Śródmieście Północne is the northern half of Warsaw's city centre, stretching from the edge of the Old Town south to Aleje Jerozolimskie. Its spine is Krakowskie Przedmieście, the grandest street in Poland — a procession of Baroque and Neoclassical palaces, embassies, churches, and the University of Warsaw, lined with outdoor cafes in summer.
At its northern end, Piłsudski Square is one of the largest public squares in Europe. The Saxony Garden occupies its western flank — a formal 18th-century park that is Warsaw's oldest public garden and one of the few areas of the city left largely intact by the Second World War. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands in the surviving arcade of the Saxon Palace, destroyed in 1944. To the east, the Presidential Palace faces the square behind its neoclassical colonnade.
The Zachęta National Gallery of Art occupies a grand turn-of-the-century building a short walk from the square and is Poland's most important venue for contemporary art exhibitions. Further south, Krakowskie Przedmieście ends at the junction with Nowy Świat, which continues the Royal Route south into Śródmieście Południowe.