Walking the streets of Mirów, a small neighborhood of Warsaw

Each month the International Women's Group (IWG) that I belong to organizes walks around areas of Warsaw that help us become familiar with different parts of the city.  These walks have shown me that the learning that comes from walking and exploring an area is much more enriching than seeing sights from a car.

In the first week of March the walk was in the Mirów neighborhood, which is close to where Mark works, and where we have attended a few activities in the 3 years we have been here.

Warsaw is divided into large districts, and the districts all have many neighborhoods like Mirów, which is part of the Wola district.  All of the districts in Warsaw became casualties of the destruction inflicted by WWII, and most districts have recovered to a great extent.  In Mirów there has been much recovery but there are also remnants of war damage.

Mirów is an area of contrasts….beautiful and modern skyscrapers surround the outside borders of this area….yet many broken and battered buildings sit unattended inside this small area.  They all help tell a story of Warsaw's past and the rebuilding process that still continues.

After the walk I thought it would be a great activity for Mark and me to explore together….and so for our weekend date we walked the streets of Mirów. 

On Saturday we took Tram 10 to Mirów….this is the same tram that we take from our home to Mark's office, or to the mall or central train station.  

Two stops past the stop for Mark's office we disembarked from the tram….the stop is called "Hala Mirowska", named for the nearby Mirowska trade hall that derives its name from "Mirów". 

After crossing the street we started walking behind a large wall of shops and restaurants.  This was a different route than I took with the IWG group….it was a good chance to explore to see a few more areas of Mirów.

 Mirów was considered a poor suburb of Warsaw until after WWI.  During the period between the first and second world wars, the area was gradually improved and many large homes were built.

During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and Warsaw Uprising most of Mirów was razed to the ground by the Germans, and many of the buildings left standing were uninhabitable.

After WWII Mirów was not rebuilt to the standard it had achieved after WWI….rather, it became a large residential area with many Soviet-style structures. 

Walking through the archway, we found ourselves approaching the back of a beautiful church….

….the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle 

Next, we came to the "World's Skinniest/Thinnest House"….right here in Poland!  Sandwiched in a very small alley between two yellow buildings is this silver and gray-colored home.

It is called "The Keret House" and has only 46 square feet of living space…and is just 5 feet across at its widest point, and 3 feet at its narrowest.  I had heard about this home…but seeing it here was pretty amazing. I heard they even give tours!

More about the house can be seen at the following link: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/remodeling-design/stories/worlds-skinniest-house-built-in-poland

Looking opposite the skinniest house was the back side of an old residential building.  The dark spot on the right side of the picture is not mold, but vines that are bare for the winter.

At the end of the block we came to an area that was once a part of the Warsaw Ghetto. "By order of the German occupation authorities, the ghetto was cut off from the rest of the city in November 1940. The ghetto area, surrounded by a wall, was 759 acres, but it was reduced in size. Starting in January 1942 it was divided into two parts called the large and small ghettos".

This marker shows the area of the ghetto.

Mark is looking through a viewer which displays a few black and white pictures of the ghetto.

 Below is one of the pictures….showing a bridge that was erected to allow passage between the small and large ghettos.

Today, the tall metal structure on the right side of the picture below is where one side of the ghetto bridge stood….

….and there is an identical structure on the other side of the street (left side of the picture), marking the spot of the other side of the bridge.  The wires between the two structures are where the walkway was.

Another picture captured through the viewer….the stairs leading up one side of the ghetto bridge.


Along the sidewalks in Mirów were markers showing where the ghetto wall was erected.

Throughout the city of Warsaw there is a lot of graffiti….but once in a while an entire side wall of a building is covered not with graffiti…but with art. I'm not sure what these large building murals are depicting…but they are "art" in a most interesting way.

Across the street we came to a restaurant featuring traditional Polish food and atmosphere….Oberża Pod Czerwonym Wieprzem, or "Inn Under the Red Hog".

We have been to this restaurant a couple of times, and may have written about it in an earlier blog.  According to the restaurant's website, the building in which the restaurant resides was given to the city of Warsaw in the early 1960's by Erich Honecker, leader of the GDR (communist East Germany).

