A good point to start a Warsaw city trip is the beginning of the so-called Royal Route Warsaw (Trakt Krowlewski).

This is the second monument devoted to Warsaw's mermaid (Pomnik Syreny), a mythical half woman half-fish, believed to protect the city. The mermaid appears in Warsaw's crest since the 14th century. Erected in 1939, Ludwika Nitsch designed this monument.

The renowned poet Krystyna Krahelska modelled for the mermaid. She also composed the march sung by the Polish Resistance during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.

Krahelska died during the uprising. The mermaid figure was originally designed to be 20 meters (62 ft) high, made of glass and placed on a pillar in the bed of the River Vistula.

It was later decided to cast the mermaid in bronze at 2 meters (6 ft) high, and erect the monument on Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowsie, along with the banks of the Vistula. Warsaw's other mermaid is in Warsaw Old Town.