In the very heart of Nowa Huta lies Central Square – the place where it all began. It is not just a crossroads of streets and tram tracks, but also a point where history, ideology, and the dream of creating a new society intersect. It was designed as the main square of the ideal city – a city without God, without churches, but with a new “better human being.” It was meant to be the pride of the People’s Republic of Poland and to show that a new future starts right here. Construction began in 1949. The architectural concept was created by Tadeusz Ptaszycki, the chief urban planner of Nowa Huta, along with the architect couple Marta and Janusz Ingarden. In June 1950, the cornerstone was laid for the Lenin steelworks – the industrial heart of the district. Central Square was intended to be its representative showcase, the “salon” of the workers' city.

A lasting memory of those times, deeply embedded in the identity of Nowa Huta and its residents, is the Monument to Solidarity – modest, almost unnoticeable, yet profoundly moving. Tucked into the rhythm of everyday streets near Central Square, it speaks more than many history textbooks. It is not a monument to leaders, generals, or battles. It is a tribute to ordinary people who, in extraordinary times, showed what true courage means. The monument was unveiled on November 10, 1999 – symbolically, on the eve of Poland’s Independence Day. It was created on the initiative of steelworkers from the Zgniatacz Rolling Mill – a department of the Tadeusz Sendzimir Steelworks (formerly: Lenin Steelworks), which in the 1980s was one of the key centers of resistance against the communist regime. In 1988, a strike committee operated here – one of the last uprisings before the fall of communist Poland.