- A white eagle with a golden crown, the most romantic of composers, sauerkraut and mushroom pierogis, a very feisty mermaid, and a very royal castle.

Where else could we be but Warsaw.

(lighthearted music) (lighthearted music continues) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(quirky music) (lighthearted music) (lighthearted music) Warsaw was founded in the year 1300 as a small trading settlement.

It grew and grew over the centuries, and finally in 1596, it became the capital of Poland.

After that, it became the Center for Polish Enlightenment.

Over the following centuries, it was captured by, invaded by, and nearly destroyed by the French, the Russians, and of course the Germans, who as we know destroyed nearly 85% of this beautiful city during World War II.

Throughout that turbulent history, Warsaw worked hard to preserve its unique cultural heritage.

And that is what we're getting curious about today.

(lighthearted music) So here's what I'm curious about in Warsaw.

Who permanently stands guard overlooking his city?

What is so important about this golden chamber?

Where can you find Poland's first constitution?

Why is there a patron saint of pierogis?

When did this painting help to rebuild an entire city?

And how did Warsaw get its name and what does a mermaid have to do with it?

Who, what, where, why, when, and how?

So much to be curious about in Warsaw.

We begin our exploration into Warsaw with its mythology, its name, origin, and a very brave lady of the sea.

All throughout the city, up high on the buildings, down low on the sidewalks, and even on the garbage cans, you will see the symbol of Warsaw, the Warsaw Mermaid.

And this is a big sculpture of her right here in the center of Market Square.

The legend of the Warsaw Mermaid is fantastic.

So once upon a time, she was living her best life in the Vistula River, until a bad guy scooped her up and kidnapped her.

Fortunately, a good guy named Wars then rescued her and fell in love with her.

And her name, by the way was Sawa.

So do you see where I'm going with this?

Wars, Sawa is where we get the origin of the name Warsaw.

But that's not even the best part of the story.

This is why I love this mermaid.

So she said, you know what, Wars, I really love you, but I'm an independent woman, and I need to go protect the city.

So she scooped up her sword and her shield, dove back into the Vistula River, and continues to protect Warsaw to this day.

(lighthearted music) Next, from mythology to history and royalty, we climb high above Castle Square to explore the many layers of Warsaw, from its medieval roots to its modern day might.

I'm standing on top of the St. Anne's Church Bell Tower, and it's the perfect spot to get this gorgeous view of the city.

It is also the perfect spot to check out three different time periods in the development of the city.

The first part is the medieval time.

So if you kinda look back here, then you can see remnants of the medieval wall.

Now, full disclosure, this is a modern recreation of the wall, but it is in the exact same spot.

And what is really curious is if you follow what looks like the brick wall and the little steps, you can see these two huge red lines that shows you where the walls were.

And it also tells us that there was actually two levels of those walls.

Now, just outside that second wall, we can see our buddy King Sigismund III proudly standing atop his column.

And if you can see which way he's facing, it is down the royal road.

And that brings us to our second time period, during the centuries of the Age of Enlightenment.

That is when Warsaw was thriving and had to be extended outside those medieval city walls.

And as you can see, this is where all the mansions, the royal residences, and beautiful parks were built.

Then last but not least, if you look just above the rooftops, you can see some glittering skyscrapers.

And that brings us to the modern age and the current prosperity of Warsaw.

And the fact that any of this is even here today is a bit of a miracle.

Because, tragically, in World War II, nearly 85% of Warsaw was destroyed.

All the medieval walls, the palaces, the grand mansions, the statues of great leaders, all leveled to the ground.

The Nazis specifically targeted Warsaw for destruction in an attempt to wipe out Polish culture, heritage, and history.

(melancholy music) But after the war, Warsaw rises from the ashes in one of the largest and most fascinating rebuilding projects in European history.

(lighthearted music) Instead of rebuilding an entirely new city, the decision was made to recreate the old city so that centuries of Polish history and architecture would not be forgotten.

And what made this seemingly impossible project even more special and patriotic is that most of the funding came from the Polish people, both from here in Poland and from around the world.

This reconstruction was so outstanding and so important that Warsaw's Old Town was given a UNESCO status.

And this unique old but new Old Town has produced some unique old but new landmarks to explore.

In the center of Old Town is the very famous Sigismund Column.

King Sigismund III was the first king that moved the capital of Poland from Krakow here to Warsaw.

But this was the original column that he used to stand proudly on.

Why is this here and that there?

Well, because the original column started to crumble a little bit, so the town organizers took this one down and put him on top of another one that was a little bit more durable.

And that one is over here.

So here is the second column that he used to stand on, made out of very sturdy granite.

But once again, why is this here and that column there?

