Warsaw history starts in the end of 13^th century when Mazovian Dukes established a new town on high embankment of the Vistula River – Warsaw Scarp. This settlement was exactly where today Royal Castle is located.

Warsaw lies on the Great European Plain stretching from Ural Mountains in Russia to Atlantic Ocean coast in France. Polish part of this unit is called Mazovia-Podlasie Lowland. The most precise geographical name for this location would be Warsaw Valley on the banks of Vistula river. Vistula is the longest river in Poland.