The column was erected in 1644 and is the oldest secular monument in Warsaw and one of Warsaw's most famous landmarks.
It is to memorize King Zygmunt III Waza, who transfered the capital of Poland from Cracow to Warsaw in 1596. Constructed on the orders of Zygmunt's son and successor, King Wladyslaw IV.

Zygmunt III Waza (Sigismund III Vasa, 1566 - 1632) was Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Polish Crown, a monarch of joined Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden (where he was known simply as Sigismund).
The elder son of King John III Vasa of Sweden and Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I the Old of Poland.
Sigismund belonged to the Vasa dynasty through his father and to the Jagiellon dynasty through his mother, who brought him up as a Catholic.
He was elected king of Poland in August 1587, succeeding his uncle King Stephen Báthory.