About This Location
This small cobbled square in Warsaw’s Old Town is called Szeroki Dunaj - the Wide Danube. The name is not a joke about the famous river. Long ago, a spring bubbled up right here, and a little stream began its run downhill toward the Vistula. In old Polish, “dunaj” could mean a big river, and later the word was used in songs and stories for many kinds of rivers. That is why nearby streets still carry the names Szeroki Dunaj and Wąski Dunaj. The cast-iron pump marks that lost source of water. It comes from the 19th century, a time when clean water was a daily concern and street pumps were essential. Look closely at the details: stylized heads, a plant-like ornament that brings water plants to mind, and the Warsaw mermaid - the city’s symbol. Even the paving around the square is meant to hint at water, with wave-like patterns. For centuries, this was also a place of work and trade. From 1631 there was a fish market here, where women sold salted fish, while fresh fish was reserved for the stalls at the Old Town Market Square. Later, around the turn of the 19th century, the fish trade faded and the square turned into a vegetable and flower market that lasted into the early 20th century. Stalls leaned against the city walls, and craftspeople worked nearby - including shoemakers, who were strongly connected to this area. Szeroki Dunaj also carries a darker memory. During the Warsaw Uprising, on 2 September 1944, German forces carried out an execution here, killing 70 people. Soon after, much of the Old Town was destroyed. What surrounds this pump today is the careful postwar reconstruction that brought the Old Town back, stone by stone, while leaving places like this to quietly hold the older layers of the city.