Warsaw's river in the picture
Canaletto's famous 18th-century panorama of Warsaw may have cast the environ of the Vistula river in a romantic light, but over the years the area has become something of an eyesore. Now the city hopes to improve the riverbank with the creation of the Vistula Nature Park.
The project is ambitious, and includes a network of footpaths, cycling routes, sport facilities and viewing terraces that should attract tourists and locals to relax at the riverside, admire nature and the view. The 2,500-hectare park will encompass such distant districts and areas as Młociny, the Zoo, Old Town and Wilanów Park.
A competition to create the project of the park was won by the studio of architect Grzegorz Chojnacki. The first stage of the project implementation will see works done in the area between Młociński Forest and Skarpa Potocka, which will take about three years.
The authorities are now preparing the necessary documentation to begin works, while funds for the project have been secured in the 2007 budget of the City Hall's Bureau of Environment Conservation. According to Warsaw City Hall, this specific project will cost up to zł.1 million, while the implementation of the whole idea of the Vistula Nature Park may consume even zł.200 million. Further stages of the project's execution will be financed from the city's budget, but the authorities also want to apply for EU funds.
Grzegorz Chojnacki admits that the Vistula is neglected, and the city is living its own life, with its back turned to the river. "Not much is happening at the moment at the riverside; apart from a few places, much of the Vistula simply does not exist," he says. The main idea of Chojnacki's concept is to create a quasi-natural park.
Chojnacki says that the Praga bank is the wildest and most attractive spot as far as nature is concerned and he would welcome the creation of a viewing terrace in the spot where Bernardo Bellotto Caneletto painted his famous picture of Warsaw. Hopefully in the future a new generation of Canalettos will be painting attractive views of the city from the same point.
