TheSaxon Axis (Polish:Oś Saska) is a feature of the historical city centre ofWarsaw. It is a line running from theVistula through thePresidential Palace, theKrakowskie Przedmieście,Saxon Square,Saxon Palace,Saxon Garden,Lubomirski Palace toPlac Żelaznej Bramy.[1][2]
The idea was first proposed byAugust II of Poland, who intended to build a large Royal palace surrounded by aFrench-style garden. The plan was loosely based on thebaroque design of thePalace of Versailles and was to cover a large part of what is now the city of Warsaw. The main concept, which gave the name to the modern part of the city, assumed the construction of theSaxon Palace, with gardens extending to the both sides along a single axis running exactly through its middle.
Between 1713 and 1726 the king bought 28 parcels of land in the area and invitedMatthäus Daniel Pöppelmann andJohann Christoph Naumann to design the urban plan. However, financial difficulties made the plan never come true in its entirety. TheSaxon Garden and theSaxon Palace were constructed, but the planned demolition of the Lubomirski Palace at thePlac Żelaznej Bramy was called off after August's death in 1733.
DuringWorld War II and theWarsaw Uprising of 1944, all the buildings along the axis were demolished by theGermans. After the war, the Saxon Palace was not rebuilt. However, the garden was refurbished and the demolishedLubomirski Palace was rebuilt, but was rotated to fit into the 18th century scheme. In recent times also theWarsaw University Library at theVistula below the river escarpment was added to the list of buildings with main entrances along the axis, and a large golden tablet was placed in the pavement in front of it marking the line running through the city centre.
52°14′26″N21°00′31″E / 52.240556°N 21.008611°E /52.240556; 21.008611
