Jaworzno mało znane – Podwale

The Podwale housing estate is one of the largest in Jaworzno. It has become a permanent part of the cityscape. It stretches from Grunwaldzka Street to Warpa Street, bordering the city center, Gigant, Pechnik, and Jerozolima. Just a few decades ago, this area was virtually empty. It consisted of sparse fields, wasteland, and sparse trees. However, with the ongoing development of Jaworzno's industry, the need for new housing also increased. New workers from the mines and power plants were arriving in large numbers in Jaworzno, and the existing development was unable to meet the demand for new housing. Therefore, new districts began to develop in the area starting in the 1950s. The first were temporary and ad hoc, such as the Emergency Housing Estate and the Amusement Park. Over time, however, permanent housing developments began to be built. Examples include the Permanent Housing Estate and the Tadeusz Kościuszko Housing Estate. Podwale was no exception. The latter, however, was built somewhat later, opening in the early 1960s. The informal division into Stare Podwale and Nowe Podwale survives to this day. Stare Podwale stretches roughly from Lipowa Street to S. F. Mazur Street, its axis being the current 11 Listopada Street. A distinctive feature of the buildings here was that they differed significantly from those erected in the Osiedle Stałe (Staving Estate) or the OTK (Open City Tourist and Cultural Center). The buildings there contained many elements of socialist realism: arcades, arcades, slightly widened foundations, pronounced cornices, and soaring and pitched roofs. All of this emphasized socialist realism, emphasizing the position and role of the communist government. Interestingly, both OTK and Podwale were designed by the same man: Aleksander Grygorowicz, a professor at the Poznań University of Technology. Mr. Grygorowicz was a distinguished figure, an erudite, an architect, and an academic. Equally intriguing, Aleksander Grygorowicz wrote his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professor Wiktor Zin, whom we Jaworzno residents know as the architect who designed the contemporary St. Adalbert Church in Jaworzno. However, the two estates, built almost simultaneously, differ fundamentally. Podwale no longer exhibits the hallmarks of socialist realism from the turn of the 1940s and 1950s. The buildings here are simple, one might say pragmatic, but also arguably cheaper, resembling "building blocks" arranged on a hillside. The apartment blocks were built of brick. The rest of Podwale, the New Podwale, however, which was built somewhat later, was constructed of prefabricated concrete slabs, extending into the very center. A distinctive feature of this estate is that it was built on the slope of a substantial hill. Equally distinctive were the stairs that stretched upwards between the apartment blocks. From a slightly further perspective, the estate itself resembles a staircase of sorts. A major attraction of this location is the beautiful view of the mountains from the top of Podwale, and in clear weather, the Tatra Mountains and Babia Góra. Finally, a few words about the possible origin of the name. In the past, it was argued that the name of the estate refers to the former fortifications and ramparts that were once intended to protect Jaworzno. Hence the name "Podwale," meaning "under the rampart." Ramparts were indeed sometimes used to refer to such fortifications. In some towns, the name Podwale appears as a result of such ramparts, fortifications, or even defensive walls. However, in the case of Jaworzno, there is no evidence that this was the case. The name "Podwale," in itself, also refers to natural formations, such as ramparts, hills, and slopes, and what lay beneath them was called Podwale. Let's remember that for the vast majority of its history, Jaworzno was an ordinary village, and the existence of any defensive ramparts here was pointless. Jarosław Sawiak Material from https://www.jaw.pl #jaworzno #jawpl