Łazienki Park in Warsaw: Royal and Beautiful

The Happiest Place in Warsaw

A royal city naturally needs a royal park. And Warsaw has one as well. Created by the last Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, in the second half of the 18th century, Łazienki Park in Warsaw remains one of the most beautiful and certainly the best-known parks in Poland. Since Poniatowski was forced to abdicate in 1795 and could not complete his ambitious projects, it might have become even more beautiful. Yet where the king could not continue, the people carried on.

Especially in summer, a walk here is a must for every Warsaw resident and visitor, as it is said that this is the happiest place in Warsaw.

Name

Łazienki means The Baths. If you shop at Castorama in Poland, you will also find a Łazienki department with silver taps, shower cabins and tiles in every possible colour and shape. This is understandable, as every morning and evening we spend more or less time there in intimate privacy.

Hundreds of years ago, bathing and washing were not necessarily things that had to happen every day. But when the time came, at least the nobility, known in Poland as the szlachta, wanted to make themselves look their very best. That is why the great magnate Stanisław Herakliusz Lubormiski had a bathhouse built in 1690 by Tylman van Gameren, precisely on the site where the Palace on the Water stands today. Over time, habits changed and the buildings acquired different functions – but the name has remained to this day.

A Park on the Vistula Escarpment

The Vistula Escarpment is a kilometre-long slope along whose crest the Royal Route stretches. Keep in mind that, in order to reach the palace, you have to walk downhill. The main entrance, the Belvedere Palace and the Chopin Monument are located at the top, while everything else lies below in the valley.

What Is There to See Here?

The park contains numerous interesting Neoclassical buildings that have made it famous. It is impossible to see everything, especially when it comes to the interiors. Below, we would like to present the most important sights that can be reached during a walk.

Palace on the Island

This palace, which originally served as a bathhouse, was transformed by its later owners into a magnificent Neoclassical residence. Its last owner in the independent kingdom, the First Polish Republic until 1795, was also the last King of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski. Between 1775 and 1784, he had the palace reshaped into its present form. Numerous sculptures and an additional storey were added. The façade was transformed into an elegant and harmonious whole. Later, two arcaded side wings were added as well. The work was carried out according to royal instructions by the chief architect Dominik Merlini.

Palace on the Island @ Dawid Zawiła, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

After Poniatowski’s abdication in 1795, all the buildings in the park remained private property of the family. In 1815, the family eventually sold everything to the Russian tsar, and the entire complex remained in the possession of the Romanovs until the end of their dynasty in 1915. For 100 years, the buildings stood empty, as the Romanovs had little interest in them. Eventually, Łazienki Park returned to Polish hands. In 1944, the palace was not destroyed, but it was set on fire. Valuable objects were looted or damaged so severely that they lost all value. The reconstruction was completed in 1965 under the direction of Jan Dąbrowski. Marek Kwiatkowski was appointed its first director.

Amphitheatre on an Island

The theatre stage stands on an artificial island. The entire structure was completed in 1790 and was also King Poniatowski’s final project. Five years later, he abdicated.

The ruins on the stage imitate the ruins of a temple in the ancient city of Baalbek. The audience seating is located in the open air and takes the form of ancient Roman theatres, in this case the Theatre of Herculaneum. At the top of the auditorium stand figures symbolising tragedy and comedy. Sixteen additional figures represent sixteen playwrights, including Aeschylus and Sophocles. Since the materials used to create them were not of high quality, they had to be replaced with copies in the 20th century.

Belvedere Palace

The palace acquired its Neoclassical form between 1818 and 1822 through the reconstruction of a residence that had already existed in the 17th century. From 1818 onwards, representatives of the Russian tsar resided here, including Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov. After the First World War, the founder of the Second Polish Republic, Józef Piłsudski, lived here. In 1990, Lech Wałęsa, the first president of the Third Republic elected in free elections, moved in. Today, the palace is at the disposal of the presidents of Poland.

The palace is located at the main entrance to the park, near the bus stop. The statue of Józef Piłsudski stands in the square in front of the palace.

Also interesting Belvedere vodka is named after this palace.

Chopin Monument

The monument was unveiled in 1926 and cut into pieces and melted down in 1940, as it was made of bronze. In 1953, a copy of the original design was unveiled. Since then, free Chopin concerts have taken place here every Sunday from May to September at 12:00 and 16:00.

⇒ Read also: The Chopin Monument. A Detailed Description

              ⇒ Read also: Everything about the Chopin Family

⇒ Find out more Details about the Chopin Concerts at the Monumen

The Chopin Monument in its autumn splendour @ Walking Warsaw

Other monuments in the park:

• Henryk Sienkiewicz: only 50 metres further on from the Chopin Monument
• Franz Liszt: to the left of the Chopin Monument
• Stanisław August Poniatowski: next to the White House
• Jan III Sobieski: opposite the Palace on the Water

Old Orangery and Water Reservoir

There are two paths leading from the upper part of the park to the Palace on the Water. You can walk either to the left or to the right of the Chopin Monument. If you go to the left, you will already see the water reservoir and the Old Orangery from a distance.

The reservoir is a round building without windows. It is a copy of the Roman tomb of Caecilia Metella on the Via Appia Antica in Rome. The building was constructed between 1777 and 1778.

The Orangery was created in 1786, and it took two years to complete the decorations. The central part of the building served as winter storage for fashionable citrus trees. One wing served as living quarters, while the other housed a theatre carved from wood. The acoustics there are excellent. Unfortunately, it is closed to visitors.

Both buildings survived the Second World War intact.

The White House

This small house was probably intended for temporary purposes, yet it housed a world-famous guest within its walls. Louis XVIII moved in here in 1803 when he had to flee from the French people, who hated him deeply. In Poland, he was safe!

This building survived the Second World War intact.

Hermitage

This small house is located somewhat unnoticed and off the beaten track, on the other side of Agrykola Street. It was built at the same time as the first bathhouse in 1690. Between 1775 and 1777, Stanisław August Poniatowski had the building modernised. In the 19th century, it served as a service building for park workers and also lost the beautiful decorations on its exterior façade.

Myślewicki Palace

Stanisław August Poniatowski had two buildings in the park constructed from scratch: the White House and the Myślewicki Palace. It is located only a few minutes east of the Palace on the Water. Construction lasted from 1775 to 1779. The royal court lived here, from the master cook and confectioner to the servants. A special feature is the Chinese-style gutters, which were very fashionable in the second half of the 18th century.

Sources

• Tatarkiewicz, Władysław: Łazienki królewskie i ich osobliwości, Wydawnictwo Arkady, Warsaw 1987 [Polish] – ISBN 83-213-3162-9
• Featured image @ Łazienki Park in Warsaw @ dzika_mrowka via iStock