Monument to the Heroes of Warsaw

The Monument to the Heroes of Warsaw, commonly known as the Warsaw Nike, is a bronze monument unveiled in 1964 in memory of the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Warsaw in 1939, the fighters of both Warsaw uprisings and the Polish underground resistance of 1939 to 1945. It was created by sculptor Marian Konieczny on commission from the socialist city administration. The roughly nine-metre-high figure portrays the goddess Nike as a sword-wielding woman calling for counter-attack, drawing formally on ancient images of victory. The monument originally stood on what was then Theatre Square; in 1995 it was relocated to Krasinski Square, closer to the historic sites of the uprising. Today the Nike is a central focal point of remembrance ceremonies and a much-photographed motif against the backdrop of Warsaw's Old Town.