Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A scar from the World War 2: an empty square and the arches in the middle.

 This is the most venerable place in Warsaw, guarded by soliders 24/7 where official visits by presidents and foreign dignitaries need to pay their honours. An eternal flame is always lit.

The arcade is the remains of the Saxon Palace (Pałac Saski) - "Saxon", because in the beginning of the 18th century it belonged to Augustus II the Strong - a Polish king, who was also an Elector of Saxony (chronologically: first a Saxon elector; then chosen by Polish noblemen to become a Polish king). The arches date back to a 19th century remodelling, when the place belonged to a Russian tradesman. 

In the interwar period of the 20th century it was a seat of the Polish General Staff. You can look up its 1930s look at Wikipedia - and compare with the current state.

It was the interwar period when the place under the arcade gained its current importance. Like elsewhere in Europe in the 1920s, nations wanted to honour the soldiers who fell during the Great War. In Warsaw it was this place in the military headquarters that was picked as an appropriate one. From one of recent battlefields a bereft mother whose son never returned picked a coffin of one of many N.N.s who died in the battle of Lemberg (Lwów). The body was exhumed and transported with all honours to be buried here in 1925. 

During the Second World War the palace was taken over as German military offices. When the palace was blown up in 1944 this arcade partially survived. Why? I've read different explanations. One suggests that even German sappers had respect for the blood sacrifice of the buried soldier and so the explosives were placed far enough to spare this grave...

Unlike the Old Town and a couple of other monuments, the Saxon palace was never rebuilt. A heated discussion whether it should be or not continues up to this day. 

Only the arcades of the Tomb were renovated so that they can hold the grave of the soldier. The shape of the Tomb was only somewhat altered in comparison to the pre-war form.

The tomb is guarded by Representative Honour Guard Regiment without a break. The guards change every hour. The most spectacular change takes place at noon.

From the very beginning the columns were decorated with stone tablets which commemorate battlefields soaked with Polish blood. After the World War II there were some changes in the displayed names, but after 1989 the original ones were returned. Also new battefield names were added.

Address: Piłsudski Square. You can't miss it. It's just a few steps away from the Royal Route, so it's worth walking to the Square and pay a tribute of reflection.