Well, if you look closely, you will find the answer.

Do you see all of these little dark spots here?

Those are actually bullet holes, because this column was targeted specifically by the Germans during World War II because this mighty column really stood as a sign of Polish identity.

So this was torn to the ground, and poor Sigismund also fell face first into the middle of the square.

But as with everything else, as far as those important landmarks and monuments of Warsaw, finally he rose again and today stands proudly overlooking his beautiful city.

(lighthearted music) And the king stands guard in front of his former home, and a pretty fancy home it is, the Royal Castle in Warsaw.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw was the seat of power for Poland and also the royal residence for many centuries.

But what you see today only dates back to the late 20th century, because the Royal Castle is one of those treasured historic landmarks that had to be rebuilt after World War II.

In room after room, hall after hall, the painstaking attention to detail done in the rebuild is an art all its own.

Fortunately, there are a few bits of the original architecture still here.

You just have to know where to look.

This is the throne room, all decked out in beautiful royal red, and gold, gold, and more gold.

And this is exactly what it looked like in the late 18th century for the final king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

And this was the throne.

But just having a throne in a room was not quite enough, so of course it had to be decorated with the symbol of Poland, the white eagle with the glorious gold crown.

But when the king would allow people to come into this room, he had a couple of tricks up his sleeve.

To make the room look larger, he had one mirror on this side.

Hi, Omar, how are you?

We don't know if he was inspired by Versailles or not, but he had that wonderful effect where the mirrors kept repeating themselves, making it look larger than life.

Now, as we remember, throughout the entire building, everything is a recreation except for few little treasures.

And I'm gonna show you one of them right here.

If you look at this beautiful red panel, you see how it's all surrounded with golden roses?

Well, if you look and see some of the darker ones, those are some of the originals that were preserved during World War II.

(lighthearted music) Today, the Royal Castle is once again filled with room after room of treasures and art, like this special room with rare Rembrandts and this important hall with a curious connection to the United States.

This gorgeous hall is known as the Senate Room.

And these red chairs are where the senators would sit back between the 1740s in the 1830s as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

And they would enter through these doors.

You can see on the left, of course, the symbol of what was then the Kingdom of Poland.

And then over the doorway on the right, you would see what was then the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

And perfectly positioned in between those two, you can see the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at its peak, everywhere from the Baltic Sea, all the way down south to the Black Sea.

And back here to the chairs, if you look up, you can see that each of the different provinces were represented here.

So you can guess that they would probably sit right below their own and each of them with their symbols, whether it be a knight, or a bull, or a bear.

The most interesting part of the room though is on this end.

Of course we have the king's throne, but over here, it doesn't look as exciting at first, but it is much more important.

This was the very first constitution of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

And here's the fascinating part, the king himself was limiting his powers by creating this constitution and giving more rights to the people.

And do you wanna guess where he was inspired from?

The United States of America.

(lighthearted music) That's right, the US Constitution and Poland's constitution were established only two years apart, the US in 1789, making it the first in the modern world, and Poland's in 1791, making it the first in modern Europe.

And Constitution Day is still celebrated every year on May 3rd across Poland.

Our final room is full of art, but not just any art, but a snapshot of a beautiful view that turned out to be a blueprint for a magnificent reconstruction.

Between 1779 and 1780, King Stanislaw August hired a very accomplished Italian painter named Bernardo Bellotto to create beautiful paintings like this one, of his castle, of his residences, but most importantly, of his beautiful capital city of Warsaw.

And we can see some of them right here on the wall.

Aren't they beautiful paintings?

Well, that's not what makes these paintings so curious.

So back in the late 18th century, when these were made, neither of these men would've had any idea that about 150 years later, these paintings would've been used as blueprints to help rebuild Warsaw after World War II.

Everything from the placement of the buildings, to the architectural styles, to even small details, like the colors of the rooftops.

(lighthearted music) How fantastic.

This artist would never have known that his pretty paintings were destined for such an important plan.

To get a better look at how these paintings truly came to life, let's mosey outside the castle and down the royal road.

Remember those paintings we saw inside the Royal Castle that showed views of Warsaw from back in the late 18th century?

Well, you can find them again here along the royal road, except here, they're kind of encased in these cute little fun and funky modern plastic cubes.

And the important part is that each of these paintings are placed strategically in the exact same spot that the painter would've had to have been to see this perspective.

So if you look here at the very end, you can see the Sigismund Column.

And if you look off in the distance, you can see it back there.

And then you can see this beautiful row of colorful buildings here.

It's the same one that you see here.

But the important part of this history to remember is that in between this time and this time, during World War II, nearly everything that you see here was bombed and destroyed.

But thanks to paintings like these, in about 10 years, everything came back to life.

