Ursynów () is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It has an area of 43.79 km2 (16.88 sq mi), and in 2023, it was inhabited by 149,775 people, making it the 5th most populous and 3rd largest district of the city. Located in its western part, it is its southernmost district of the city, bordering Włochy to the west, Mokotów to the north, Wilanów, to the east, with its southern and part of western border forming the city boundary. There, it borders the municipalities of Lesznowola in Piaseczno County, and Raszyn in Pruszków County. The district is dominated by residential areas, with its east predominantly featuring high-rise multifamily housing such as in neighbourhoods of Jary, and Stokłosy in central north, Imielin, Na Skraju, and West Ursynów in the northeast, and Natolin and Kabaty in the central east. The west is dominated by low-rise single-family housing with neighbourhoods of Dąbrówka, Grabów, Jeziorki, Pyry, and Wyczółki.
Ursynów is home to the campus of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, one of the largest and most technologically advanced in Europe. It also includes the Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, the Institute of Haematology and Transfusion Medicine, and Centre for Advanced Materials and Technologies, with the latter being one of the largest high tech research facilities in the country. Ursynów also features several urban parks such as John Paul II Park, Kozłowski Park, Przy Bażantarni Park, and Silent Unseen Park, as well as the Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden and Powsin Centre for Biological Diversity Conservation, which gathers over 10,000 species of plants in its collection, including numerous exotic and rare species. Additionally, the Kabaty Woods, located in the southwest, form the largest forest in the city, with an area of 903 hectares. The district also includes the Służewiec Racecourse, which hosts Great Warsaw Race, the most prestigious horse race in Poland. Ursynów also has five stations of the Warsaw Metro.
By the 9th century, the area was inhabited by the monks of the Order of Saint Benedict, in 1238, there was established a Roman Catholic parish in Warsaw, centered around the St. Catherine Parish, which would later be replaced with its current building in 1848. By that time, the village of Służew was also present in the area, and more farming communities developed in the following centuries. In 1776, there was constructed the Krasiński Palace, later rebuilt in 1860 in the Renaissance Revival. In 1939, in Ursynów was opened the Służewiec Racecourse, then the largest and the most modern horse racing venue in Europe. Throughout the 1930s, a military base in the neighbourhood of Pyry and nearby Kabaty Woods, operated a military complex, which housed a branch of the Cipher Bureau responsible for deciphering German codes and messages. Its team was the first to decipher the coding of the Enigma machine in 1932, used by the German military, sharing their decryption techniques there with British and French intelligence agencies in 1939. During the Second World War, under the German occupation over 300 people were executed and buried in the Kabaty Woods. Between the 1950s and 1970s, around Nowoursynowska Street was developed the campus of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, in Ursynów were developed series of large multifamily neighbourhoods. In 1995, there were opened five stations of the Warsaw Metro.
Służew and Wyczółki were incorporated into Warsaw in 1938, while the rest of the modern district was incorporated in 1951. They originally became part of Mokotów, with the area being first separated into its own administrative unit, then the municipality of Warsaw-Ursynów, in 1994. In 2002, it was restructured into the district of Ursynów.
Toponymy The name comes from the landed estate called as such by writer and statesman Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, who settled there in its Krasiński Palace in 1822. He named it after his family's cognomen , which in turn came from Latin term meaning "bear". With addition of the suffix , it came to mean Ursyn's place.Tadeusz S. Jaroszewski: Księga pałaców Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Interpress, 1985, p. 67. ISBN 83-223-2047-7. (in Polish) It would eventually become a name for the entirety of the city district after it was founded in 1994.A. Gawryszewski: Ludność Warszawy w XX wieku. Warsaw: Instytut Geografii i Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania PAN im. Stanisława Leszczyckiego, 2009, pp. 45–47. ISBN 978-83-61590-96-5. (in Polish)
History
Prehistory The signs of human settlements from the Stone Age (4000 BCE to 2000 BCE), Bronze Age (3300 BCE to 1200 BCE), and the Lusatian culture (1300 BCE to 500 BCE) were discovered in the area of Warsaw Escarpment and Służewiec Stream, currently corresponding to the neighbourhood of Stary Służew in Ursynów.Dzieje Mokotowa. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1972. (in Polish)
Middle Ages
By 1065, the area of the current neighbourhood of Stary Służew was inhabited by the Roman Catholic monks of the Order of Saint Benedict, who operated a missionary centre there. In 1238, the Roman Catholic St. Catherine Parish was founded by Duke Konrad I of Masovia, ruler of the Duchy of Masovia, and erected by bishop Paweł II of Bnin. It is the oldest parish within modern boundaries of Warsaw.Grzegorz Kalwarczyk: Przewodnik po parafiach i kościołach Archidiecezji warszawskiej, vol. 2: Parafie warszawskie. Warsaw: Oficyna Wydawniczo-Poligraficzna Adam, 2015, p. 364, ISBN 978-83-7821-118-1, OCLC 948875463. (in Polish)A. Sołtan-Lipska (editor): Służew i jego kościół. Warsaw: Church of St. Catherine, 2013, p. 743. ISBN 978-83-938420-0-1. (in Polish) At the same time, nearby was also founded the Służew Old Cemetery.Karol Mórawski: Warszawskie cmentarze. Przewodnik historyczny. Warsaw: PTTK Kraj, 1991, p. 87-90. ISBN 83-7005-333-5. (in Polish) Archaeological findings suggest, that before that, it was a place of worship of Slavic pagans, with signs of fire that burned constantly for several-hundred years.Maria Dąbrowska, Magdalena Bis, Wojciech Bis: "Badania archeologiczne kościoła św. Katarzyny i cmentarza na warszawskim Służewie", Ad Rem: Kwartalnik akademicki. Warsaw: University of Warsaw, Międzywydziałowe Towarzystwo Naukowe Badań i Ochrony Swiatowego Dziedzictwa Kulturowego HUMANICA, 2012. ISSN 1899-0495. (in Polish) The information about the design and history of the first church remains unknown. In the 13th century, in its place was built a wooden church, which was later replaced by a brick building.Ewa Korpysz: "Przemiany w architekturze kościoła św. Katarzyny na Służewie", Ad Rem: kwartalnik akademicki. Warsaw: University of Warsaw, Międzywydziałowe Towarzystwo Naukowe Badań i Ochrony Swiatowego Dziedzictwa Kulturowego HUMANICA, 2012. ISSN 1899-0495. (in Polish) The St. Catherine Church was later rebuilt again in 1742, and in 1848, in Romanesque Revival style.
