Just between the Trade Fair complex and the Old Zoo is a small plaza with a large monument to Polish freedom fighter Tadeusz Kościuszko. If you aren't familiar with this gallant hero, put your life on pause and educate yourself this instant.
 

The idea to commemorate Kościuszko with a monument in Poznań arose out of the post-WWI fervour created by Poland's return to the map of Europe, and the liquidation of German monuments across the city (including those to Otto von Bismarck and Wilhelm I). Designed by Zofia Trzcińska-Kamińska in 1929, a plaster version premiered outside the main entrance of the Polish General Exhibition - a huge event held at the International Fair to show the progress of the Second Polish Republic on the tenth anniversary of independence. Intended to be only temporary, and cleverly painted to look like the proper bronze monument city authorities falied to create in time for the event, the plaster imitation was actually left up after the Exhibition until it fell off its pedastal and shattered on the pavement. In 1930 a bronze version replaced it, but during Nazi occupation the Germans jumped at the chance for karmic justice, destroying the monument and other symbols of Polish nationhood (along with millions of Poles and Jews). In 1967 Trzcińska-Kamińska faithfully recreated her original design and a huge Prussian bell from the Imperial Castle (the clocktower of which - where the bell once hung - was destroyed during WWII) was melted down to create the casting.
 

Today standing near the intersection of ul. Grunwaldzka and ul. Bukowska, in front of the old Jeżyce electrical power plant, the 12-metre monument features a larger-than-life Kościuszko on a tall granite plinth decorated with allegorical bas-reliefs. Dressed in a peasant coat, he presses his sabre to his breast.