Born from the Industrial Revolution, Wola’s past is reflected via the old workers’ tenements and factories that fill the area.
Born from the Industrial Revolution, Wola’s past is reflected via the old workers’ tenements and factories that fill the area.
The last few years, however, have seen an aggressive bout of development that has seen its eastern and southern fringes returned to life thanks to fancy residential compounds and a fleet of new skyscrapers. With many found snuck down dusty streets of derelict housing, it’s here that the contrasts of modern Warsaw are at their most powerful.
But its not just the business projects that have breathed life into this district, but also hubs such as Norblin and Browary, and its partially down to these that modern Wola bursts with a dynamic sense of energy – nowhere else does the past collide with the future in quite the same fashion.
The Museum of Wola and Norblin’s Museum of the Factory do a grand job of telling the backstory of this former factory district, but if you’re feeling adventurous sneak into the pair of disused gas tanks commonly called ‘the Wola Colosseum’ – from the inside, it feels like you’ve entered a ruined cathedral. After, peer into the Train Museum, specifically to the train cemetery outback – German armoured trains and the personal wagon of Poland’s first communist premier await.
Socialising in Wola has come to mean one of two choices: Norblin or Browary. In the latter, the biggest pull is a sunken plaza surrounded by eateries and nightspots, including the Browary Food Hall and upmarket Browary Warszawskie brewhouse – the house beer is ace. At Norblin, MOXO has become one of the city’s most exclusive party spots, whilst the street that cuts through the development outside possibly the busiest nightlife strip of the summer – we love the Piano Bar and the Uwaga pub.
With so much empty wall space on disused tenements and empty factories, it’s no wonder that Wola has embraced the mural fad. For our favourite, look no further than the steampunk-style work by Roch Urbaniak on Żelazna 22. For something unique, then the ‘stair mural’ at Browary Warszawa offers a fresh take on this medium.
Wola, at least its eastern flank, has replaced the city centre as Warsaw’s business district – you just need to look up to believe us. Peppered with skyscrapers, the loudest of all is the Varso Tower which, at 310-metres, is now the EU’s tallest building. The viewing terrace won’t open till next year, but a drink on the deck of the 19th floor Ether bar in the NYX Hotel next door is by no means a poor alternative.
Wola has a few surprises up its sleeve and consider the Pinball Museum to be one of them. Set down a rough track, find a host of machines from the 80s and 90s that can be played for a modest set fee. Into the future, the ArtBox Experience in Norblin holds immersive multimedia exhibitions – currently, that means an absorbing array of digital works by impressionists like Monet, and a brilliant show that brings alive pre-war Warsaw.
The Rising Museum retells the story of the Warsaw Uprising in graphic, no-holds barred detail – at the end, the City of Ruins 3D film caps off the experience by taking you on a simulator flight of the destroyed city. Back outside, the tumbledown tenement at Waliców 14 (pictured right) is probably the city’s most famous ruin. Close by, the crossroads of Chłodna and Żelazna is home to an installation marking the overhead bridge that connected the Jewish ghettos. Neither should you miss the remains of the Ghetto wall (pictured centre) preserved at Złota 62.
