Nova Huta

Nowa Huta
Bird's eye view of Ronald Reagan Square
Nowa Huta (№ XVIII) on the map of the 18 districts of Kraków, with Vistula River running from west to east.

Nowa Huta (pronounced [ˈnɔva ˈxuta], literally The New Steel Mill) - is the easternmost district of Kraków, Poland, With more than 200,000 inhabitants, it is one of the most populous areas of the city. The neighboring districts until 1990 were considered expansions of the original Nowa Huta township and were linked by the same tramway system. They are now separate districts of Kraków.

Nowa Huta is one of only two planned socialist realist settlements or districts ever built and "one of the most renowned examples of deliberate social engineering" on the globe. Built as a Utopian ideal city, its street hierarchy, layout and certain grandeur of buildings often resemble Paris or London. The high abundance of parks and green areas in Nowa Huta make it the greenest part of Kraków.

Because of its relevance to Stalinism and former communist dominance over East-Central Europe, Nowa Huta is deliberately neglected by the city authorities as a symbol of socialist-totalitarian rule.

The historic area of present-day Nowa Huta is one of the few places in Poland settled continuously since the neolithic age. Archeological research has discovered a big Celtic settlement and Poland's oldest Slavic settlements there. In the 8th century, a mound was erected nearby by the Vistulans. According to legend, the Wanda Mound is a tomb of Wanda, daughter of Krakus, a mythical founder of Kraków (Cracow). In the 13th century a Cistercian monastery in the village of Mogiła was built.