Warsaw was originally founded in 1374, although the area along the river had been settled for many years previously. The rapid development and growth of the new city saw it become the capital of the province on Mazovia in 1413.
Warsaw was made capital of all Poland in 1596 under King Zygmunt III just in time to be utterly destroyed during the war with Sweden in 1655. The last king of Poland, Stanislaw August Poniatowski ruled from the city until 1772, and the city then became the democratic centre of the country.
In 1795, Poland officially ceased to exist, after the 3rd Partition saw the country come under first Prussian and then Russian rule
In 1807, Napoleon's wars saw the city become head of its own duchy, and 8 years later, still under rule of the Russian Tsar, Warsaw was once again the capital of a Poland of sorts. Despite uprisings against the Russians in 1830 and 1863, the Tsar remained in charge until the end of the First World War, when Poland achieved an independence that was to last just 21 years, at which point it was conquered by the Nazis, and razed to the ground following an uprising in 1944 which saw the entire population deported.
Soviet Rule followed the war, and continued up until 1989, and during this period the old town was restored to its former grandeur, and many of the ugliest buildings in the world were constructed.
Since the country opened its doors to tourists in the 1990s, new development has seen the city grow into a modern and pleasant place to visit marked by a low cost of living, and plenty of sights to see.
