To find a perfectly preserved industrial tourism attraction near Warsaw is not easy task. But there is one industrial pearl near to the capital. This is a city of Żyrardów famous for its textile industry and one of the biggest industrial cities built from scratch for employees working there in the XIX century.
You can easily reach Żyrardów by A2 Motorway or by suburban train from Warsaw. The industrial city walk will take a couple of hours, then You can take a rest in a craft pub or go to the artificial lake nearby which was also recently renovated.
The Tourism information point is located in Resursa build which was previously, a cultural spot for industrial XIX century city. You can take some maps and folders there.
Workers district
It s nice to start a walk-in near to cross overs of the streets of Kościuszki with Prymasa Wyszyńskiego and Kościelna street. In this part of the city, You can find buildings built for ordinary workers, perfectly rectangular red houses are bringing a sense of order and stability. Nice to be there during the spring when the trees are flourishing enriching the effect. The city was planned as a comfortable place to work and rest that is way gardens and trees were important for industrial city founders.
Main Square of the city incredible view
From this part of the city, we are taking Gabriela Narutowicza street to reach the main square where we will find a lot of interesting industrial buildings which played an essential role in the past industrial city of Żyrardów. Here we will find the preschool, cinema and the local city council. But of course, the biggest impression is caused by the Nowa Przędzalnia building we see in front of us. This was a part of the textile factories’ imperium managed by Mr. Dittrich.
Gardens and managerial district
Turning right into Pierwszego Maja street we will reach the already mentioned Resursa where IT is located there is also a nice restaurant nearby serving local dishes.
From Resursa we should take Limanowskiego street, soon will find some interesting buildings on our left like Tyrolean Palace and Cantor and then other industrial building Pończoszarnia.
Good idea is to go a little bit behind the Stara Pończoszarnia building so we can admire the industrial buildings from their back.
Passing already mentioned buildings we will see the entrance of the garden on our right. Here we can rest, in the center of the garden, there is a villa which was home to Industrial City Owner Mr. Dittrich. Now turned into Western Mazovia Museum.
Going outside the part we can take Armii Krajowej street to admire managerial districts with builds dedicated to directors of an old industrial complex. Then taking the street dedicated to the owner of the industrial city Mr. Dittrich will reach the Museum of Linen. Here we can learn a lot about the history of the textile industry in Żyrardów.
Neo Gothic church and Hospital building
The other worth visiting buildings are Neo Gothic church of Saint Karol and the Hospital building. The first is really impressive both externally and internally. Hospital building is impressive too, even if is still used so we can admire it only from outside. The church is located on Kościelna Street.
Linen Festival and Santa Claus in Linen Museum
If we live permanently in Warsaw we can try to visit the industrial pearl of Żyradów during special events which are organized here. In May there is Linen Festival with main attractions taking part in Museum of Linen. A similar winter event is happing in December but this is a rater Christmas-type event.
Visiting Żyrardów with ( private ) tour guide
For those who are much more demanding the good option might be to visit the industrial pearl with a licensed tour guide. We can recommend Pawel from warszawazpawlem.pl , he is specialized in Jewish cultural trips in Warsaw but originally from Zyrardow is also organizing city tours at least 1-2 a year. You can contact him for a private tour too.
Craft beer and the artificial lake of Żyrardów
It’s good to finish a couple of hours of city tour with a good local accent. We do recommend visiting craft beer sport Beer Bros which is located on Karola Dittricha street number 18. A nice option for summer is also a visit to the recently renovated artificial lake of Żyrardów. You can take a rest here, there is a good pizza too.
Remember about other industrial attractions Roundhouse of Skierniewice is something special too
For industrial attraction lovers, we can recommend another super nice spot. This is an old Roundhouse of Skierniewice, renovated by train lovers. It’s not open for tourism each weekend but there are like 8-10 openings during the year always communicated well in advance. The site is recommended for train lovers of each age.
Worth mentioning that the city of Żyrardów is preparing the application for Unesco status, this is showing us how attractive / this small city can be. Worth planning an excursion from Warsaw before it becomes crowded. Recommended for all foto-lovers/instagramers looking for spectacular industrial spots not so far from Warsaw.
The SKIERNIEWICE Roundhouse – must-see for train lovers living near to Warsaw