POL: Ogrod Saski & Pilsudski Square

Krolewska, Warsaw, Poland

Facing the largest square in Warsaw that goes by the name of Pilsudski Square is the oldest public park of the city that covers an area of 15.5 hectares. Ogrod Saski (lit. Saxon Garden) was opened in 1727 as one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world.

My BFF and I took one of the trams from a tram stop near Metropol Hotel to reach the park.

I can't remember the tram number, but there are quite a few that go to the park.

We entered the park from its southwestern end.

I saw some locals jogging at the shady park that morning.

The park was originally the site of Warsaw fortifications next to Saxon Palace that was unfortunately destroyed by the Germans after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

Those are statues made of sandstones.

The sculptures were done under the guidance of Jan Jerzy Plersch, a renowned Polish sculptor.

The centrepiece of the park is the huge fountain designed by an Italian-Polish architect called Henryk Marconi.

The fountain was completed in 1855.

I was tempted by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Subsequently, we walked to the adjacent square that was named after Jozef Klemens Pilsudski who played a pivotal role in the restoration of Polish statehood after World War I.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was erected after World War I.

It is constantly lit by an eternal flame and guarded by the Polish Army.

Smolensk Plane Crash Monument is an unusual-looking one - a staircase made of black granite. It was unveiled on 10 April 2018 to mark eight years since the crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft of the Police Air Force that carried many government officials, including Lech Aleksander Kaczynski, the fourth president of Poland.

Can anyone help me translate the following?

School kids on excursion!

Did you know that the square was originally called Victory Square till 1946?

With the touch of a button, the bench plays classical piano pieces.

Pope John Paul II addressed a large group of his countrymen in 1979 at the square during his first visit to Poland soon after his elevation to the papacy. Pope Benedict XVI also led an open-air mass there in 2006 during his first pastoral visit to the country.