Ksawerów () is a neighbourhood, and an area of the City Information System, in the city of Warsaw, Poland, located within the district of Mokotów. The area is part of its western half, known as the Upper Mokotów. The neighbourhood is a residential area. This includes the housing estates of Domaniewska, Ksawerów, and Skarpa, consisting of the mid- and high-rise apartment buildings. It also includes the neighbourhood of Królikarnia in the northeast, featuring single-family housing. The area includes historic buildings such as the Rabbit House and Ksawerów Manor House, two neoclassical residences dating to 1786 and 1840, respectively. The first of the two, houses the Xawery Dunikowski Museum of Sculpture, a branch of the Warsaw National Museum. The western side of Ksawerów consists of office buildings, forming a part of the financial district, known colloquially as Mordor. It also includes the Westfield Mokotów, one of the largest shopping cenres in the city. Ksawerów also has the Wierzbno and Wilanowska stations of the M1 line of the Warsaw Metro underground rapid transit system.
The village of Szopy, a small farming community placed to the west from the Warsaw Escarpment, was first recorded in the documents in 1456. In the late 17th century, the Kingdom of Prussia begun settled German population in the village, which was then renamed to Szopy Niemieckie (). In the 1770s, Józef Jakubowski, the brigadier in the French Army, founded the village of Wierzbno. In 1786, the Rabbit House, a neoclassical palace was built to its south, and in 1840, nobleman Ksawer Pusłowski built his residence in the area, now known as the Ksawerów Manor House. Over time, both areas developed into separate settlements, known as Królikarnia and Ksawerów. In 1916, they were incorporated into the city of Warsaw. In the 1960s and 1970s, the housing estates of Domaniewska, Ksawerów, and Skocznia were developed in the area. In the 1990s, series of office buildings developed in the western portion of the neighbourhood, foming a part of the financial district, known colloquially as Mordor. Until 2019, was the largest financial district in both the city and the country. In 1995, the M1 line of the Warsaw Metro was opened crossing the neighbourhood, with the Wierzbno and Wilanowska stations.
Toponomy Ksawerów was named after its founder, Ksawer Pusłowski, who, in 1840, built there his residence, now known as the Ksawerów Manor House. It was originally named Ksawery, and later became known as Ksawerów.
History
By 1456, the village of Szopy was recorded in the area to the west of the Warsaw Escarpment near the road connecting Warsaw with Puławy, now forming Puławska Street. The settlement was owned by the Szopski family, which belonged to the petty nobility.B. Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Polish Scientific Publishers PWN. 1975. p. 644. (in Polish)Jerzy Kasprzycki: Warszawa sprzed lat (1900-1939). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo PTTK Kraj. 1989. p. 137. . (in Polish)Lech Chmielewski: Przewodnik warszawski. Gawęda o nowej Warszawie. Warsaw: Agencja Omnipress. 1987. p. 65. . (in Polish) Since the first half of the 17th century, the settlement was owned by the Roman Catholic order of Discalced Carmelites. In 1795, as the area became part of the Kingdom of Prussia, Szopy was nationalised, and in the late 18th century, the government begun placing German settlers in the village, which became known as Szopy Niemieckie (). The Polish population settled an area to the east of Warsaw Escarpment, naming their settlement as Szopy Polskie (). To the north of Szopy Polskie, was also founded Szopy Francuskie (), settled by a French population.Halina Niemiec, Tadeusz Wł. Świątek, Halina Niemiec: Mokotów - od stu lat w Warszawie. Warsaw: TPW. 17 June 2016. (in Polish)
