Maria Skłodowska-Curie Park (Polish: Park im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie) is an urban park in Warsaw, Poland, located in the district of Ochota, between Wawelska, Skłodowskiej-Curie, Hoffmanowej, Miecznikowa, and Pogorzelskiego Streets. The park, named after Maria Curie was opened on 29 May 1932, together with the nearby National Research Institute of Oncology
| Maria Skłodowska-Curie Park | |
|---|---|
 An avenue in the park in 2011. | |
| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Ochota, Warsaw, Poland |
| Coordinates | 52°12′53″N 20°59′05″E / 52.214825°N 20.984625°E |
| Area | 2.16 ha |
| Created | 29 May 1932 |
History
edit
It was originally developed in the 1930s as a garden square, located next to the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology (originally known as the Radium Institute). During the latter's opening ceremony on 29 May 1932, Maria Skłodowska-Curie has planted there a sycamore tree.[1][2]
On 5 September 1935, in the park was unveiled a monument to Maria Skłodowska-Curie. She was a 19th- and 20th-century physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, as well as the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. The bronze statue was commissioned by Stefan Starzyński, the mayor of Warsaw, and designed by sculptor Ludwika Nitschowa.[3][4] The monument was demaged during the Warsaw Uprising in the Second World War, when it was used by soldiers of the Russian People's Liberation Army, a Russian collaborationist formation off the Protection Squadron, as a practice target.[3][5] It was renovated in 1997, however the bullet holes were left in, as a reminder of the conflict.[3]
After the war, the garden square was given the status of an urban park, and named after Skłodowska-Curie.[1]
It was renovated in 2023, and reopened on 11 December of that year. The date was chosen, as it conscienced with the 120th anniversary of Maria and Pierre Curie receiving a Nobel Prize in Physics on 10 December 1903.[2][6]
Characteristics
editThe park has a shape of a long rectangle, and is located in the neighbourhood of Old Ochota, between Wawelska, Skłodowskiej-Curie, Hoffmanowej, Miecznikowa, and Pogorzelskiego Streets. It has the total area of 2.16 ha.[1]
In its northern portion, next to Wawelska Street is placed a monument to Maria Skłodowska-Curie, in a form of bronze life-sized statue, designed by Ludwika Nitschowa.[3]
Nearby is also growing a sycamore tree named Maria, which has a stauteof a natural monument. It was originally planted by Skłodowska-Curie on 29 May 1932.[2][7]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Park im. Skłodowskiej-Curie". ochota.um.warszawa.pl (in Polish).
- ^ a b c Tomasz Urzykowski (10 January 2024). "Metamorfoza parku na Ochocie. Duże zmiany przy Instytucie Radowym". warszawa.wyborcza.pl (in Polish).
- ^ a b c d Irena Grzesiuk-Olszewska: Warszawska rzeźba pomnikowa. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Neriton, 2003, p. 93. ISBN 83-88973-59-2. (in Polish)
- ^ Wiesław Głębocki: Szlakiem Stefana Starzyńskiego. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo PTTK Kraj, 1984, p. 46. ISBN 9788300006328. (in Polish)
- ^ Wiesław Głębocki: Warszawskie pomniki. Wydawnictwo PTTK Kraj, 1990, p. 80–81. ISBN 8302041300. (in Polish)
- ^ Martyna Konieczek (11 November 2023). "Park Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie w Warszawie. Długo wyczekiwana modernizacja zbliża się do końca. Tak wygląda odnowiony teren". warszawa.naszemiasto.pl (in Polish).
- ^ "Drzewo posadzone przez noblistkę". um.warszawa.pl (in Polish). 28 May 2015.