Targowa is the oldest street in Warsaw and the main street of Praga. Its beginnings date back to the turn of the XII and the XIII century. The street was given name in 1791. The name comes from live-stock market which took place on the present day Praga, which then was a village – Targowe Wielkie. Targowa acts as a trading street. Numerous stalls, shops, outlets and bazaars have appeared along the street for a few centuries. The fact that at the end of the XVIIIth century there were 71 wooden houses and only one made of brick can prove the development of Targowa Street. The street was also one of the most populated streets. It had 1300 inhabitants. Unfortunately its development was stopped during Kościuszko insurrection (1794). Most of the wooden street was burned then. The reconstruction was stopped by Napoleon’s prohibition concerning building brick houses. In 1808 another houses were pulled down. Two town halls Praski and Skaryszewski were destroyed then.

    But the destroyed street was given a second chance. In 1862 Petersburski (Wileński) raiway station was built. In 1868 St Maria Magdalena’s Orthodox Church, in 1864 Terespolski (Wschodni) railway station and Kierbedź Bridge were built. Kierbedź Bridge joined the industrial part of Praga making transportation, the development of market and inflow of investors easier. That increased the significance of the railway stations at Targowa. This caused that the stations started to employ more workers and as a consequence special blocks of flats for workers were built.
   One of such buildings still exists at number 70. It was built in 1828 and it has art nouveau façade. Between people who come to Praga in the XVIII century there were many different ethnic groups. In 1869 St Maria Magdalena’s Orthodox Church was finished. It was built on request of numerous Orthodox population of Praga. It was built in the years 1868-1869. The Church appeared in a place where until 1794 St Andrew’s Church was. The architecture of the Orthodox Church is in the Byzantine and Russian style according to Mikołaj Syczew’s project. The Orthodox population was so numerous that the architect designed so called upper and lower Church. During the II World War the lower part was used as a shelter during air raids. It wasn’t harmed mainly thanks to the neighbouring buildings. The Church was one of the few which survived the wars of the XX century. Its rank has increased. Today it is the most important Orthodox Church in Poland. In front of the entrance to the Church there is a presbytery and a garden.

    On the other side of the street there is a building of Centralna Dyrekcja Kolei Państwowych (DOKP). The building was built in 1928 next to Petersburski railway station. The structure is the biggest public centre in Praga. This building wasn’t damaged during II World War and after it many departments had their seats here. It is decorated with friezes which represent different departments and its outside walls are decorated with Dorian porticos. The inside of the building is decorated in art deco style. Three main entrances to the building are protected by gates. The building was registered into the list of monuments. It was built according to Marian Lalewicz’s project. Opposite the front of the building there is a monument called ‘czterech śpiących’ but its real name is Polsko-Radzieckiego Braterstwa Broni (Polish-Russian Monument of Brotherhood of Arms) and it was built on 18th November 1945.

   Another object worth seeing is the building of Włdysław IV Lyceum. It was built around 1905 according to A. Kozłowski’s project. In interwar years (1918 – 1939) Polish Gymnasium was here whose graduates, among others, were: Janusz Korczak, Szymon Kobyliński, Wiesław Ochman. All these buildings weren’t significantly damaged during II World War only because they are near the ruins of once biggest factory in Warsaw.

   The factory ‘wulkan’ which in 1913 employed more than 2000 workers, specialized in metal and enamelled products. On the developing street new employment made people happy and caused troubles because of failure of sufficient transport service. In 1866 the tracks of horse rail were here and in 1881 it was changed into a horse tram. But the real turn was year 1909 because this is when the electric tram was introduced here. The tram tracks go through Targowa Street until today.    ‘Wulkan’ which during war produced weapons for the Germans was called at that time ‘Warschauer Gesellschft der Metal’. Before the war the main products of the factory were chamber pots. The factory, as a strategic point, protected the nearby buildings from the air raids for the most of the war time. ‘Wulkan’ worked until 1953 as most of it was destroyed when the Nazi were moving out of Warsaw and had the order to destroy everything here.

   Other interesting buildings on Targowa are tenements, usually built at the end of the XIX and at the beginning of the XX century by rich people not necessarily living on Praga. One of the prominent inhabitants of Praga was Juliusz Nagórski, an architect who designed and built the most luxurious building on Praga until 1939 (tenement number 15). The house exists until today. Once there was a bookshop in it known on the whole Praga, today there is only a shop with clothes. This tenement has two interesting neighbours. One of them is the stadium (Jarmark Europa) where you can buy everything and anything, and the other is the most neglected and wasted building on Praga (number 21).
   I could write more about the magnificent architecture and ornaments but believe me they are really beautiful and there are many such buildings on Praga especially on Targowa Street and no words can describe them. Unfortunately we look at them as they are getting ruined. But the most important relic, but for sure not the most beautiful, is Rózycki’s bazaar. The bazaar concentrated people who wanted to earn some money honestly but also many others. The bazaar (possessions number 54 and 56) whose establishers died a long time ago has been operating since 1909. It belonged to well known doctor Julian Różycki, who also conducted a nursery for orphans. Many former dwellers claim that he came into a fortune not in an honest way. He sold a kind of ‘magical’ mixture which consisted of suet. The other establisher of the bazaar was Maans Ryba. First he managed the bazaar and then he repurchased it.
   Next to the bazaar at numbers 50/52 there were three tenements. The fact that one of them was built in 1919 cam prove their value and age. In one of them, which belonged to Józef Tylii, there was Judaist house of prayers. A few years ago polychromy with Hebrew writing and date 5694 (1934 according to that calendar) was found in it. We owe this discovery to Jarosław Zieliński and Janusz Sójecki who are the protectors of relics. In the house at 63 Targowa Street there was probably the mostly hated by writers and journalists in PRL times Polska Agencja Prasowa (Polish Press Agency) with the Ministerstwo Informacji i Propagandy (Department of Information and Propaganda).