Warszawa - the capital of Poland. - formerly called the city - Phoenix, rebuilt after the war damages, today is the biggest Polish city, the seat of central authorities, an important transport junction station, a big economic centre, the seat of numerous Polish and international companies. The city of fast economic development, changing its countenance day by day. The city of modern architecture, simultaneously admired and criticised. Although the panorama of the city is dominated by sky-scrapers, the symbol of the capital city is the rebuilt Royal Castle which, along with the Old City, the Royal Track and castle and park residences in the Łazienki and Wilanów constitutes the aim of domestic and foreign excursions.

Although Warsaw is a relatively new city, it has a lot of tourist attractions. Apart from the Old Town quarter, carefully reconstructed after World War II, each of the borrough has something to offer. Among the most notable landmarks of the Old Town are the Royal Castle, Sigismundus' Column and the Barbican.

Further south is the so-called Royal Road, with lots of notable classicist palaces, the Presidential Palace and the Warsaw University campus. Also the popular Nowy Swiat Street is worth mentioning.

The oldest Warsaw's public park, the Ogród Saski, is located within 10 minutes distance from the old town. Other such oasis of silence and serenity is the Powązki Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe, filled with hundreds of precious sculptured, some of them by the most renown artists of 19th and 20th centuries. Since it serves all religious communities of Warsaw, be it Catholics, Jews, Muslims or Protestants, it is often called a necropolis.

To the north of the city centre the museum of the former Warsaw Ghetto is located, which is also a popular locality often visited by foreign tourists. Also the borough of Zoliborz is famous for its architecture from the 1920s and 1930s. Between Zoliborz and the Vistula the Warsaw Citadel is located, which is one of the priceless monuments of 19th century military architecture in Poland. Also the former royal residencec of king Jan III Sobieski in Wilanów and Belweder are notable for their baroque architecture and beautiful parks.

However, Warsaw is perhaps the most famous for several buildings from modern history. Apart from the Palace of Culture and Science, a Soc-realist skyscrapper located exactly in the city centre, the Stadion Dziesięciolecia which is the biggest market in Europe also attracts many tourists. For those who seek dramatic contrasts the borough of Central Praga is often the best choice. Called by the Varsovians the Bermuda Triangle for high crime rate, it is a place where almost completely demolished houses stand right next to modern apartment buildings and shopping malls.

Business and commerce
Warsaw, and especially its downtown area of Śródmieście is not only home to many national institutions and government agenda, but also is housing a huge number of both domestic and international companies. In 2003 268.307 companies were registered in the city. It is seen as the heartland of Poland by foreign investors whose interest in city development is projected onto the number of over 650 million Euro a year (2002). Warsaw produces more than 4.1% of Polish income.

Stock Exchange
Although Warsaw was home to Stock Exchange since 1817, in 1945, because of political changes after World War II, it couldn't have been recreated. It started operating again in April 1991, after the reintroduction of free-market economy and democracy. It is now the biggest stock exchange in Central and Eastern Europe, with more than 130 companies listed. Main indexes of its performance are WIG and WIG20.
History likes funny twists - it's worth mentioning that from 1991 until 2000, the Warsaw Stock Exchange was situated in the building previously used as the headquarters of Polish communist party, PZPR.

Industry
Following the destruction of the city in World War II and its reconstruction, the communist authorities decided that Warsaw be rebuilt as a major industrial center. Several hundred major factories were build in the city or just outside of it. Most notable were the Huta Warszawa Steel Works and two car factories.
However, as the communist economical system deteriorated, most of them lost any significance. In the years following 1989, in the course of a peaceful transformation of both political and economical system in Poland, most of these went bankrupt. Nowadays, the Lucchini-Warszawa Steel Mill (formerly Huta Warszawa) is the only major factory remaining.