Theme Week Warsaw – The Palace of Culture and Science

Wednesday, 31 July 2013 - 01:01 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks
Reading Time:  3 minutes

© Stanislav Kozlovskiy/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Stanislav Kozlovskiy/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw is the tallest building in Poland, the sixth tallest building in the European Union. The building was originally known as the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science, but in the wake of destalinization the dedication to Stalin was revoked; Stalin’s name was removed from the interior lobby and one of the building’s sculptures. Currently it is the 187th tallest building in the world.

As the city’s most visible landmark, the building was controversial from its inception. Many Poles initially hated the building because they considered it to be a symbol of Soviet domination, and at least some of that negative feeling persists today. Some have also argued that, regardless of its political connotations, the building destroyed the aesthetic balance of the old city and imposed dissonance with other buildings.

© Stanislav Kozlovskiy/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Nnb/cc-by-sa-3.0 © Janusz Jurzyk/cc-by-sa-3.0 © flickr.com - European People's Party/cc-by-2.0 © flickr.com - European People's Party/cc-by-2.0 © flickr.com - Kuba Bożanowski/cc-by-2.0
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© flickr.com - European People's Party/cc-by-2.0
The inhabitants of Warsaw still commonly use nicknames to refer to the palace, notably Pekin (Beijing in Polish, because of its abbreviated name PKiN (Pałac Kultury i Nauki), Pajac (“clown”, a word that sounds close to Pałac), Stalin’s syringe, the Elephant in Lacy Underwear, or even the Russian Wedding Cake. The terrace on the 30th floor, at 114 metres, is a well-known tourist attraction with a panoramic view of the city. The best view of the city is jokingly said to be from the terrace as it is the one place in the city where the building itself does not obscure the view.

The building currently serves as an exhibition center and office complex. It is 231 metres (757 ft) tall which includes the height of the spire of 43 meters. There are 3288 rooms on 42 floors, with an overall area of 123,000 m², containing cinemas, theatres, museums, offices, bookshops, a large conference hall for 3000 people, and an accredited university, Collegium Civitas on the 11th and 12th floors of the building.

Here you can find the complete Overview of all Theme Weeks.

Read more on Palace of Culture and Science and Wikipedia Palace of Culture and Science (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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