Rondo Charles'a de Gaulle'a

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rondo Charles'a de Gaulle'a
coat of arms
Street in Warsaw
Rondo Charles'a de Gaulle'a
The roundabout from the south
Basic data
place Warsaw
District Downtown
Created 1961
Cross streets Aleje Jerozolimskie, Ulica Nowy Świat, Ulica Smolna
use
User groups Pedestrian traffic , private traffic , public transport
The statue of Charles de Gaulle in front of the former party building
The partisan memorial on the north side of the roundabout

The Rondo Charles'a de Gaulle'a (German: Roundabout Charles de Gaulle ) is a traffic roundabout in the center of Warsaw , which was created in 1961 instead of a previously existing street intersection. It was named after the French statesman Charles de Gaulle .

location

The roundabout with traffic lights, located in the inner city district of Warsaw, regulates traffic at the intersection of two important traffic axes in the city. Here the east-west running Aleje Jerozolimskie and the north-south running Nowy Świat meet . Because of the integration in the latter, the roundabout is also part of the Warsaw Royal Route . The Aleje Jerozolimskie, which runs to the east, will continue after around 500 meters on the Poniatowski Bridge over the Vistula . 20 meters north of the roundabout, the side street Ulica Smolna leads east from Nowy Świat . In a southerly direction, Nowy Świat meets Plac Trzech Krzyży after about 200 meters .

layout

The roundabout is designed as a classic four-way round top with three lanes and a round central island about 30 meters in diameter. The tram tracks on Aleje Jerozolimskie run through the center of the roundabout. Bus stops are about 100 meters from the roundabout. The exit to Nowy Swiat is restricted to the north (to Krakowskie Przedmieście ) (buses, taxis, diplomats) for motor traffic. There is an artificial palm tree on the northern half of the district island.

Buildings and landmarks

There are four buildings at the roundabout at a distance of up to 40 meters. Their addresses are partly assigned to Nowy Świat , partly to Aleje Jerozolimskie . There are also two monuments and a plaque in the vicinity of the roundabout. Finally, the palm tree on the roundabout island is worth mentioning.

  • Ulica Nowy Świat 6/12 - Banking and Finance Center (Polish: Centrum Bankowo-Finansowe ), formerly the seat of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party ;
  • Ulica Nowy Świat 15/17 - EMPiK department store. The “Istomin” apartment building (Polish: Kamienica Istomina ) was located here until the Second World War . It was not rebuilt. In the post-war building by Zygmunt Stępiński , built in its place in the style of Socialist Realism , is the EMPiK media department store . A memorial plaque on the building commemorates two attacks by Gwardia Ludowa on October 24, 1941 and on July 11, 1943 on the "Cafe Club" amusement bar reserved for German soldiers at this point;
  • Ulica Nowy Świat 18/20 - Branicki Palace , corner position at the beginning of Ulica Smolna ;
  • Aleje Jerozolimskie 7 - building of the State Economic Bank BGK (Polish: Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego ), built between 1928 and 1931 under the architect Rudolf Świerczyński in place of the Opaliński Palace built between 1762 and 1770 ;
  • Monument to the Partisan (Polish: Pomnik Partyzanta , also called Pomnik Bojowników o Polskę Ludową and Pomnik Partyzanta Gwardii Ludowej ) - erected on May 13, 1962. The granite base of the memorial was made from rubble from the German Tannenberg memorial . The project comes from Wacław Kowalik, the base from Stanisław Żaryn;
  • Monument in honor of Charles de Gaulle (Polish: Pomnik Charles'a de Gaulle'a ) - the monument by Jean Cardot was unveiled on May 14, 2005, it commemorates de Gaulle's support after the First World War in the reconstruction of the Polish Army . At that time de Gaulle had lived near what is now the roundabout. It is a copy of the monument on the Paris avenue des Champs-Élysées ;
  • Traffic Island - an artificial palm that was erected on December 12, 2002 on the initiative of the artist Joanna Rajkowska. The 15 meter high object, made of plastics and natural materials, is secured by a concrete foundation.

literature

  • Janina Rukowska: Travel guide to Warsaw and surroundings. 3rd edition, Sport i Turystyka, Warsaw 1982, p. 85, ISBN 83-217-2380-2

Web links

Commons : Charles de Gaulle Roundabout in Warsaw  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ^ The Gwardia Ludowa ( People's Guard ) was an armed underground organization in Poland directed by the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1942 and incorporated into Armia Ludowa in 1944
  2. ^ Jean Cardot (* 1930) is a French sculptor
  3. according to Piotr Sarzyński: Sztuka oddychania. in Polityka.pl from August 8, 2007 (in Polish)

Coordinates: 52 ° 13 '54.4 "  N , 21 ° 1' 14.9"  E