- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- 1832 · 19th century
- Location
- Masovian Voivodeship, Poland
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 52.2650°, 21.0000°
History
After the November Uprising collapsed, Tsar Nicholas I ordered a fortress on the Vistula to watch over the rebellious capital. Construction to the designs of General Ivan Dehn began in 1832, largely at the expense of the Kingdom's inhabitants; the main works were finished in 1834, and a ring of forts was added later. Pavilion X served as a political interrogation prison whose inmates included Romuald Traugutt, Józef Piłsudski and Rosa Luxemburg. On the Citadel's slopes on 5 August 1864 Traugutt and members of the insurgent National Government were hanged, and executions of insurgents and revolutionaries continued into the early 20th century. After 1918 the fortress passed to the Polish Army.
What to see
Brick walls and earthworks enclose a large site by the Vistula, part of which is still military. Pavilion X is a museum with reconstructed cells, and the Gate of Executions leads down to the slopes, where a cross marks the place where Traugutt and other insurgents died. The Citadel also houses the Katyń Museum and the new buildings of the Museum of Polish History and the Polish Army Museum.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q206212
Popularity: articles about this site in 16 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).