1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces Square
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| 1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces Square | |
|---|---|
 The fountain complex in 2011. | |
 Interactive map of 1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces Square | |
| Type | Garden square |
| Location | Warsaw, Poland |
| Coordinates | 52°15′13.0″N 21°00′32.5″E / 52.253611°N 21.009028°E |
| Area | 4.75 ha |
| Created | 1988 |
| Designer | Longin Majdecki |
The 1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces Square (Polish: Skwer 1 Dywizji Pancernej WP) is a garden square in Warsaw, Poland, located within the New Town neighbourhood of Downtown district, between Boleść, Rybaki, Kościelna, and Wybrzeże Gdańskie Streets. It features the Multimedia Fountain Park, a large complex of four fountains, used to perform shows combining sound, water movement, light, and lasers.
The area was opened in 1971, as the northern part of the Castle Foreground Park (Polish: Park Podzamcze), and was separated into a new garden square in 1988. In 2011, there was unveiled a large fountain complex.
The garden square was named after the 1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces in the West, which was instrumental in the Allied liberation of France. The name was given in 1988.[1][2] Prior to this, the area was part of the Castle Foreground Park (Polish: Park Podzamcze), named after the nearby Royal Castle.[1]
History
The area was developed as part of the Castle Foreground Park (Polish: Park Podzamcze), designed by Longin Majdecki. It was developed by youth volunteers, and opened on 30 July 1971. It stretched alongside Wybrzeże Gdańskie Street, from Steinkellera to Sanguszki Streets, and had an area of 12.9 ha.[3] In 1988, the portion to the north of Boleść Street, was separated, forming the 1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces Square. The other half was named after Karolina Lanckorońska, a 20th-century historian, academic, and a member of the Polish resistance in the Second World War.[1]
The Multimedia Fountain Park, a large complex of fountains was opened there on 7 May 2011, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Municipal Waterworks and Sewage Company of the Capital City of Warsaw.[4][5] It was built in place of a shallow pond.[3] On the same day, nearby was also unveiled the statue of William Heerlein Lindley, an engineer who oversaw the construction of the city's waterworks and sewage network. It was designed by Norbert Sarnecki and Anna Sarnecka.[5][6] The fountain complex is used to pefrom shows combining sound, water movement, light, and lasers, organised by the Capital Stage (Polish: Stołeczna Estrada).[4][5]
On 4 June 2014, the statue of Maria Skłodowska-Curie was unveiled at the entrance to the park. It was placed near the intersection of Kościelna and Piesza Streets, in front of Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 2 Przyrynek Street, and near the tenement at 16 Freta Street, where Skłodowska-Curie was born and grew up. The bronze statue was designed by Bronisław Krzysztof. Skłodowska-Curie was a 19th- and 20th-century physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity and was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, as well as the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice.[7][8]
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