The Saxon Axis (Polish: Oś Saska) is a feature of the historical city centre of the city of Warsaw. It is a line running from the Vistula through the Presidential Palace, the Krakowskie Przedmieście, Saxon Square, Saxon Palace, Saxon Garden, Lubomirski Palace to Plac Żelaznej Bramy.

The idea was first proposed by August II of Poland, who intended to build a large Royal palace surrounded by a French-style garden. The plan was loosely based on the baroque design of the Versailles and was to cover a large part of what is now the city of Warsaw. The main concept, which gave the name to the modern part of the city, assumed the construction of the Saxon Palace, with gardens extending to the both sides along a single axis running exactly through its middle.

Between 1713 and 1726 the king bought 28 various parcels located in the area and invited Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann and Johann Christoph Naumann to design the urban plan. However, financial difficulties made the plan never come true in its entirety. Although the Saxon Garden and the Saxon Palace were constructed, the planned demolition of the Lubomirski Palace at the Plac Żelaznej Bramy had to be called off after August's death in 1733.

During the World War II and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, all of the buildings located along the axis were demolished by the Germans. After the war, the Saxon Palace was not rebuilt. However, the garden was refurbished and the demolished Lubomirski Palace was rebuilt, but was rotated to fit into the 18th century scheme. In recent times also the Warsaw University Library located at the Vistula below the river escarpment was added to the list of buildings with main entrances located along the axis, and there was a large golden tablet placed in the pavement in front of it marking the line running through the city centre.

The Saxon Garden (Polish: Ogród Saski) is a 15.5–hectare public garden in Warsaw's Downtown (Śródmieście), facing Piłsudski Square, and is the oldest public park in Warsaw. Founded in the late 17th century, it was opened to the public in 1727 as one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world. The Saxon Garden was originally the site of Warsaw fortifications, the so-called Sigismund's Ramparts, and a palace built in 1666 for the powerful aristocrat Jan Andrzej Morsztyn. The garden was extended under the reign of King Augustus II, who attached it to the "Saxon Axis", a line of parks and palaces linking the western outskirts of Warsaw with the Vistula River.

The park of the adjoining Saxon Palace was opened to the public on May 27, 1727. It became the public park earlier than Versailles (1791), Pavlovsk Palace, Peterhof Palace and Summer Garden (1918), Villa d'Este (1920), Kuskovo (1939), Stourhead (1946), Sissinghurst (1967), Stowe (1990), Vaux-le-Vicomte (1990s), and most other world-famous parks and gardens.

Initially a baroque French-style park, in the 19th century it was turned into a Romantic English-style landscape park. Destroyed during and after the Warsaw Uprising, it was partly reconstructed after World War II.

The garden was a typical example of the baroque extension of formal vistas inspired by the park of Versailles. The park starts from the back façade of the palace, flanking a long alley with many sculptures. The central avenue lead directly to the palace, as was usual in French parks of the era.

Following the completion of the Saxon Palace, the surroundings were included in the structure. The Blue Palace and the pavilion known as The Great Salon, were all raised or rebuilt during the initial construction of Saxon Establishment during the reign of Augustus II. A baroque flower garden with pieces of turf, flower beds, hedges and trees was created. These gardens extended the central axis of a symmetrical building façade in rigorously symmetrical axial designs of patterned parterres, gravel walks and formally-planted bosquets. The parterres were laid out from 1713 by Joachim Heinrich Schultze and Gothard Paul Thörl from 1735.

Saxon Palace. A vast palace complex according to Tylman van Gameren's design arose here between 1661–1664 for Jan Andrzej Morsztyn. In 1669 the palace was rebuilt and enlarged. The main break was enhanced and a two galleries ended with a double-storied pavillons were added to the palace's alcoves. In 1713 the building was purcheased by King Augustus II, who started to repurchase surrounding freeholds and demolishing the buildings. Reconstruction of the palace establishment and creating of the Saxon Axis passed through three distinct stages - from 1713 to the 1720s according to Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann's and Joachim Daniel von Jauch's design, secondly to 1733 and completion in 1748 by Augustus III "the Corpulent". The Palace was remodeled in 1842. During World War II, the Saxon Palace was blown up by the Germans after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

The Great Salon, situated on the axis in the center of a Saxon Garden, was intended simply to provide a suitable end to the main garden axis. It was constructed after 1720 according to Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann's design. The building was opened to the garden by semicircular porte-fenêtres and oculuses. A terrace above the ground level of the building was enclosed by an attic decorated with vases; also, two outhouses from both sides were added. The Great Salon was demolished in 1817.