So if you look at the modern view compared to the original view, you have to admit they got it pretty darn close.

(lighthearted music) Next, we continue to celebrate the royal heritage of Warsaw with its many beautiful palaces and gardens, like the 17th century Wilanow Palace and gardens, once home to Polish royalty with its bright yellow baroque palace, now a museum, and its sculpted gardens all inspired by Louis XIV.

And yet another palace known as the Palace on the Isle, because, as you can see, it's on a little man-made island here in the middle of some beautiful waters and more gardens.

This is the Royal Lazienki Palace and gardens.

And as gorgeous, and as stunning, and as detailed as the palace and the gardens are, believe it or not, this was just the summer residence for one of the Polish kings, but what an important king he was.

This was all built for Stanislaw August, the last king of an independent Poland before the country was partitioned.

But during his reign, as you can tell by what his palace looked like, he was very successful in bringing Enlightenment to his country.

In fact, it is because of him that Poland became a center for intellectualism and culture throughout all of Europe.

In fact, it is said that he loved the arts, and architecture, and music, and theater so much that from his balcony, when a performance was being done in one of his theaters across his gardens, he could actually watch it right from the balcony.

Now that is what I call some pretty good box seats.

(lighthearted music) As we go inside, it's important to appreciate that what we see today is mostly what was reconstructed after World War II, when the Nazis burned down the palace and stole many of its contents, including rare artwork.

Fortunately, as we've seen, Warsaw rebuilt its precious landmarks, including this palace.

And also, miraculously, much of the King's original art collection is here today.

(lighthearted music continues) Remember how we learned that the king was a lover of the arts?

Well, this is just a small bit of proof of that.

This is the Picture Gallery built in 1788 specifically to house his enormous art collection.

In fact, at the time, he had one of the largest collections of paintings in all of Europe, nearly 2,500 paintings.

Only a few were in here, including one Rembrandt.

And as you look around the room, you can see Flemish paintings, Italian paintings.

French paintings are my favorite part, proof once again that he really was a big believer in the Enlightenment.

He had neoclassical, Roman, and Greek-inspired statues.

So as we make our way around the room, we can see how they were all presented.

And the themes were everything from landscapes, to portraits of important people, to biblical scenes, which leads us perfectly into the next room.

So while this room was all about the arts, this room was all about politics, because as you can tell, look how grand it is, this was the state room.

But it had a more specific name than just the state room.

This was the Salle de Salomon, as in King Solomon's room.

Why?

Well, the Polish king wanted to compare himself to the biblical King Solomon.

In fact, he wanted everybody to believe that he had those same virtues of ruling with wisdom and fairness.

And in fact, when guests would come in here to meet the king, they would look up and they would see a beautiful painting comparing the two kings.

The only problem is that, today, there is no painting there because in World War II, it was burned down.

Yes, this is what the ceiling and the walls used to look like, beautifully painted, here with those symbols of wise King Solomon at the top.

But in our next room, instead of religious symbols, mythological symbols are here to continue to tell the story of this delightfully curious king.

This is the ballroom, with the beautiful glittering chandeliers and this gorgeous long hall here.

Can't you just see the social elite of Poland and of Europe dancing the night away here?

So on this side today, you can see a piano here on the ground.

But look, we have a little area here that was probably used by the live musicians there on the balcony, or as I like to think, maybe if the king wanted a little quiet time, he could hang out up there in the VIP section while the rest of his guests enjoy the party down here.

But as we've learned with the rest of the rooms here in the beautiful palace, every single room has to have a touch of symbolism to it.

So in this room, we have these gorgeous mythological gods and goddesses, which tell us what the king thought about himself and also about his hopes for his country.

And those symbols can be found on the two fireplaces at either end of the ballroom.

Here, we have Apollo, a symbol of knowledge, overruling symbols of stupidity and arrogance.

On this side, we have Hercules, of course a symbol of strength, overpowering nothing short of death, symbolized by Cerberus, the three-headed dog of the underworld.

It is believed that this grouping of Hercules overpowering Cerberus symbolized the king's own wish to defeat death.

And that was very important to our Polish king because he knew that his ideas for his country wouldn't happen in his lifetime.

So by defeating death, he was hoping that his hopes and dreams would carry on into the future after he was gone.

How curious.

(lighthearted music) And back outside, surrounding the palace, there are these beautiful French and English gardens and Warsaw's largest public park at nearly 200 acres, all of which used to be the property of the king.

(lighthearted music continues) Today, there are wonderful areas and sculptures to explore, including the most famous, the Chopin Monument, depicting Poland's most famous composer.

It marks the center of an outdoor stage for Sunday Chopin concerts.