The website gives two sources of the name of the restaurant.  First, it is said to be named for the original inn operated in this areas from the 19th century until WWII….

….and it also is supposedly named for the "mostly red communist leaders such as Lenin" who frequented the inn.  It is said that during the Polish People's Republic (PRL) times the inn was a favorite place for secret meetings of the party dignitaries.

The menus in the restaurant give an even grander history, dating back to the middle ages.  The first time Mark ate there was for a work function.  He was duly impressed by the colorful and well-preserved history of the restaurant….until one of his co-workers said that it was all made up to create a marketing image.  So who to believe….the co-worker or the website?  

Just down the street is a small old piekarnia (bakery) and cukiernia (sweet shop).  Located on the corner of Zelanzna and Krochmalna, this shop is known for its delicious pączki….

….said to be among the very best!  Pączki on display in the store window….

….inside the piekarnia (bakery).

We bought two pączki, one for each of us….

….wrapped in white butcher paper.

Diagonal to the pączki shop is this nine-story building.  The ground floor used to house a bank, and in 2000 it was the scene of Poland's bloodiest heists….4 people were shot dead for 100,000 pln, about $33,000.  A tragic story in modern Warsaw.

Just down from the bakery is this old building.  Besides the fact that it appears to have survived WWII, what made the building interesting to us was that the Red Hog restaurant was advertised on the left side of the building….

and its sister restaurant, Folk Gospoda was advertised on the right side.

Folk Gospoda is notable for the deer statues just outside the door.

One of the most interesting sites we saw was this very old building left standing from the destruction of Warsaw in WWII….at Walicow 14.  

One side of the building is whitewashed, with a modern advertisement painted on it.  The rest of the building looks quite spooky….

….but fascinating at the same time.

One wonders why this building was left standing….

….and why it hasn't been torn down yet.

On the other side of the street is an intersting building…the lower half is original and the top half is quite modern.

Scattered along the brick wall that surrounds the lower half of the building…. 

.….are bullet holes from WWII.

At the end of the street, in stark contrast to the bullet-riddled wall just a few steps away, is another modern building….

….Poland's Mint..

Continuing further down the street, we walked through a small passageway in the side of a building and found ourselves in this very old courtyard….

….we wondered if anyone lives here now….

….and then saw clothes hanging on one of the balconies, and concluded that there are residents here.

Inside the courtyard, we saw very old doors and locks….

….and a small Catholic shrine…right in the courtyard

This is the back side of the crumbling old building and courtyard….we wondered how a building could look modern and clean on one side….
 

….yet so old and battered on the inside?

By now we had circled back to Chłodna Street, which was near where we started our tour, and where we had found the "skinniest house in the world".

This majestic building at Chłodna 20 has been called an urban treasure.  There are art noveau cherubs adorning the facade….

and I love the clock just above the first floor, in the center.

During WWII the head of the wartime Jewish Council lived here.  In 1942, rather than helping the Nazis to organize the transport of Warsaw Jews to the Treblinka concentration camp, he killed himself by ingesting poison.

Today an Apteka (pharmacy) and other shops occupy the ground level of this building. 

An interesting sight on one side of ul. Chłodna was tram tracks….

….but no trams travel this street today.

Walking back toward the Church of St. Andrew where our walk began, I noticed a cross and large rock that was not pointed out to us on our IWG walk earlier in the week.  I was curious, and found that this site is a monument to the late Father Popiełuszko….

 ….for the past two months, my Polish literature group has read the story of how Father Popiełuszko supported the Solidarity movement in the 1970s and 80s, and was eventually beaten to death by communist secret police.  I was so glad to find this little place.

A building mural….

….not sure what it is depicting though.

Leaving the area around the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle.

We had a great afternoon walking the streets of Mirów and exploring this part of Warsaw.

After our two-hour walk we stopped at one of the abundant coffee shops in Warsaw….ready to enjoy our Polish dessert and hot chocolate.

By the time we headed home dusk had fallen, and when we passed the Palace of Culture and Science it was lit up a beautiful blue....