Here we present the emergence of Avenue of Jerusalem on the map of Warsaw, its evolution and its present state. From an empty space, through the Avenue – written in the singular – planted with poplars in the 19th century, to an important thoroughfare: with the railway station, the Poniatowski Bridge, the cross-city line, the Warsaw Commuter Railway and the widening of the street after the war. Today, the Avenue is mischievously referred to as the Jerusalem Route, for the dominance of cars and asphalt and its prevailing traffic function. New to the life of the Avenue are the above-ground pedestrian crossings and plans to re-green the street.

Maria Sołtys

Maria Sołtys is an architect by training and a designer of architecture and urban planning by profession. She is active in the Association of Polish Architects SARP and has been popularising Warsaw urban planning and architectural history for 15 years. She is also a member of the Chamber of Architects. For several years she has worked with the Centre for the Interpretation of Monuments (lecture series: Warsaw - a city on the verge of development, 2013; Between capitalism and metropolis, 2014). She is the author of Urban Sources of Reconstruction - one of the themes of the exhibition Reconstruction Disputes (Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, WARSZAWA W BUDOWIE 7, 2015).