of the coolest neighbourhoods in Europe.
Powiśle has always been one of the key area of our running tours. Both King’s tour and Vistula river bank tour feature this part of the city. Powiśle is the part of central district named Śródmieście, which by some of our tourers compared to New York’s Midtown district in terms of number of important building and city’s institutions located. Powiśle is the area situated between the strict city centre so the Dmowski roundabout and the Vistula river bank.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the area became populated mostly with the poor of Warsaw. Little changed in the 19th century when the neighbourhood became slightly industrialized. It retained its character of an area of poverty until its almost complete destruction during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. It was inhabited by the unemployed and craftsmen of all types, factory and port workers, smiths, coalers, sand vendors, fishermen and prostitutes. As such it was similar in character to London Docklands.
After the war, the area became partially rebuilt and the area of Mariensztat became the first neighbourhood of Warsaw to be reconstructed. Currently there are plans to turn the area into the Warsaw University campus, a notion that was already started by the construction of the Warsaw University Library and several faculties there.
Powiśle remained as rather unattractive still in 90’s. Everything started to change ever since the library was opened and other investments followed including the Wisłostrada car tunnel.
These days the district is described by The Guardia as pubs and riverboats offer craft beers and cocktails, with street food ranging from pierogi dumplings to pho soup (Warsaw has a big Vietnamese community).
