Palace of Culture Panorama

Today we went to the Palace of Culture in Warsaw's City Center. The soaring skyscraper was built between 1952 and 1955 as a "gift" to Poland from the Soviet Union. The building is one of immense controversy with two parties thought, one being that the building should be torn down because it is a symbol of the communist oppression in Poland and the other being that it is a symbol of Warsaw and should be preserved as a kind of work of art. The building was the first structure created in Warsaw after the city was left in ruins following the Warsaw Uprising. So even though it was a symbol of the Soviet occupation in Poland, the citizens of Warsaw were in many ways glad to have it built because they were able to observe architecture and construction tactics which helped ordinary citizens to begin their reconstruction of the entire city. After the Palace of Culture was complete, entrance to the imposing structure was exclusive, leading the Polish people to see the building as mysterious and create myths about what was happening inside. An interesting side note about the sky scraper is that it became a very popular place to commit suicide; a frenchman is said to have claimed that it is a better place to kill yourself than the Eiffel Tower. From the top of the Palace of Culture it is said that you get the best view of Warsaw because you can see the entirety of the city without being able to see the Palace of Culture itself. While on the 30th floor of the skyscraper I experimented for the first time with panoramic photos. If you click on the pictures it will open a larger version of the images.