In 1732, a pavilion, designed by Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann, was built on the Rabbit Hill, in place of a rabbit husbandry established earlier that century.Łukasz Przybylak: "'Niezbędne i użyteczne' – rezydencja polowa Augusta Mocnego z 1732 roku na szczycie Króliczej Góry w Warszawie", Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki, no. 17/1 (2022), p. 15. (in Polish)Franciszek Galiński: Gawędy o Warszawie. Warsaw: Instytut Wydawniczy Biblioteka Polska, 1939, p. 244. (in Polish) The structure served as a residence and an observation deck for king Augustus II the Strong, the monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, during the military exercises and exhibition, which were held from 31 July to 19 August 1732, on the nearby fields in Czerniaków. It was deconstructed around 1735.Łukasz Przybylak: "'Erholung vom Krieg' ist 'notwendig und nützlich – Feldresidenzen August des Starken in Sachsen und Polen", Die Gartenkunst, no. 35/1 (2023), p. 58. ISSN 0935-0519. (in German) In 1748, the land was acquired by nobleman, writer, and military officer Alois Friedrich von Brühl, who redeveloped it into a Baroque garden, named the Arcadia ().Tatarkiewicz Władysław, Tokarz Władysław: Królikarnia. Analiza i dzieje autorstwa. Warsaw: Warsaw National Museum, 2003. (in Polish)Longin Majdecki: Historia ogrodów. Tom 2. Od XVIII wieku do współczesności. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2022. ISBN 9788301225995 (in Polish)
In the 1770s, a plot of land was given by king Stanisław August Poniatowski to Józef Jakubowski, a brigadier in the French Army, who then established there a small agricultural estate, with a hamlet called Pod Wierzbą, later renamed to Wierzbno.Lech Chmielewski: Przewodnik warszawski. Gawęda o nowej Warszawie. Warsaw: Agencja Omnipress. 1987. p. 83. ISBN 9788385028567. (in Polish)Józef Kazimierski, Ryszard Kołodziejczyk, Żanna Kormanowa, Halina Rostowska: Dzieje Mokotowa. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1972. p. 69. (in Polish)
Between 1782 and 1786, the Rabbit House, a neoclassical palace residence, was built to the south of Wierzbno on the Rabbit Hill. It became residence of businessperson Carlo Alessandro Tomatis, and his wife, dancer Caterina Gattai Tomatis, who was a royal mistress of king Stanisław August Poniatowski.Stanisław Herbst: Mokotów od połowy XVII w. do 1939 r. In: Dzieje Mokotowa. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1972, p. 48. (in Polish) The building was designed by Domenico Merlini.Hanna Faryna-Paszkiewicz, Małgorzata Omilanowska, Robert Pasieczny: Atlas zabytkoẃ architektury w Polsce. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2001, p. 317. (in Polish) In 1794, during the Kościuszko Uprising, it served as the residence of Tadeusz Kościuszko, the leader of the insurgent forces.Wojciech Fijałkowski: Szlakiem warszawskich rezydencji i siedzib królewskich. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa PTTK Kraj, 1990, p. 82. ISBN 83-7005-191-X. (in Polish) In 1816, the building was sold to statesman Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł. At the end of the first half of the 19th century, the gardens surrounding the Rabbit House were redeveloped as an English landscape garden.
In 1840, nobleman Ksawer Pusłowski built his residence to the south of Wierzbno, now known as Ksawerów Manor House.B. Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 394, ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)Juliusz A. Chrościcki, Andrzej Rottermund: Atlas architektury Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Arkady, 1977, p. 84. (in Polish) In 1849, he also bought the Rabbit House. Over time, the area developed into two separate settlements, known as Królikarnia and Ksawery, the later being named after the founder, and later becoming known as Ksawerów.
