During the mid 1800s, the commercial centre of Warsaw began to move away from the area around Theatre Square and towards Marshal Street (Marszalkowska). The following decades saw this thoroughfare established as the city's principal shopping area.

Marszalkowska (literally, Marshal's Street) is now the main street of Warsaw's centre. It links the area of plac Bankowy in the north with that of plac Zbawiciela at the southern end. Contrary to a common urban legend that attributes the name of the street to Józef Pilsudski, born 1867, founder of the Polish Socialist Party and known as 'Marshal of Poland', the street's nomenclature is actually much older and was dedicated in memory of one Franciszek Bielinski, a 'Grand Marshal of the Crown' in the 16th century.

For many travellers, the area around Marshal Street will provide the first taste of this venerable city. It is where the main train station is situated, and the commercial district of Warsaw fans out between here and Solidarity Avenue to the north.

With the obvious exception of Venice, and perhaps Paris, it is fair to say that the majority of European cities tend to present a negative first impression if one is arriving by train. And Warsaw's Central Station is no different. But it need be nothing more than a brief encounter. Outside, the delights of Marshal Street wait to greet the traveller.

One building that makes an immediate impression - and a fascinating object lesson in socialist realist architecture - is Joseph Stalin's colossal Palace of Culture. Not unlike New York's Empire State Building in many respects, this monumental skyscraper contains 42 floors at a height of 230.68 metres (756.82 feet), topped with a needle height of 43 metres (141.08 feet). It is one of the first major landmarks that strikes you on on leaving the station. It has been in a whirlwind of controversy since its inception in the early 1950s. A 'gift' from Joseph Stalin and the Soviet people, Warsaw's Palace of Culture & Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki) remains controversial among Warsovians, given that it is a reminder of the country's loss of freedom to the Stalinist Russian regime. Modelled on Moscow University, the 42-floor building is home to a number of venues, used as theatres, concert halls and the popular multi-screen Kinoteka cinema. The viewing gallery on the 30th floor has fantastic views of the city. Locals joke that it provides the best view of Warsaw because it is the only place in the city where you can not see the Palace of Culture itself.

Marshal Street, which was one of the grandest streets of the capital in the 18th century, remains a thriving thoroughfare. It has several fine buildings, particularly at the eastern end. It is not long, but lends its name to a whole area of attractions. To the north, is the Zacheta Art Gallery, Poland's National Gallery. To the east, The Museum of Mankind, with a wide range of Polish folk art. Not far away, is the city's Philarmonic Hall, venue for the renowned Chopin Piano Competition, held only twice per decade. And then there is the shopping. On many of the streets leading off it there are some truly diverting places to be discovered, such as the ornate, turn-of-the-century Wedel patisserie on Szpitalna, and the equally famous Jablkowski Brothers department store on the corner of Bracka. At its southern edge, the Marshal Street enclave hosts one of its most recent arrivals - a branch of Marks & Spencer.