Located close to Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie St., Warsaw Citadel continues to be a must for tourists planning a sight-seeing tour of Poland's capital.

This 19th-century Russian stronghold, the main part of the Warsaw Fortress system, for many years remained the lone symbol of martyrdom for the Polish nation. Today, it is one of the most popular walking areas for the residents of Żoliborz District. For some it is one of the symbols of their district.

The Citadel was built chiefly in order to control Warsaw-as a response to the November Rising of 1830-1831. An integral part of the structure was the infamous 10th Pavilion. Now a museum, the pavilion was once a place where Polish patriots, participants in independence movements and revolutionary activists were executed. The Citadel continued to be used as a prison until the mid-1920s. Today, it is one of the best preserved military buildings in Poland and as such is visited by history lovers from across the world.

For Żoliborz residents, the Citadel is first and foremost a park, a playground for children, a duckpond and a place where you can go for a walk with children or have a first date. The citadel additionally functions as a meeting place for students from local high schools, as was the case in the mid-1980s when a group of young people, meeting on a bench in the park between the Citadel and Wilsona Square, established a rock band called-appropriately enough-Citadel. The band was quite popular in those times. The European Art Academy, a rival of Warsaw's Fine Arts Academy, operates in the fortress buildings. It is noteworthy that a meeting of army commanders from NATO members states, held in the Citadel a few months ago, provided an opportunity to remember the original military character of the site.

Today, apartments located close to the Citadel are some of the most expensive in Warsaw. On weekends, crowds of Warsaw residents visit the fortress to take a walk with their dog or ride a bicycle. For them the Citadel is not only a symbol of a tragic past. On the contrary, they have adopted this place as an integral part of the Żoliborz landscape because-as resident of the local housing estate and singer in the Patria group says-"The Citadel is one of the few places with an original Warsaw climate."

Museum of the 10th Pavilion of Warsaw Citadel, 25 Skazańców St., tel. (+48-22) 839-12-68, fax (+48-22) 839-95-70, Tue.-Sun. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Maciej Mroczek