Hala Gwardia, Hala Mirowska

Having written about Koszyki last Friday, it's time to write about the other two surviving enclosed markets of Warsaw - Hala Mirowska and Hala Gwardii, also built around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The two buildings can be treated as one complex, they are separated by a market square (built over with small shops in the 1960s) but were architecturally identical originally.

Part of Śródmieście Północ, the two buildings lie between al. Jana Pawła II and ul. Ptasia, which leads towards ul. Marszałkowska. Below: the eastern end of Hala Gwardii, currently undergoing external restoration. Inside, it's been turned into an organic and regional food bazaar (closed this evening). Between 2002 and 2005 I worked just around the corner from here, on ul. Zimna, so I knew these buildings well. Hala Gwardii has changed in terms of the retail experience, Hala Mirowska retains that old-school feel. The Vietnamese restaurant, Asia Tasty (that does the best pho in town) is still there, on the corner nearest the camera). Inside Hala Gwardii I could espy a craft ale shop.

Below: looking at the western end of Hala Gwardii. In communist times, a sports centre, with a focus on boxing. The 1953 European Amateur Boxing Championships took place here, two months after Stalin shuffled off this mortal coil. (Poland came first in the medals table; England fourth).

Below: the eastern entrance of Hala Mirowska, which has had an external facelift, though internally is pretty much as I remember it in 2004. The contrast between the two buildings is stark; one has been immaculately restored - the other has shrubs growing out of its upper stories.

Below: the western entrance of Hala Mirowska, somewhat spoilt by an incongruous modernist box shoved onto the elevation. The 1960s annex could not clash more with the neo-romanesque original. The pavement along the east side of al. Jana Pawła II from Park Mirowski to ul. Elektoralna is packed with flower stalls. Incidentally, the Warsaw district of Mirów from which Hala Mirowska gets its name was itself named after Gen. William Mier McDuff (1680-1758), the Scottish creator of the Polish royal cavalry guards regiment, which had its barracks and stables on this site.

Below: inside Hala Mirowska. The ground floor is dominated by a Społem supermarket - Poland's answer to the Co-op; nothing amazing but all the essentials and a few luxuries are here. Surrounding the Społem are lots of old-school retailers selling all kinds of goods and services including wicker baskets and traditional tablecloths.

Below: the northern elevation of Hala Mirowska; the brickwork and iron-and-glass ceiling very much of its time; I am minded of Covent Garden, Smithfields and Billingsgate, the great covered markets of Victorian London.

The war did not spare Hala Mirowska and Hala Gwardii; both were severely damaged. Below: a fragment of wall left unrestored, with bullet holes in the brickwork. It was here, against these very walls, on 7-8 August 1944 that the Germans massacred 510 civilians. The buildings themselves were bombed and burned.

Restored in 2011, Hala Mirowska still caters for Warsaw's older, less well-off residents, while Hala Gwardii contains an offer aimed at a more youthful and wealthier clientele, though sadly it was closed this evening. Worth a visit - not just for the shopping, but for the architecture and history.

This time last year:
Four stations between Piaseczno and Czachówek

This time four years ago:
A tragedy foretold [Putin's masacre of 280 civilians over East Ukraine]