Sigismund's Column and the Royal Castle seen from above, looking north towards the Old Town
The ruined square with the toppled Sigismund's Column and the burned-out houses of the Old Town
The rebuilt John's townhouse and re-erected Sigismund's Column, with St Martin's Church behind
The square with buses and the empty, cleared site of the Royal Castle before its reconstruction
The rebuilt Royal Castle and Sigismund's Column seen from Krakowskie Przedmieście, with parked cars
Sigismund's Column, the Old Town houses and the Royal Castle's clock tower
The square and the Royal Castle seen from above, looking north towards the Old Town
Castle Square lies at the gate to the Old Town, with Sigismund's Column (1644) and the Royal Castle, the residence of the President of Poland in 1926–1939. The castle burned after German shelling in September 1939 and its remains were blown up by the Germans in 1944; the column was toppled during the Warsaw Uprising. The column was re-erected in 1949, when the W-Z route tunnel was built under the square, and the castle was rebuilt in 1971–1984.