Bank Square

Plac Bankowy lies at the edge of Warsaw's Srodmiescie district and is one of the capital's most representative squares. Its name recalls the former Bank of Poland building, designed around 1830 by Antonio Corazzi in classical style and now housing the John Paul II Collection Museum. After the destruction of the Second World War the square was rebuilt in the spirit of Socialist Realism; a Lenin monument stood at its centre until 1989, replaced after the fall of communism by a statue of the Polish poet Juliusz Slowacki. Today the blue glass tower of the city administration dominates the skyline, while trams and buses make the square one of the busiest transit hubs in central Warsaw.