Góra Kalwaria (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɡura kalˈvarja]; "Calvary Mountain", Yiddish: גער, Ger) is a town on the Vistula River in the Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland.

[5] It was founded at the site of two former villages, Góra and Wólka Górska, which were situated on the high Vistula scarp within the former Masovian Voivodeship.

[6] It was a city on a cross-shaped plan, with numerous chapels, monasteries and churches,[4] mainly being based on images of ancient Jerusalem.

[4] The town received the privilege of Magdeburg rights, afterwards confirmed by John III Sobieski, allowing the organisation of two markets per week and four annual fairs (the dates of these events correlated with Catholic holidays).

In order to attract settlers, in 1672, Wierzbicki issued a privilege which waived burgers' rents, tributes and taxes for a period of five years and established the town's layout.

Citizens were allowed to produce and sell alcoholic beverages, such as beer and vodka, deal with commerce and crafts and cater to visitors' needs.

After the January Uprising, the tsarist authorities stripped Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria of their city rights.

It facilitated the transport of bricks from the Baniocha area to the expanding Warsaw, where clay was being exploited on a large scale at that time.

When Feliks (a Jew who survived World War II, born on November 29, 1926) was a boy, he said that the town had two synagogues.

[7] At the end of September 1914, the front reached Piaseczno, and in the first days of October, the areas close to Góra Kalwaria.

After bloody battles took place in the city and its surroundings, cemeteries and mass graves remained in many towns, such as Wola, Dobieska, Solec, Moczydłów and Wólka Zaleska; Austrian, German and Russian soldiers were lying next to each other.

On August 13 and 14, near Góra Kalwaria, the crews of the Toruń squadron stopped the Red Army from crossing the Vistula.

[8] Just before the war, from mid–May to July 1939, Polish sappers from Warsaw, Puławy and Modlin put a wooden and steel bridge over the Vistula River near Góra Kalwaria.

[8] During the war, Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria supplied the occupied capital in large quantities with flour, bread and some meat.

The axes led to three monastery complexes: Bernardines, Piarists and Dominicans and the Saint Cross Church; their symmetrical distribution additionally emphasised the cross-shaped layout.

The monastery of Oratorians, afterwards Friars of Holy Communion, supplemented the Saint Cross Church and enacted the ceremonies conducted in the sanctuary.

For instance, Golgota Hill, which should have its location in the bottom left portion of the plan, could not be placed next to the embankment due to the lack of sufficient space for the required chapels there.

The longer axis, which used the existing ravine as a part of the terrain configuration, was defined with Kalwaryjska Street and the market square, its prolongation continued as the local road to Piaseczno.

The tracing of pilgrims' paths was done in a way which consciously opened vast vistas and framed views to enrich the content of the biblical stories.

The landscaping efforts additionally upgraded the images pilgrims were intended to absorb while treading along the processional paths.

[10] In 1970, the highest share of single-person households (23-33%) was recorded, apart from the districts of Śródmieście and Praga-Północ, mainly in the suburbs of Warsaw in Góra Kalwaria, Kobyłka, Józefów, Konstancin-Jeziorna and Ząbki, and in the western part of the city (Podkowa Leśna, Piastów, Żyrardów, Milanówek).

However, Góra Kalwaria along with Ząbki, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Kobyłka dropped out of this group, and their place was taken by the remaining districts of Warsaw and the cities of Brwinów, Pruszków, Zakroczym and Kałuszyn.

[11] The highest estimated level of residential construction intensity among cities (annual average of 10-20 apartments per 1,000 inhabitants) was recorded in: Legionowo, Mszczonów, Nowy Dwór, Góra Kalwaria, Błonie, Wołomin, and the districts of Praga Północ, Mokotów, Żoliborz and Wola.

[12] The lowest residential construction intensity (annual average of 2-4 dwellings per 1000 inhabitants) in the first period was observed in cities of a specific character (agricultural, summer resorts or from the western part of the city), i.e. Serock, Karczew, Marki, Podkowa Leśna, Józefów, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Brwinów, Piastów, Zakroczym, Milanówek and the Śródmieście district.

In the period 1978–1988, Karczew, Piastów, Zakroczym dropped out of this group of non-expanding centres, and Błonie, Góra Kalwaria, Otwock and the Ochota district were included in it.

[14] Places for education include:[15] The Cultural Center in Góra Kalwaria is often used for many activities, such as art, music, pottery and theatre.

[23] The most famous building in Góra Kalwaria is likely the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in the heart of the town.

[24] Opposite the church there is the Bishop's Palace, which today houses the municipal library and the Cultural and Tourist Information Center.

[24] The building at Pijarska 5 is a former private prayer house (Bejt Midrash), built in 1903 by the Alter family of tzaddiks.

Inside, two rows of cast-iron pillars supporting a flat ceiling have been preserved, and in the attic there is a unique matzah oven.