By 1238, the Służew (then known as Służewo), was present near the Sadurka stream (with Służewiec Stream currently being its only remainder), and owned by the Order of Canon Regulars of St. Augustin from Czerwińsk nad Wisłą. In 1240, the village was acquired by Duke Konrad I of Masovia, who then granted it to his knight and count, Gotard of Służew, on 27 April 1245.Marta Piber-Zbieranowska: Służew średniowieczny. Warsaw: Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie, 2001, p. 145–150. ISBN 8390732858 (in Polish) His descendants became the Służewiecki family of the Radwan heraldic clan, which owned the estate until the 17th century.Józef Kazimierski, Ryszard Kołodziejczyk, Żanna Kormanowa, Halina Rostowska: Dzieje Mokotowa. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1972, p. 25–26.Marta Piber-Zbieranowska: Służew średniowieczny. Warsaw: Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie, 2001, p. 232–233. ISBN 8390732858 (in Polish) In 1386, the village of Kabaty was granted the Kulm law rights by Duke Janusz I the Old, ruler of the Duchy of Warsaw. It was located at the edge of the Warsaw Escarpment, on a road connecting Warsaw and Czersk, within the central east part of the current district.Adam Wolff, Kazimierz Pacuski: Słownik historyczno-geograficzny Ziemi Warszawskiej w średniowieczu. Warsaw: Instytut Historii PAN, 2013, p. 93. ISBN 978-83-63352-17-2. (in Polish)Jacek Krawczyk: Ursynów wczoraj i dziś. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Pagina, 2001, p. 30. ISBN 83-86351-37-3. (in Polish)Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. 1994, p. 301. ISBN 9788301088361. (in Polish)
By the 15th century, several more farming communities formed within the area of modern Ursynów, most of which were owned and inhabited by petty nobility. This included Imielin in the central north,Adam Wolff, Kazimierz Pacuski: Słownik historyczno-geograficzny Ziemi Warszawskiej w średniowieczu. Warsaw: Instytut Historii PAN, 2013, p. 87. ISBN 978-83-63352-17-2. (in Polish) Wyczółki in the north west,Adam Wolff, Kazimierz Pacuski: Słownik historyczno-geograficzny Ziemi Warszawskiej w średniowieczu. Warsaw: Instytut Historii PAN, 2013, p. 325. ISBN 978-83-63352-17-2. (in Polish)Adolf Pawiński: Polska XVI wieku pod względem geograficzno-statystycznym, vol. 5: Mazowsze, Warsaw, 1895, p. 260. (in Polish) Wolica in the north east,Marta Piber: Służew średniowieczny. Warsaw: Towarzystwo Naukowe Warszawskie, 2001, p. 203. ISBN 83-907328-5-8. (in Polish)Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy, vol 1. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 757. ISBN 9788301088361. (in Polish) and Jeziorki and Dąbrówka in the south east.Adam Wolff, Kazimierz Pacuski: Słownik historyczno-geograficzny Ziemi Warszawskiej w średniowieczu. Warsaw: Instytut Historii PAN, 2013, p. 49. ISBN 978-83-63352-17-2. (in Polish)Adolf Pawiński: Polska XVI wieku pod względem geograficzno-statystycznym. vol. 5: Mazowsze, Warsaw, 1895, p. 273. (in Polish)Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 296, ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish) In 1445, Imielin was granted the Kulm law rights by Duke Bolesław IV of Warsaw.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy, vol 1. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 275. ISBN 9788301088361. (in Polish) By 1528, near Kabaty was also present a small farming community of Moczydło.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnctwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)Witold Małcużyński: Rozwój terytorjalny miasta Warszawy, Warsaw, 1900. (in Polish)Adolf Pawiński: Polska XVI wieku pod względem geograficzno-statystycznym, vol. 5: Mazowsze. Warsaw, 1895, p. 261. (in Polish)
Early modern period
In 1656, the villages of Jeziorki and Kabaty were destroyed by the army of the Swedish Empire, during the siege of Warsaw in the Second Northern War.