The oldest records of Sielce, then known as
Siedlce, date to 1412, when duke
Janusz I the Old gave its ownership to the
St. John Archcathedral. It remained in its possession until it was
confiscated by the
Prussian government, following the
Third Partition of Poland in 1795. Sielce was a small farming community, probably originating as a part of the village of
Czerniaków. In 1628, its farming estate had an area of 5
lans, equivalent to around 90 ha. In 1680, nobleperson and politician
Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski built his palace residence near the current Piaseczyńska Street, with a garden complex. It included the Arcadia and Rabbit House ponds. In 1720, the area was bought by
Augustus III of Poland, monarch of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, to use its natural water
springs, to feed the water features of the
Royal Baths park complex. In 1770, the fortification lines known as the
Lubomirski Ramparts were developed around Warsaw, crossing land to the north of Mokotów. By the beginning of the 18th century, a set of tollhouses was established at the entrance alongside Belwederska Street (then Belweder Road), known as the Belweder Tollhouses. Between 1818 and 1823, they were replaced with two new
neoclassical pavilions. In 1775, the village was leased to king
Stanisław August Poniatowski, who founded there an
English landscape garden centred around the Sielce Lake. In the second half of the 18th century the Sielce Manor House, a two-storey palace, was built in the
neoclassical style in the garden. Around 1860, a
silkworm farm was established in the area. In 1774, the Szuster Palace, together with a garden complex, were built to the northwest of Sielce, as a residence of princess
Elżbieta Izabela Lubomirska. In 1820, the estate became property of nobleperson
Anna Tyszkiewicz, and in 1845, it was bought by Franciszek Szuster, who then opened a popular
holiday village in the area, named the Promenade (
Polish:
Promenada), with the gardens becoming its recreational green area. The park also included the Promenade Ponds, two artificial lakes formed from flooded
clay pits. At the end of the 19th century, the Promenade
amusement park was opened, with a luxury restaurant, circus, and open-air theatre among other attractions. It operated until the outbreak of the
First World War, and again from its end until the beginning of the
Second World War. In the second half of the 19th century, a portion of Sielce belonged to
Konstantin Pavlovich, the commander-in-chief of the
Army of Congress Poland, and a member of the
House of Romanov. Following his and his wife's deaths in 1831, the possession was left in their last will to his brother,
Nicholas I, the
Emperor of Russia and
King of Poland. As such, it became a property of the Russian government, and remained in its possession until the independence of Poland in 1918. In 1866, a portion of the lands of Sielce, which belonged to the estate of the
Duchy of Łowicz, was partitioned and sold, leading to the formations of four new hamlets founded alongside Wilanów Road (now Jana III Sobieskiego Street). They were Jadzin, Marcelin, Stoczek, and Przylipie. On 13 January 1867, the area became part of the rural municipality of
Mokotów, established as part of the administrative reform in the Kingdom of Poland. The municipality was incorporated into the city of
Warsaw on 8 April 1916. In 1891, the
narrow-gauge tracks of the Wilanów Railway were built crossing the area along the current Chełmska Street, with a station in Marcelin. In 1894, the
horsecars were replaced with steam locomotives. Amid the protest from the residents of Sielce against the noise caused by the trains, the route was altered to omit the village. In 1914, a tram line was briefly operated crossing the village, however, due to low demand, it was closed shortly after, and the tracks were removed. In 1921, Sielce was connected to the municipal transit system via a bus line, which was replaced with a tram line on Czerniakowska Street a year later. The line ended at the Bernardine Square in Czerniaków. In the
interwar period, the area around Belwederska Street began to develop into a modern suburb. At the time, two
Catholic churches were constructed in the area. This included the St. Joseph the Betrothed Church built at 137 Czerniakowska Street in 1926, and the St. Casimir Church, built at 21A Chełmska Street in 1934. In 1944, the neighbourhood became a battleground during the
Warsaw Uprising. At night from 15 to 16 September, the
Polish resistance partisans were pushed out of Sielce by the German soldiers, retreating to
Upper Mokotów. Between 1953 and 1967, a series of housing estates were developed in the area. They were centred around Chełmska, Gagarina, and Sobieskiego Streets, and featured apartment buildings constructed with the
large panel system technology. This included neighbourhoods of Chełmska, Dolna-Belwederska, Dolna-Piaseczyńska, Dolna-Sobieskiego, and Sielce, among others. In 1956, the Czerniaków Hospital, featuring 8 wards, was opened at 19 and 25 Stępińska Street. In 1960, the Chełmska bus depot was opened at the corner of Chełmska and Czerniakowska Streets. As the only one of the city, it stored the
trolleybuses, until they were phazed out in 1973. The depot operated until 2006 when it was demolished. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the historic gardens in the area were redeveloped into the
Arcadia Park, the
Sielce Park, and the
Eye of the Sea Park. In 1974, Czerniakowska Street became part of Vistula Way, a
thoroughfare crossing the city on the north–south axis. To facilitate the change, the tram tracks were removed from Czerniakowska Street, Gagarina Street, and Spacerowa Street in 1973. In 1980, the
brutalist bookstore pavilion, known as Uniwersus, was built at 20 and 22 Belwederska Street, and acclaimed for its design. In the 1990s, it was turned into an office building. In 1991, the
Tadeusz Koźluk Medical Academy of Warsaw, the first private university in the city, was founded at 9 Bobrowiecka Street. In 1993, the Centrum Handlowe Panorama was opened at 31 Witosa Street, becoming the first shopping mall in the city. On 4 October 1996, the Mokotów district was subdivided into twelve City Information System areas, with Sielce becoming one of them. In 2002, the Agora Headquarters, a
postmodernist office building was opened at 8 and 10 Czerska Street. It was acclaimed for its design, and is regarded as one of the best office building designs in the city. The same year, the Wajda School, a private film university, was founded at 21 Chełmska Street, by filmmakers
Andrzej Wajda,
Wojciech Marczewski, and Barbara Pec-Ślesicka. In 2003, the
Beit Warszawa Synagogue, which belongs to the
Reform Jewish denomination, was founded in a house at 9 Stępińska Street. In 2024, tram line tracks were opened alongside Belwederska Street, Jana III Sobiesdkiego Street, Spacerowa Street, and Gagarina Street. == Characteristics ==