Between 1852 and 1853, the Yellow Tavern, designed by Francesco Maria Lanci, was built at the current 204 Wilanowska Avenue. It was originally associated as part of the nearby village of Służew. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it had operated as a tavern known as Belle-Vue. After that, it went bankrupt, and the building was used for various purposes, including as a dog husbandry building, and a residential building. In 1966, it was nationalised, in an effort to protect it as cultural property. In 1984, the Museum of the Polish Peasant Movement was opened in the building.B. Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 1034, . (in Polish)
On 13 January 1867, villages of Królikarnia and Ksawerów became part of the rural municipality of Mokotów, established as part of the administrative reform in the Kingdom of Poland.Maria Nietyksza, Witold Pruss: Zmiany w układzie przestrzennym Warszawy. In Irena Pietrza-Pawłowska (editor): Wielkomiejski rozwój Warszawy do 1918 r.. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Książka i Wiedza. 1973. p. 43. (in Polish)Wojciech Trzebiński, Adam Borkiewicz: Podziały administracyjne Królestwa Polskiego w okresie 1815-1918 r.: Zarys historyczny. Dokumentacja Geograficzna 1956, vol. 4. Warsaw, 1956. (in Polish) The municipality was incorporated into the city of Warsaw on 8 April 1916.Maria Nietyksza, Witold Pruss: Zmiany w układzie przestrzennym Warszawy. In: Irena Pietrza-Pawłowska (editor): Wielkomiejski rozwój Warszawy do 1918 r.. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Książka i Wiedza. 1973. p. 43. (in Polish)
In 1881, a tramline connecting Wierzbno, Ksawerów, and Królikarnia with Moktów and Warsaw, was opened with tracks built alongside Puławska Street. It was first operated by a horsecar, and since 1909, by an electric tram.Józef Kazimierski, Ryszard Kołodziejczyk, Żanna Kormanowa, Halina Rostowska: Dzieje Mokotowa. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1972. (in Polish) Since 1892, the narrow-gauge tracks were also operated by the Wilanów Railway, and since 1898, also by the Grójec Commuter Railway.Jarosław Zieliński: Plac Unii i okolice. Warsaw: EKBIN Studio PR, 2013, p. 39–40. ISBN 978-83-929745-4-3. (in Polish)Symeon Surgiewicz: Warszawskie ciuchcie. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1972, p. 18. (in Polish) In 1906, the Wierzbno station, operated by the Grójec Narrow-Gauge Railway, was opened near the current intersection of Puławska and Woronicza Streets, and near the Rabbit House palace. It operated until 1937. In 1935, the Warsaw Mokotów station, which was previously placed at the Union of Lublin Square, was moved to the intersection of Puławska and Odyńca Streets in Wierzbno, where it operated until 1938.Hanna Faryna-Paszkiewicz: "Pierwsza wąskotorówka", Skarpa Warszawska, issue 9 (66). Warsaw, September 2014, p. 10. (in Polish)
In 1937, the Warszawa Szopy narrow-gauge railway station was opened at the intersection of Puławska Street and Wilanowa Avenue. It was operated by the Grójec Commuter Railway, forming a part of the line between Warszawa Mokotów and Nowe Miasto nad Pilicą. In 1943, it was renamed to Warszawa Pułudniowa (). The station operated until 1969. In the 1970s, a bus station with a turning loop was opened at the location, under the name of the South Station. It originally used the historic building of the railway station, which was eventually deconstructed in 2000. Since then, it function under the name of Wilanowska turning loop.
In September 1939, during the siege of Warsaw in the Second World War, the Rabbit House was used by the Polish Armed Forces as the defensive position against the attacking forces of the German Army. The building was destroyed during the fighting. In 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising, the divisions of the Home Army were stationed in the palace gardens. On 25 September 1944, it was the site of the heavy fighting between Polish and German soldiers. In the October 1944, the palace, together with the surrounding buildings, was burned down by German occupant forces, as part of the destruction of Warsaw.Lesław M. Bartelski, Juliusz Powałkiewicz: Mokotów. Warszawskie Termopile 1944: przewodnik historyczny po miejscach walk i pamięci czasu okupacji i Powstania Warszawskiego. Warsaw: Wystawa Warszawa Walczy 1939-1945. 2004. p. 198. (in Polish)Raport o stratach wojennych Warszawy. Warsaw: Capital City of Warsaw. 2004. (in Polish)