Palm

The artificial palm tree Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue has stood since 12 December 2002 in the middle of the Charles de Gaulle roundabout in central Warsaw, at the junction of Aleje Jerozolimskie and Nowy Swiat. Artist Joanna Rajkowska conceived it as an ironic gesture toward the street name Jerusalem Avenue: the road recalls the 18th-century Jewish suburb Nowa Jerozolima, of which almost nothing physical survives in today's Warsaw. Planned as a two-year project, it stayed on by popular demand and is now widely treated as a symbol of the capital. On days of political protest the palm is often decorated with everything from Solidarity pins to rainbow flags, turning it into an unofficial civic noticeboard.