The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier occupies three surviving arches of the Saxon Palace, which was blown up by the Germans in 1944. The arches were preserved deliberately as a frame for the memorial. An eternal flame burns under the central arch, above a slab of stone from the soil of various Polish battlefields. The guard of honour is changed every hour on the hour.
The tomb stands at the northern end of the Saxon Garden, Warsaw's oldest public park. The changing of the guard ceremony — particularly the elaborate version on Sundays and national holidays — draws crowds of locals as well as visitors. The juxtaposition of the memorial arches with the glass towers that now surround the square makes for one of Warsaw's most striking urban views.