Parks

Most post-Communist cities are known for their spacious parks, which were favored public infrastructure under both the tsars and Communists and remain a priority for city development today. Note that we have defined “park” relatively widely here, as the concept is wide in most of the cultures we cover on this site. A zoos, for instance, is known as a “zoopark” in many Slavic languages. Some parks are open green spaces and some are heavily developed with sport and cultural infrastructure. We have also included here botanical gardens and beaches.

Cross-reference parks by their city: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Kyiv, Warsaw, or Bishkek.

Piłsudski Square in Warsaw as Microcosm of Polish History

Piłsudski Square is Warsaw’s largest open square. It is named for Jozef Piłsudski, a Polish WWI general, statesman, and national hero who turned the tide of the Polish-Soviet War in Poland’s favor by stopping the Soviet advance in the iconic 1920 Battle of Warsaw. The Square is located in the heart of Warsaw between the […]

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