New Town (Nowe Miasto), Warsaw

Warsaw's New Town (Nowe Miasto, pronounced "NO-veh MYAH-stoh") is a former independent town founded in the early 15th century just north of the Old Town, and today it is one of the most pleasant corners of the Polish capital's historic center. It begins right behind the Barbican, and its heart is the spacious New Town Market Square with the white-domed Church of St. Casimir. It is calmer than the Old Town, and Freta Street and its Baroque churches are worth an extra hour.

Where it is

The New Town lies in central Warsaw (the Śródmieście district), about 300 m north of the Barbican and some 10 km from Warsaw Chopin Airport. Despite the name, it is "new" only compared with the Old Town: its history goes back more than 600 years.

A town of its own

New Warsaw grew up in the early 1400s outside the walls of Old Warsaw. In 1408 Duke Janusz I the Elder freed it from the authority of the Old Town's reeve, and from 1414 it had its own council. Unlike its neighbor, it never had defensive walls; its coat of arms shows a maiden with a unicorn. The first church, the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, was founded in 1409.

The town suffered badly during the Swedish invasion of the 17th century and was only formally merged with Warsaw in 1791. Most of its buildings were destroyed in World War II; the reconstruction of the district and its square was completed on September 1, 1956. The New Town is part of Poland's national Historic Monument covering Warsaw's historic center, the Royal Route and Wilanów, while the UNESCO World Heritage listing of 1980 covers the neighboring walled Old Town.

Things to do in the New Town

• New Town Market Square – originally a rectangle of about 140 × 120 m, open on the east toward the river escarpment. A 19th-century cast-iron well with the town's coat of arms has stood in the southwest corner since around 1957.
• Church of St. Casimir – the Baroque church of the Sacramentine Sisters with its green dome, designed by the Dutch-born architect Tylman van Gameren and rebuilt in 1949–1957. It is the square's best photo spot.
• Townhouses on the square and Freta Street – look for No. 4 with murals by Bohdan Urbanowicz and the "Eye of Providence" house at Freta 29, built around 1775 to a design by Jakub Fontana.
• Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary – the oldest church in the New Town, on the edge of the escarpment with a view of the Vistula and the Praga district.
• Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum – on Freta Street, in the house where the double Nobel Prize winner was born.
• Dominican and Pauline churches along Freta Street.

How long to spend here

Start at the Barbican, stroll down Freta Street to the market square, then head toward St. Mary's and the escarpment. Without museum visits, this takes about 45–60 minutes. The square is a good place for a coffee or a meal; outdoor seating is mainly a warm-season thing. In winter the area is quiet and atmospheric, but the cobbles can be slippery and it gets dark around 3:30 pm in December.

The streets and square are public and free at any time. Strollers and wheelchairs can get around, though cobblestones and slopes toward the river make it hard going in places.

How to get there

The nearest metro station is Ratusz Arsenał on line M1, about a 10–15 minute walk. From the Old Town Market Square it is roughly a 5-minute walk through the Barbican. Central Warsaw is a paid parking zone and traffic is restricted in the Old and New Towns, so walking or public transport is the best way in. Prices in cafés and museums are in Polish złoty (PLN).

Nearby

• The Barbican and city walls at the top of Freta Street.
• Old Town Market Square and the Museum of Warsaw, about 400 m away.
• Multimedia Fountain Park below the escarpment – free evening shows on Fridays and Saturdays in summer (in 2026 from May 1 to the end of September).
• Vistula Boulevards – a walk down the escarpment to the river.