Praga’s jumble of old tenements and factories embodies the city’s history and its extremes of wealth and poverty.Idealink Photography / Alamy
Never mind Praga's reputation as the haunt of Warsaw's lowlifes. It is worth crossing the Vistula River to experience Poland's artistic and intellectual milieu. Long derelict after decades of neglect, Praga is regaining respect for its architectural heritage and shedding its notoriety as a wild zone, thanks to the artists and musicians who have migrated to the neighbourhood.
Praga was once the stomping grounds of Russia's Red Army in 1944 when Hitler's Nazis stormed in to annihilate Warsaw's Medieval Old Town. Then, in five decades under communism, unsavoury types were shuffled out of the city centre into Praga. Rebuilding since the end of communism has concentrated in Warsaw's famous Old Town as Praga continued to deteriorate.
Its old lampposts and crumbling buildings remained testimonies to prewar days, grimy hives for the criminal underworld that lurked beyond the Vistula River . Today, Praga has become Warsaw's precious historic area, an authentic jumble of old tenements and factories, their bricks pitted by wartime bullets, wrought-iron embellishments bent awry, and their art nouveau details begging to be restored. Exploring Praga, with its collection of Baroque and Byzantine churches, their domes and spires reaching to heaven, and the clutch of religious icons at every turn, you're smitten by the palpable hope of the downtrodden living in sorry scenarios blatantly juxtaposed to the exuberant pockets buzzing with galleries, fringe theatres, cafés and bars.
RESIDENTIAL GLORY
Praga's grim state proved a visual boon for film directors Steven Spielberg and Roman Polanski, who filmed Schindler's List and The Pianist on the architecturally significant Zabkowska Street. This street showcases Praga's former glory: its oldest house, No. 7, circa 1880, and its most beautiful house, No. 2, circa 1914. Some homes are converted to bars. Three favourites among bar-hoppers are: Po Drugiej Lustra; W Oparach Absurdu; and Tysy Pingwin.
INDUSTRIAL CHIC
Koneser Vodka Factory: Zabkowska 27-31; 48-22-537-0227 www.latokonesera.pl
Praga owes much of its rejuvenation to creative types who - instead of lamenting the sad state of its old factories and warehouses - saw avant-garde reinventions. The old Koneser Vodka Factory was once seen as Zabkowska's eyesore, but is now prized for its post-Industrialist architecture. The complex of 1897 Gothic-style buildings is transformed from a distillery to a cultural centre with a restaurant; two notable art galleries, Klimy Bochenska and Luksfera Photography; a design shop selling quirky art; and Warsaw's famed Teatr Wytornia. On warm evenings, Koneser's courtyard serves as an open-air cinema with art movies screened on a brick wall.
AN ARTIST ENCLAVE
Studio Melon: Inzynierska 3; 48-22-818-79-98; www.studiomelon.pl
Warsaw's creative element immediately clustered around residents Iza Bil and Andrzej Wyszynski when they set up Studio Melon Photography in the run-down Wroblewski Warehouse storage complex, built around 1910. Today, their Studio Melon Café - adorned with works by Praga photographers and writers - is a bohemian hub for artists, intellectuals and theatre types who linger over espressos and hearty meals. Among its neighbouring clubs, Sen Pszczoly is popular for its live music.
DANCE DANCE DANCE
Saturator: 11 Listopada 22; 48-504-353-772; www.saturator.art.pl
Sklad Butelek: 11 Listopada 22; 48-602-338-824; www.skladbutelek.pl
Praga's zinging nightlife thrives in atmospheric old tenements. The courtyard at Listopada 11 marks the entrance to a hive of clubs, most clad with funky furniture, all featuring DJs and or live music.
FINE FOOD, FINER CHAMPAGNE
PortoPraga: Stefana Okrzei 23; 48-22-698-5001, www.portopraga.pl
Praga's classiest eatery, Porto Praga spans three floors in a converted 200-year-old textile mill that also includes a whisky-cigar bar and cocktail lounge-dance club. The city's elite flock to dine on seafood bouillon with saffron, duckling dusted with orange bison grass and served with beetroot strudel. Rich Varsovians (as Warsaw locals are called) sip Cristal Louis Roederer Brut '96 at 1,000 euros.
REMNANTS OF JEWISH PAST
A silent square at Klopostowskkiego 31 speaks volumes of history. The barren site of the Prague Synagogue, destroyed under communism in 1961, the square is flanked by a humble red brick building that housed Praga's Mikvah (Jewish ritual bathhouse). After the Second World War, it served as the Office of the Central committee of Polish Jews, and later as a school. Nearby, three early-19th-century houses at Targow 50/52 - their painted walls depicting Jews in Jerusalem - are being turned into a museum commemorating Praga's Jewish history, opening in 2012.
BLACK MARKET TO FLEA MARKET
Rozycki Bazaar: Targowa 54, www.br.waw.pl
Three Jewish merchant homes grace the entrance to Praga's century-old Rozycky Bazar, where cunning locals bartered for goods and fake passports with German soldiers during the Second World War and black market traders did the same under communism. Today, it's cluttered with bargains, clothes and knock-offs, from shoes to purses and watches. It's worth winding among the 250 booths for the jewellers crafting unique pieces, many set with semi-precious amber.
Special to The Globe and Mail