Praga Północ: a guide to Warsaw's right-bank district

Praga Północ, the district on the right bank of the Vistula, is the most genuine surviving piece of old Warsaw. Its name comes from prażenie - the burning of forest to clear land for settlement - and the first references to Praga go back almost 600 years. While the left-bank city was levelled during World War II, Praga was largely spared, which is why its 19th-century tenement houses, temples and industrial buildings still stand.

A stormy, multicultural past

Praga's history includes the Swedish Deluge, the 1794 massacre during the Kościuszko Uprising and the battles of the November Uprising. For centuries Catholics, Jews and Orthodox Christians lived side by side here - a mix still visible in the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian the Martyr and the Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The district of Szmulowizna recalls the royal banker Szmul Zbytkower, and the historic Różycki's Market (Bazar Różyckiego) was founded in the 19th century by the pharmacist Julian Różycki.

Koneser: from vodka factory to culture hub

The district's most recognisable industrial complex, the former Warsaw Vodka Distillery Koneser, was built between 1895 and 1897 and reopened in 2018 after a full revitalization as Centrum Praskie Koneser. The five-hectare site between Białostocka, Markowska, Nieporęcka and Ząbkowska streets mixes restaurants, bars and cafés with museums and galleries - the Polish Vodka Museum sits in the historic rectification building - plus the Warsaw Moxy Praga hotel and the only Google for Startups Campus in Central and Eastern Europe. The restored main gate on Ząbkowska is open around the clock and leads to the public Plac Konesera.

The art scene and how to visit

Neglected for decades after the war, Praga was rediscovered first by filmmakers, then by artists, and its galleries, clubs and workshops now make it Warsaw's most creative district. Ząbkowska, Brzeska, Inżynierska and 11 Listopada streets draw the crowds; the Neon Museum and the Warsaw Zoo also sit on this side of the river. The easiest way in is the M2 metro to Dworzec Wileński; from there Ząbkowska street and Koneser are a short walk.