Grochów

Grochów is a district of Warsaw, officially part of the borough of Praga-Południe although not connected at all to historical "Praga" district. It is one of the most notable residential areas of right-bank Warsaw. There are a large number of blocks of flats, as well as many pre-WWI houses. Grochów is nicknamed "the lungs of Warsaw", owing to its many green spaces. Despite plans made by the former Communist authorities, Grochów had not transformed into strictly industrial district, even though it had been such in the 19th century.

For centuries, Grochów was a small village south-east of Praga. The fields of Grochów and nearby Kamion saw the election of Henryk Walezy (in 1573) and August III Sas (in 1733) as Polish kings, since these fields were chosen as the seat of the Polish election Sejms. Until the late 18th century the village was the property of the bishops of Płock and shared the fate of the nearby Kamion. Since 16th century the field of Grochów was about 2.6 square kilometres in size and was one of the biggest undivided fields in all of Masovia. However, the Swedish Invasion of 1656 wreaked destruction, and a prosperous village was completely looted and burnt to the ground; only 9 houses remained. In 1780 Grochów was bought by King Stanisław August Poniatowski who gave it to his nephew, Prince Stanisław Poniatowski. The latter soon built a small manor in the village, the first house there to be constructed of anything besides wood. He soon subdivided the village into eight separate properties, selling each to a different family. This led to a period of prosperity as the village was rebuilt and began to serve as one of the most important centres of grain production and trade for the nearby city of Warsaw.

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Wikipedia