Łazienki Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Łazienki Park | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Municipal |
| Location | Warsaw |
| Size | 76 ha[1] |
| Opened | 1918[2][3] |
| Status | Open all year |
Łazienki Park (Polish: Park Łazienkowski) is the largest park in Warsaw, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park lies in Warsaw's Downtown (Śródmieście), on Ujazdów Avenue (Aleje Ujazdowskie), on the "Royal Route" linking the Royal Castle with Wilanów to the south. Just to its north, on the other side of Agrykola Street, Łazienki Park borders on Ujazdów Castle.
|
[edit] History
Łazienki Park was established in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren, in the baroque style, for Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. It took the name Łazienki ("Baths") from a bathing pavilion that was located there. In 1764 the gardens were acquired, after his election as King of Poland, by Stanisław August Poniatowski.
The now classicist-style gardens became Stanisław August's life work. The park was designed by Dominik Merlini, Johann Christian Kammsetzer and landscape gardener Jan Christian Schuch. The park's principal buildings are clustered around or near the Łazienki Lake and Łazienki River. Stanisław August's palace, placed on the lake, is called a "Palace on the Water."
Most of the park's buildings burned during and after the Warsaw Uprising (1944), amid fighting among German, Polish and Soviet forces. The structures nevertheless were relatively well-preserved, compared to Warsaw's Old Town, and the park's reconstruction was completed within a few years after the war.
[edit] Buildings in Łazienki Park
[edit] Palace on the Water
The "Palace on the Water" (Polish: Pałac na Wodzie or Pałac Łazienkowski), also called the "Palace on the Isle", was established in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren for Stanislaus Lubomirski. From 1772 to 1793 Dominik Merlini altered the building for Stanisław August Poniatowski, who made it his residence. The bath house was formed in Chinese style. The park, now a beautiful medley of architectural styles, was then graced with reliefs and painted Dutch tiles. Its furniture and paintings belong to the Classicist style. The appearance is dominated by an "Attika", carried by columns, statues of mythological figures. The palace by the park is on an artificial island on the Łazienki lake, and is connected by two arcade bridges to the rest of the park. The long Łazienki lake is divided by the palace in two parts, into a smaller northern lake and a bigger southern lake. On the ground floor of the palace is the so-called "Bacchus-room", the royal baths, the ballroom, the portrait cabinet, the Solomon Room, the rotunda with the figures of the Polish kings, the lower picture gallery which contains minor works by Rubens and Rembrandt, and the chapel. Also on the ground floor is the dining room in which the famous "Thursday dinners" took place, to which Stanisław August Poniatowski invited leading artists, writers and politicians. On the first floor are the royal apartments, the upper picture gallery, the balcony room, the king's cabinet, the royal bedchambers, the cloakroom, and the officer's room. The Palace on the Water was burnt by the Germans after the Warsaw Uprising, and was rebuilt after the Second World War.
[edit] White House
Built in 1774-1776 as another of Stanislaw August Poniatowski's summer residences, not as a palace but as a garden villa, with an orangerie and paintings gallery, with suitable living quarters. It is the work of the Domenico Merlini. The house was later used by the King as a secret love nest. Another famous resident of the White House was Louis XVIII,[4] who lived here in 1801-05 during his exile from France.[5]
The lodge has seven rooms, beautifully appointed with original furniture and decor, including Chinese wallpaper, which was popular at the time, and delicate grotesques painted by Jan Bogumił Plersch and Jan Ścisło.
[edit] Myślewicki Palace
 |
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Old Orangery
|
|
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] New Orangery
|
|
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Temple of Diana
In 1822, Jakub Kubicki erected a classicist temple to the goddess Diana. Also called the "Temple of the Sybil," it stands in the northwest part of the southern Łazienki lake. The wooden building is massive and decorated inside with murals of flower and fruit motifs.
[edit] Egyptian Temple
An Egyptian temple was also built in 1822 by Jakub Kubicki, in the southwest part of the southern Łazienki lake. It was placed next to the fortress built by Stanisław Lubomirski, which protected Warsaw south of that point. In 1771 a bridge was built to it. During the Warsaw Uprising, only the northern part of the temple survived; the southern part has never been rebuilt.
[edit] Buildings bordering Łazienki Park
[edit] Belweder
Erected in about 1660 and remodeled in the first half of the 18th century in Baroque style. Owned by King Stanisław August Poniatowski who used it as a porcelain-manufacturing plant. Since 1818, the residence of Russian Grand Duke Constantine. Remodeled in Neoclassical style in 1819-1822 by Jakub Kubicki. After the re-establishment of Poland's independence it served as a headquarters of Józef Piłsudski in 1918-1922 and in 1922-1926 as the presidential residence of Gabriel Narutowicz and Stanisław Wojciechowski. From 1989 to July 1994, it was the official residence of Poland's president. Now, the museum of Józef Piłsudski.
[edit] Ujazdów Castle
The first castle was erected on the spot by the Dukes of Masovia as early as in 13th century. In 1624, the stone castle was raised by King Sigismund III Vasa. Since 1683, it belonged to Great Crown Marshal Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. The gardens surrounding the castle, later divided onto two separate parks, were refurbished. About that time the Łazienki's Eremity and Łazienki Palace were built. The main axis of the castle's eastern façade was also underlined by the construction of a decorative royal canal built under the Vistula river embankment, on which the castle stood.
In 1764, it became the property of Stanisław August Poniatowski who remodeled it, and in 1784, donated to the Polish Army. The castle successively housed the barracks, a military hospital and a military medical school. The castle was burnt out and damaged by the Germans following the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Rebuilt since 1975. It houses Warsaw's Center for Contemporary Art since 1981.
[edit] Astronomical observatory
|
|
Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Notes
- ^ (Polish) "Park", Muzeum Łazienki Królewskie. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
- ^ (Polish) "Kalendarium", Muzeum Łazienki Królewskie. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
- ^ (Polish) "Łazienki Królewskie", Encyklopedia Warszawy. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
- ^ (English) Lazienki Palace. warsaw-life.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
- ^ (Polish) Biały Dom. lazienki-krolewskie.pl. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Plan of the Łazienki Park
- (Polish) VIRTUAL TOUR Łazienki in winter.
[edit] Gallery
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
