Uhlan sabre found at Five Corners Square construction site

Renovation of the Five Corners Square has begun in March last year but, due to various archeological discoveries, it had to be halted a number of times at the request of a historic preservation office. The construction was paused for the first time already a few days after being launched, as fragments of an old paved road were discovered underneath the asphalt at Szpitalna Street.

"The paved road was examined by archeologists, for whom - as it later turned out - it wasn't the only point of huge interest. In July, they returned to the square, in order to check the foundations of pre-war tenement houses located there. During the search and securing, they came across an object resembling a melee weapon," City Road Management (ZDM) informed on Wednesday.

The find has attracted the attention of the Masovian Voivodeship Historic Preservation Officer, who sent a letter to the ZDM a few days ago, informing that the found item is an Ulhan sabre, most likely from 1921. "It was hidden between the relics of bricked foundation (basement) of a pre-war tenement house (Swiss Confectionery) at the corner of Szpitalna and Zgoda," the officer wrote.

The building in question was known as Dom Prasowy (Press House), as it was home to many newspapers, including "Gazeta Polska". The ground floor was used by the aforementioned Cukiernia Szwajcarska (Swiss Confectionery).

The historic preservation officer also said that the sabre was part of Polish Army equipment in 1939. "The item has been marked as a valuable relic. It's been just added to the collection of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw. There, the new exhibit will be further analysed and photographed for precise documentation," he told ZDM.

City Road Management also informed that the construction of the eastern side of the square has been completed, and the work now focuses on the western side at the entries from Chmielna and Widok streets.

The long-awaited redevelopment of the Five Corners Square began in March, 2021.

"Zgoda street will be closed for traffic, with the exception of local residents, and the whole square and roadways leading to it will be marked as 'residential zone', which gives priority to pedestrians" - the chief of the ZDM Łukasz Puchalski said last year.

Additional pedestrian crossings will be opened where Krucza meets Widok street. Crossings on Złota, Jasna and Zgody streets are to become safer thanks to reconstruction and traffic restrictions.

A uniform surface without separate sidewalks and roadways will be created. Pedestrians will gain priority status in the area. The pavement will be covered with concrete slabs reinforced with crushed stone aggregate. New street lamps, plenty of sitting space, a fountain and greenery will appear, including 22 field maples up to 9 metres tall (in the western part of the square, close to the old and the new Jabłkowski Brothers' department stores).

Furthermore, Szpitalna (up to Górskiego street) and Krucza (up to Aleje Jerozolimskie) streets will also be renovated. Here, too, the sidewalks will be extended and new surface will appear. In the south-east corner of Krucza and Widok, trees and benches will replace the parking lot.

The project has been prepared by WXCA Architecture Office (architect Michał Kempiński), and the construction will be carried out by Strabag. The cost of the reconstruction is 14.5 million zlotys.