Nowicki House

Main data:

Year of construction: 1660 (about)
Year of reconstruction: 1948
Designer: ??? (reconstruction by Wlodzimierz Wapinski, Kazimierz Thor)
Location: ul. Krakowskie Przedmiescie 89

The House of Ignacy Nowicki, also known as John House, is situated at Krakowskie Przemiescie no. 89, at the corner of Krakowskie Przemiescie, Zamkowy Square and Senatorska Street. Most Warsaw inhabitants know it mostly because of the escalator which connect the exit of W-Z Highway Tunnel with Zamkowy Square.

Not many people know, that this house was built really a long time ago - about 1660. Later it was rebuilt many times. First time was about the year of 1750, when it became a property of court secretary, Ignacy Nowicki (it was named after this person). Later it was rebuilt in eclectic style in 1864, and again in 1911, when it became a property of Aleksander John (the house is often also named after him). It gained a rococo form then.

During the war the house was demolished, it was burned in 1939 and finally destroyed in 1944. It was reconstructed in 1948, when W-Z Highway was constructed. An upper exit from the first escalator in Warsaw was located here. Such facility was really a newness at that time and previously it was a kind of tourist attraction. During the reconstruction a picture "A view of Krakowskie Przedmiescie from the in front of Krakowska Gate" by Canaletto was used. The house was shown on this painting in a very detailed way, probably Canaletto used camera obscura (a prototype of today's camera) while working on it.

Today the house is owned by Association of Polish Writers. The escalator, situated in the underground was renovated some time ago, and in 2005, after 8 years of break, it was reopened. Besides two lines of the escalator, also an untypical lift was installed - it does not ride vertically, only on the slope (it can be used for disabled people or with prams). In 2005 also a small exhibition was organised here - it presents among other things, an oryginal control panel of the escalator (downstairs, next to the toilets), pictures of the construction of W-Z Higway, as well as "Rules of Using the Escalator" from 1940s - some of those rules may sound quite funny today :)