The name of the street comes from a small
village erected in 1774 by prince and
marshal August Sułkowski for the
Jewish settlers in
Mazovia. The name of the village was
Nowa Jerozolima (
New Jerusalem), and the road to Warsaw was named
Aleja Jerozolimska (singular, as opposed to the modern Polish name, which is plural). The village was established despite an antisemitic law which forbade Jews from living within a two-mile radius of Old Warsaw. A lawsuit was brought against Sulkowsi and the neighborhood was destroyed on 23 January 1776. The Jewish community was expelled, their houses torn down, and their belongings confiscated. It was there that the
first railway station in Warsaw was built. In the late 19th century, the easternmost part of it became one of the most representative—and the most expensive—areas of the ever-growing city. In the early 20th century, and especially after Poland regained its independence in 1918, the street was extended westwards, and the borough of
Wola was eventually incorporated into the city. Under the Nazi regime, the name was changed to Bahnofstrasse. After
World War II, the
Stalinist regime demolished what was left of the buildings, and since then the northern side of the street is currently dominated by the gigantic
Palace of Culture and Science and the
Warszawa Centralna railway station. The only surviving blocks of pre-war architecture are located to the south of the street, including the historic
Hotel Polonia Palace and the Hoserów townhouse apartment building at 51 Jerusalem which host the
Warsaw Fotoplastikon vintage stereoscopic theatre in its courtyard. Halfway down the street, at the junction with Krucza and Bracka streets, Warsaw's original main post-war department store,
CDT 'Smyk' is located. In 2002, Jewish-Polish artist Joanna Rajkowska created a memorial of the area's Jewish community. She struggled to find funders who were willing to take on the project, and her initial request for permission to install the piece was denied. The piece,
Greetings from Jerusalem Avenue, is a 15-metre tall replica palm tree that was inspired by a trip the artist took to Jerusalem. ==Images==