Żoliborz is one of the northern boroughs of the city of Warsaw. It is located directly to the north of the City Centre, on the left bank of the Vistula river. It has approximately 50 000 inhabitants and is one of the smallest boroughs of Warsaw. It's also considered one of the most prestigious.

In 18th century the area belonged to the Piarists from a monastery in the nearby city of Warsaw. The monks started to parcel the grounds and allowed for creation of various settlements on their fields, which were parceled between several villages. One of them was named Jolie Bord (Beautiful Embankment in French) and was later transcrybed to Polish language as Żoliborz. After 1831 the area was confiscated by Russian authorities, who erected there the Warsaw Citadel. Because of that, the area was mostly unpopulated and even after the ban on construction of brick-made houses was lifted, it retained much of its rural character.

After Poland regained her independence in 1918, the city of Warsaw started to grow rapidly and new areas were needed. In the 1920's the area of Żoliborz was converted into a borough of Warsaw and the construction of new houses started. Until the late 1930s most of today's Żoliborz was built-up with large houses notable for their modernist architecture. The wide streets, open areas, parks and squares built there are even today regarded as fine examples of good urbanist architecture. Also, a so-called Żoliborz Oficerski (Officer's Żoliborz) was built-up with villas for the officers of the Polish Army and other notable people of the epoch.

During the Warsaw Uprising one of the first struggles took part in Żoliborz. After the Polish soldiers were defeated by the Germans, fortunately Żoliborz was spared the fate of the rest of Warsaw and survived the war to a more admirable degree than other areas.