Warsaw became one of the principal cities in Poland comparatively late in history, but its central position favoured rapid development, which not even the many wars could prevent. A mermaid (Syrena) with sword and shield is the city's symbol.
According to legend, Warsaw was founded when a Mermaid ordered two fishmen Wars and Sawa, to form a city. The history of Warsaw goes back to the late 13th century and the early 14th century although the first record of its existence dates back to the 10th-11th century.
In the 14th century Prince I the Old (1374-1429) proclamed Warsaw to be a capital of the Mazovian Principality and this fact influenced the development of the town. In the second half of the 15th century the town was surrounded by a double ring of fortified walls with towers and a deep moat.
The turn of the 15th and 16th century was a period of great economic development. In 1596 King Sigismundus III Vasa transferred the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw. The Swedish invasion in the mid-17th century interrupted the city's development. The cultural heritage was totally destroyed.
Under the reign of the last Polish King, Stanislavus Augustus Poniatowski (second half of the 18th century), the second "Golden Age" of Warsaw flourished. In 1791 the May 3rd Constitution was proclaimed the first legal act of its kind in Europe and the second in the world. After the third partition in 1795 Poland was erased from Europe's map for a period of 123 years and was controlled by Russia. Loss of independence made Warsaw the centre of the struggle for national and social liberation. Its population actively supported the November (1830) and January (1863) uprisings.
On 11th November 1918 Poland regained independance. The years between the first and second World Wars were a period for development of education, science and culture. On the 1st September 1939 the Second War broke out. It was the most terrifying period in the history of this town. After the Warsaw uprising in 1944 the town was completly destroyed. 85% of buildings were in ruins.
Warsaw, the capital of Poland is a phenomen on the European scale. It has been destroyed many times, burnt down and razed to the ground but it has always revived itself stronger and more beautiful. This fact should be remembered when one visits Warsaw.