And it is no exaggeration to say that Poland loves Chopin.

Here in the park and all around town, you can find these musical benches, where when you push the button, Chopin plays.

(lighthearted music) (majestic music) So to really feel in touch with the heart of Poland, one must attend a Chopin concert.

And for that, we visit Fryderyk's Concert Hall.

(lighthearted music) Named Fryderyk of course for Frederic Chopin, in the perfect-sized salon, because Chopin composed his works to be heard in a smaller-sized hall just about this size.

(lighthearted music) There's statues all around town and his legacy is here.

What is it about him that is so dear to Warsaw and also to Poland?

- Well, he was born in 1810 just outside Warsaw to a French father and Polish mother.

But even though he has this dual heritage, he's very much a Polish national hero.

All through his young life, he would've been listening to Polish folk songs and dances here around Warsaw and other parts of Poland.

And this massively influenced his compositions.

Outside of the fact that he was obviously a genius in terms of composing, along the lines of someone like Mozart, Polish people see him as a national hero projecting Polish identity, Polish independence and sovereignty.

And the revolutionary work is, very much like here in Poland for obvious reasons, it was inspired by events here in Poland.

(majestic music) - And Chopin's beautiful compositions are legendary for being extremely intricate and complicated.

His technical genius, my goodness, those fingers move so fast up and down.

- I believe Liszt, Franz Liszt, who was his friend, complimented him on that and couldn't understand how he could do it.

His etudes were compositions he made for his students, who I'm sure all got a shock when they had to see it.

(majestic music) - Shockingly complex and difficult, yet beautiful at the same time, and of course patriotic and infused with and inspired by Polish folk music.

Frederick Chopin is forever treasured here in his hometown of Warsaw.

(lighthearted music) Our final stop is a tasty one, making traditional pierogis.

To learn how this Polish tradition is made, we go to Syrena Irena, named for the symbol of Warsaw, the mermaid or siren, and the owner's name of Irena.

(Agnieszka speaking in foreign language) Lena shows us how it's done, starting with those tiny circles of dough, and then filled with all manner of ingredients.

It is said that there are as many pierogi recipes as there are Polish families.

- What kind of filling do we have here?

(Agnieszka speaking in foreign language) - Okay.

(Agnieszka speaking in foreign language) Potatoes.

(Lena speaking in foreign language) (Agnieszka speaking in foreign language) Cottage cheese.

- Okay.

(Lena speaking in foreign language) - A touch of mint so you have the flavors are actually like opening.

(Agnieszka speaking in foreign language) A bit of fried onions just to give it flavor.

- And once the filling is added, the signature pierogi shape is formed by folding the dough in half and then pinching and pulling them into these beautiful little crescent shapes.

There is definitely a fine technique to it.

So this way, but then that, ha-ha.

And of course a pierogi legend that goes along with it.

So pierogis are so popular in Polish that there's actually a patron saint of pierogis.

Tell us the legend of St. Hyacinth.

- Well, the legend has it that during the Tatar incursion, which is 1200s, 1241 to be exact, and then you had that saint who actually wanted to feed his people, so he miraculously invented and introduced pierogi.

- So sort of made the crops grow again and then he said - Yeah, exactly, exactly- - he's gonna use - Exactly, exactly, exactly- - All this crops to make these delicious little dishes.

- Exactly.

- Oh, that's wonderful.

So that's why Saint Hyacinth is the patron saint of pierogis.

I think he's my new favorite saint.

He's really got good taste.

From here, these perfect little pierogis are boiled.

And then just a little melted butter added on top, and that's all you need for pierogi perfection.

But before we dig in, I just had to ask, does she get to eat any of the, like if she made a misshapen one, does she put it on the side and get to eat it later?

(Agnieszka speaking in foreign language) (Agnieszka laughing) - My boss is listening, don't tell, don't tell, don't tell.

(lighthearted music) So from a big, brave mermaid who chose to protect her town, to a big, brave king who does the same but from high atop his pillar, his third pillar in fact, to a gloriously gilded throne room with some tiny golden artwork that tells a huge history, to the first constitution of modern Europe sitting beside another throne, to palace after palace after palace filled with glorious symbols, artwork, memories of artwork lost, and mythological symbols of plans for Poland never to be lost, to the most famous and talented of Polish composers, who like to make his students do their homework, all topped off with the tastiest of traditional treats, while tiny, it is so treasured that it has its own patron saint, all within a city that has been rebuilt thanks to some important paintings, after enormous tragedies, showing the perseverance and pride of the Polish people, refusing to let their unique culture, heritage, and history to ever be forgotten, Warsaw has so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey, and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and how's of beautiful Warsaw.

As they say here, (speaking in foreign language).

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