Memorial Stone of the 3rd May Constitution (Traugutt’s Park, from Sanguszki Street)
The stone commemorates the resolution of the Constitution of May 3rd 1791 and the first celebration of the National Holiday of May 3rd in the 123-year-old slavery of the homeland.
The Constitution of May 3rd 1791 governed the system of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów). It was the first written constitution in Europe and after the Constitution of the United States, the second in the world. The Constitution became a symbol of aspirations to regain the independence and the sovereignty of the Commonwealth. On May 3rd 1919, for the first time in the free Poland, the National Holiday of May 3rd was celebrated. On the slopes of the citadel, there is a cross commemorating the Romuald Traugutt’s death, the hero of the January Uprising . In this place cardinal Aleksander Kakowski celebrated a ceremonial Holly Mass, where the Head of State Józef Piłsudski, ministers of government, General Józef Haller and others participated.
75 years later, in 1994, a commemorative boulder in Traugutt’s Park was unveiled to commemorate the Constitution and the first official celebration of the National Holiday of May 3rd. It was the initiative of the Circle of National Remembrance (Krąg Pamięci Narodowej).