Piłsudski Square

Plac Marszalka Jozefa Pilsudskiego is one of Warsaw's largest squares and forms part of the Baroque Saxon Axis that King Augustus II the Strong laid out from 1713, linking the Saxon Palace and the Saxon Garden. After several name changes during the 20th century it now bears the name of the Polish marshal Jozef Pilsudski. At its centre stands the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, sheltered under the arcades of the only surviving fragment of the Saxon Palace, blown up by the Germans in the Second World War. An honour guard changes hourly, with a full ceremony on Sundays. Here Pope John Paul II spoke to a million people during his epochal 1979 visit to Poland, a key moment for the Solidarnosc movement. Long sightlines open into the Saxon Garden.