Operalnia, the 500-seat opera house, was opened in 1748. It was built under the architect Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann and modelled on the Small Theatre in Dresden, built by Christoph Bayer in 1687. The interior was decorated in a heavy, sumptuous baroque style by the court artists. On November 19, 1765 in Operalnia, the actors of The Majesty put on the premiere of Józef Bielawski’s Intruders (Natręci), a comedy which was a loose adaptation of a play by Molière. Since the acting team had all the features of a fully professional and national group (they performed in Polish and earned their living through acting), November 19 is the anniversary of the establishment of the National Theatre. The National stage belonged to the elements of the educational and cultural reform programme in the falling Republic of Poland, prepared by King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Over decades this theatre, taking care of the works of Polish playwrights, was the ground on which the cultural development of Polish people thrived. The building was demolished in 1772.

The Blue Palace. It takes its name from the colour of the roof. the palace was purchased by King Augustus II for his daughter Anna Karolina Orzelska from bishop Teodor Andrzej Potocki. The palace was rebuilt in 1726 by Joachim Daniel von Jauch and Johann Sigmund Deybel. The King wanted to offer it to Anna as a Christmas present. In six weeks, the Palace was renovated by 300 masons and craftsmen working night and day. The courtyard, encompassed by a walled enclosure, had two gates. Column galleries were situated on both sides of the garden façade. A backside garden (integral part of the Saxon Garden) and a cascade fountain were designed by Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann. Since 1811, it has been the property of the Zamoyski family which remodeled it in a late Neoclassical style. The palace was rebuilt after the war devastations.

The Church of St. Anthony of Padua and Reformed Franciscan Monastery was founded in 1623 in gratitude for the capture of Smolensk on June 13, 1611 (Liturgical Feasts of Saint Anthony of Padua) by Sigismund III Vasa and dedicated on May 13, 1635. This church was heavily damaged during the Deluge by the Transylvanian army of George II Rákóczi. The new church was founded by Castellan Stanisław Leszczyc-Skarszewski. Work began in 1668 following the plan of Józef Szymon Bellotti. In 1734, the church became the parish church of the royal court in the Saxon Palace. The king ordered a special loge for him and his wife to be built on the left side of the presbytery (1734–35), and the royal sculptor Johann Georg Plersch created the sculptures inside. The church was partly destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising.

The Iron Gate was a part of The Saxon Establishment, which itself had a shape of a pentagon covered an area of around 17 ha. The gate was constructed according to Joachim Daniel von Jauch's design after 1735, together with other buildings of the Saxon Axis border, like Mounted Crown Guards barracks, a wall with bastions from the south and west, or the Blue Palace. It was embellished with cartouches with Polish and Lithuanian Coats of Arms. The Gate was demolished in 1821.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, dedicated to the unknown soldiers who have given their lives for Poland. It is one of many such national tombs of unknowns that were erected after World War I, as well as the most important national symbols of bravery and heroism. In 1925, architect Stanisław Ostrowski produced a design to be located under the arcades of the Saxon Palace in Warsaw. The triple arch of the Tomb is the only remnant of the Saxon Palace colonnade. Here official delegations place wreaths and pay homage to the killed soldiers. The tomb has a change of guards every hour.

Fountain, with an elaborately carved plaque resting on a shell form basin supported by a scrolled bracket, is often used by dating couples as their meeting place. It was established in 1855. The fountain is the centrepiece of gardens designed by the 19th-century designer Henryk Marconi and also one of most precious urban symbols of Warsaw.

Marble sundial, an 1863 horizontal sundial, is situated close to the big fountain in the centre of the park. It was established by the significant physicist and meteorologist Antoni Szeliga Magier (1762–1837).

Water Tower, in the northwest part of the Saxon Garden, is situated by the ornamental lake surrounded by willows. This classicist water tower in the shape of a Roman monopteros was modelled on the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli. It was designed in 1852 by the architect Henryk Marconi.

Summer Theatre, a popular summer variéte theatre, existed between 1870 and 1939. It was under Stanisław Moniuszko's "rule" at the Teatr Wielki that the wooden Summer Theatre was built in the Saxon Garden, between the Water Tower building and the Blue Palace by Aleksander Zabierzowski. From then on, summer performances from the Warsaw theatres were shown there every year. At the time, the Summer Theatre could seat an audience of 1,065. The theatre burned in September 1939 following a direct hit by an incendiary bomb and was never restored.

Palm House, modeled after Victorian glass and iron structures in England, was built in 1894. It was created specifically for the exotic palms being collected and introduced to Europe in the 19th century. The elegant design, with its unobstructed space for the spreading crowns of the tall palms, was a perfect marriage of form and function. The structure was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising and Planned destruction of Warsaw and was never restored.

The Monument dedicated to Maria Konopnicka, famous Polish poet and writer mainly for children and youth, was unveiled in 1965.

The Statue of Stefan Starzyński, brave leader of the fighting capital during the Siege of Warsaw, was added in 1939.