The Palace of Culture and Science. Found slap, bang in the center of Warsaw the Palace was and remains an unwelcome and oft resented "gift" from Stalin and his Soviet cronies. Completed in 1955, after three years of toil, it served essentially as a reminder for Varsovians that Big Brother was indeed watching them. Even to this day it remains the largest and tallest building in Poland. Standing 231 meters high it now serves as a great point of orientation for bumbling tourists. The revamped elevators take only 20 seconds to transport you to the viewing platform (entrance fee) where you can enjoy commanding views of the traffic. The viewing platform, on the 30th floor, also houses (erratic) interactive maps, a slide show and the occasional exhibition. The world's highest tower clock (160m) was also recently unveiled and can apparently be seen from 5km away. With a capacity of over 817,000m3 and over 3,000 rooms the palace also houses museums, theatres, offices, and a cinema.

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