It is the burial place of many illustrious individuals from Polish history.

Powązki Cemetery was established on 4 November 1790 on land donated by nobleman Melchior Szymanowski, and consecrated on 20 May 1792.

In the same year Saint Karol Boromeusz Church, designed by Dominik Merlini, was built on the northern edge of the cemetery.

As in many old European cemeteries, some of the tombstones in Powązki were created by renowned sculptors, both Polish and foreign.

On All Saints Day (1 November) and Zaduszki (2 November) in Warsaw, vigils are held not only in the Roman Catholic cemeteries, but in the Protestant, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox cemeteries as well.