According to legend, although there is no reason not to believe it, a hunter named Lech, one of three brothers, came across the magnificent sight of a white eagle perched against the backdrop of a brilliant red sunset. Taking it as an omen, Lech founded a settlement on the site.
It was to be the beginning of a nation. The settlement is today called Gniezno and it's cathedral is where kings of Poland would be crowned. A ruler named Mieszko I would convert to Christianity and make it the religion of Poland. His son, Boleslaw I, would be crowned as the first king of Poland.The flag of the nation would be the white of the eagle and the red of the sunset.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Poland#/media/File:Flag_of_Poland.svg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Flag_of_Poland_%28with_coat_of_arms%29.svg
This is the statue of Boreslaw I at Gniezno Cathedral. Google Street View.
The following views of Gniezno begin at the statue of Boleslaw I outside the cathedral.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
The national identity of Poland is simple and easy to define. Poland is the land of the Slavs of northern Europe who stayed with Catholicism.
In the Great Schism of 1054 their fellow Slavs, the Russians, split from the Catholic Church to form the Eastern Orthodox Church. That led to the corresponding split, and historic rivalry, between Poland and Russia.
To the west were the fellow Catholics of the Holy Roman Empire. Poland was recognized by the Holy Roman Empire but was not part of it. The Reformation, beginning in 1517, spread quickly through most of the Holy Roman Empire. Germans, to the west, and Sweden, to the north, became Protestant and often rivals of still-Catholic Poland, where the Reformation had little effect. There were also ethnic and language differences involved.
The ubiquitous Polish surname suffix of -ski simply means "from" or "having to do with". In English, a smith is someone who makes something, like blacksmith, metalsmith or, goldsmith. The German equivalent is Schmidt. The very common name of Kowalski is the Polish equivalent of Smith. "Kowalski" seems to mean "Having to do with making something".
The common Szcz- prefix or suffix in Polish names simply means "happiness".
Warsaw is the capital city of Poland and began in medieval times. The oldest part of the city is from the Thirteenth Century. These views from Google Street View is of Old Town Market Square.
The following views of Warsaw begin in the oldest part of the city, in Old Town Market Square. Not far away is Castle Square, the red building is the Royal Castle, where Poland's kings used to live. It is easy to tell the two squares apart because Old Town Market Square is rectangular in shape while Castle Square is triangular. Much of the wall still remains around the Old Town of Warsaw.
These two views, from Google Earth and Street View, are of Castle Square.
The following two views, from Google Earth and Street View, are of the Royal Castle, in Castle Square, where the kings used to live.
The column monument in Castle Square is of Sigismund III, the king who moved the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw. The reason that Warsaw became the capital is that Poland was in a union with Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Warsaw was halfway between the two capitals of Krakow and Vilnius.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2497888,21.0121709,3a,75y,126.95h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPjSZ3PH4Pff2AtqaAHQP9VmUlRF_PSDtAbwhUh!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPjSZ3PH4Pff2AtqaAHQP9VmUlRF_PSDtAbwhUh%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya112.85823-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
Warsaw has a New Town, from the late Middle Ages, as well as the nearby Old Town. The "New Town" isn't really new, it's just new compared to the Old Town.
This image of New Town from Google Street View.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2534514,21.0070641,3a,75y,74.34h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sesbGHFtLO1Sha0bqY-KZSg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DesbGHFtLO1Sha0bqY-KZSg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D65.388855%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is the Seventeenth-Century Wilanow Palace.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.1651679,21.0902293,3a,75y,251.53h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sXzZ-9es_827KBdfeAYRCbw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DXzZ-9es_827KBdfeAYRCbw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D241.42662%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
This is modern Warsaw. The tall stone building with the spire is the Palace of Culture and Science. It was built during the Communist era in the same style as Moscow's "Seven Sisters".
These three images, from Google Earth and Street View, are of the Palace of Culture And Science and the view of modern Warsaw from the top.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2334083,20.9982284,3a,75y,146.93h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s19HbOw0RI7di_s12-5hrkg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D19HbOw0RI7di_s12-5hrkg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D158.25598%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
Also in the central part of Warsaw, this is the area around Pilsudski Square. There used to be an axis around which Warsaw was built, the Saxon Axis, similar to the Historical Axis of Paris.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2413296,21.0136114,3a,75y,252.76h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slEK6yCVSf1sJtfxhg7TpMQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlEK6yCVSf1sJtfxhg7TpMQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D243.11841%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
Here is some of the northern part of central Warsaw.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2549454,20.9832357,3a,75y,289.24h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sKV0ploKgK813gSU9h0vVIw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DKV0ploKgK813gSU9h0vVIw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D299.6926%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
Warsaw is located on the Vistula River. The Old Town and the central part of the city is to the west of the river. But much of Warsaw is on the east bank of the river. This is Warsaw east of the Vistula River, opposite the Old Town.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2537059,21.0369871,3a,75y,240h,100t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sqr3M310eGm4fS7u0tWEBfA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dqr3M310eGm4fS7u0tWEBfA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D240%26pitch%3D-10%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is a residential area, of mostly private homes, in Warsaw east of the Vistula River.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2206869,21.146183,3a,75y,340h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sMAS2ELK56caLaiGm6EC-PQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DMAS2ELK56caLaiGm6EC-PQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D340%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
This is a semi-rural residential area just north of Warsaw.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.350089,21.0545161,3a,75y,100h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sEX_QOkXBci3CtNcuHdJV7w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DEX_QOkXBci3CtNcuHdJV7w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D100%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
After the end of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland did not exist as an independent nation for over 120 years, before coming back after the First World War, in 1918. It's territory was split between Austria, Russia and, Prussia, which would become the leading state of modern Germany. But whatever government they lived under, Polish people never forgot being Polish and it was inevitable that Poland would return.
In the early Nineteenth Century, Napoleon built a brick fortress to the north of Warsaw. The fortress would be the focal point of military power in Poland during the time that it did not exist as an independent nation. This fortress in Poland is known as the Modlin Fortress. Here is Poland's Modlin Fortress.
This image from Google Street View.
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