Covering 15.5 hectares, this splendid garden, founded in the late 17th century, became Warsaw’s first public park in 1727. Initially modelled on Versailles, but later relandscaped in the more natural English style, the garden is filled with chestnut trees and baroque statues (allegories of the Virtues, the Sciences and the Elements). There’s also an ornamental lake overlooked by a 19th-century water tower in the form of a circular Greek temple.
If it looks as though the gardens are missing a palace, you’d be right. The Saxon Palace (Pałac Saski), which once occupied adjoining Piłsudski Sq, was, like so many other buildings, destroyed during WWII. All that survived were three arches of a colonnade, which have sheltered the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier since 1925. Plans to rebuild Saxon Palace from scratch at fabulous expense, so far, remain unfulfilled.
