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96-398: In the mid-16th century, the Łazienki area became part of the estates of Queen Bona Sforza , who ordered the construction of a wooden manor house with an Italian garden . In 1624, King Sigismund III Vasa erected the four-sided stone Ujazdów Castle , north of the present Łazienki Park. Most of the Łazienki Park buildings were originally designed in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren in

192-522: A bath, recommends an idyllic life and wishes to play host to honest men." To a large extent, the decorations of the main entrance hall, the Chamber of Bacchus and the Bath-Chamber all dating from Lubomirski's time, have survived. Stanislaus Augustus first took an interest in the old Bath-House in 1772. Initially, some of the interiors were restored and turned into living quarters. That coincided with

288-548: A circle of supporters. On 23 January 1519, Pope Leo X , whom Bona had friendly relationship with from her Italian days, granted her the privilege of awarding eight benefices in five Polish cathedrals ( Kraków , Gniezno , Poznań , Włocławek , and Frombork ). In May 1519, the privilege was expanded to fifteen benefices. This was a very important privilege that allowed her to secure support of various officials. Three of her most trusted supporters, Piotr Kmita Sobieński , Andrzej Krzycki , and Piotr Gamrat , were sometimes known as

384-420: A classicist architectural style, it contains conservators’ work-shops. This structure was built in 1825–1826 in the portion of the grange found at the south side of Łazienki Gardens. The one-storey rectangular building stands out for the severity of its architecture. Its designer could have been Wilhelm Henryk Minter, who built no longer extant barracks for hussars, uhlans and cuirassiers in the vicinity. Today it

480-475: A courtly, elegantly attired public. The painting was the work of Plersch who had also painted above the stage what appeared to be bas-reliefs of coats-of-arms with the crest of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at centre. Also painted by Plersch was the plafond depicting Apollo in a quadriga. The painting is set in a circular frame, beyond whose perimeters bas-relief-effect medallions bearing

576-485: A dress of light blue Venetian satin that reportedly cost 7,000 ducats . The journey to Poland took more than three months. Bona and Sigismund met for the first time on 15 April 1518 just outside Kraków . The wedding and coronation took place on 18 April 1518, but celebrations continued for a week. Almost from the beginning of her life in Poland, the energetic queen tried to gain a strong political position and began forming

672-487: A fashionable notion of fleeing palatial mansions to secludes rural abodes. In 1777, the first considerable change in the Bath-House's appearance occurred. Most notably a send storey was added to the building with a sleeping suite for King Stanislaus Augustus. Downstairs a dining-room was created which already had a classicist appearance. Fashionable roofed Chinese galleries with little bridges were added at both sides, with

768-472: A ground floor where benches were arranged in amphitheatre fashion as well as three boxes on each wall overlooking the ground floor. The walls between the boxes were divided by pairs of pilasters, between which pilaster statues depicting women holding candles were placed. The statues were the work of Andrzej Le Brun who was assisted by Jakub Monaldi and Joachim Staggi. Above the real boxes, illusionary ones were painted to suggest yet another tier of boxes filled with

864-514: A historic palace and now one of the official residences of the President of Poland , borders the park's southern side. Łazienki Park was designed in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren , in the baroque style, for military commander Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski . It took the name Łazienki ("Baths") from a bathing pavilion that was located nearby. The picturesque garden scheme owes its emergence as its present shape and appearance mainly to

960-425: A one-off payment of 50,000 ducats except Isabella Jagiellon , who was to receive 10,000 ducats annually. Her only son, King Sigismund II Augustus, was named as the main beneficiary, but in the end, he would inherit only cash, jewelry, and other personal property. The next day, however, Bona felt better and dictated a new last will to Scipio Catapani that left Bari and other property to Sigismund Augustus. Bona died in

1056-525: A possible two-front war . Bona was instrumental in establishing an alliance between Poland and France with the objective of recovering Milan. The negotiations came to an end, and the alliance was disbanded after Francis' troops were defeated by Charles V at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Despite their blood relation, Bona sometimes was a fierce opponent of the Habsburgs. She advocated attaching Silesia to

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1152-525: A romantic affair with Giovanni Lorenzo Pappacoda. Although she did not travel with her husband and spent three years alone in the Wawel castle , Bona was pregnant seven times during the first nine years of her marriage. Her children included: El%C5%BCbieta Grabowska Elżbieta Szydłowska , married surname Grabowska (1748 – 1 June 1810), was a member of the Polish nobility , a mistress and possibly

1248-477: A suite and study, the picture gallery, a royal bedroom, library and the quarters of some servants. The classical amphitheater, inspired by ancient Greek and Roman architecture, was built on the bank of the Łazienki lake, separated by a narrow strait from its stage on a small isle. The amphitheater was built in 1790–93 by Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer . Its attic was embellished with 16 statues representing famous poets , playwrights, and thinkers of antiquity and of

1344-464: Is massive and decorated inside with murals with flower and fruit motifs . An Egyptian temple was also built in 1822 by Jakub Kubicki , on the southwest shore 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

1440-466: Is the former dining hall (now a salon) with scenes of Rome and Venice by Plersch. Next to it (on the western side) is the former bathroom with marbled walls and a plafond painted by Plersch, showing Zephyr and Flora. Another room in the west suite is adorned with seven fanciful views of ancient ruins set against a romantic landscape. They were painted by Antoni Herliczek. The next bedroom's walls are decorated with painted medallions showing hunting cupids on

1536-494: Is the home of the Hunters’ and Riders’ Museum. Between the stables and invalids’ barracks is a villa with a façade adorned with round panels, while the back is marked by a three-sided projection. The structure was built in the 1830s, possibly as lodgings for senior army officers. After Poland regained independence following World War I , the building served for two years as the residence of Gabriel Narutowicz before he became

1632-534: The Baroque style for military commander Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski , including an ornate bathing pavilion that eventually gave its name to the gardens. In 1764, King Stanisław II August obtained Ujazdów and extensively remodeled the gardens. In 1918, following Poland's resumption of independence, Łazienki was officially designated a public park. The park's flora and fauna include over 9,500 trees and populations of peafowl and red squirrels . The Belweder ,

1728-504: The Duchy of Savoy if his brother Charles III abdicated. The initial and most likely plan to marry Maximilian Sforza failed after he was deposed after the French victory in the Battle of Marignano in 1515. Pope Leo X proposed his nephew Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino , as he hoped to install Lorenzo as Duke of Milan by using Bona's inheritance claims. However, the French hold on Milan

1824-520: The House of Sforza was restored to the Duchy of Milan in 1512, Isabella hoped to wed Bona and Duke Maximilian Sforza , thereby providing further legitimacy to Maximilian's reign. There were other proposals as well: Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon proposed Giuliano de' Medici , brother of Pope Leo X . Isabella counter-proposed Ferdinand's 10-years-old grandson Ferdinand of Austria ; Pope Leo X proposed Philippe, Duke of Nemours , who would succeed to

1920-645: The House of Trastámara . Her paternal great-uncle Ludovico Sforza , known to history as "Il Moro", usurped her father's power and sent the small family to live at the Castello Visconteo in Pavia , where her father died the same year she was born. Rumors spread that he was poisoned by Ludovico. Bona's family moved to the Sforza Castle in Milan, where they lived under the watchful eye of Ludovico, who

2016-699: The Ottoman Empire and sometimes opposed the Habsburgs . Her descendants became beneficiaries of the Neapolitan sums , a loan to Philip II of Spain that was never completely paid. Bona was born on 2 February 1494, in Vigevano, Milan, as the third of the four children of Gian Galeazzo Sforza , the legal heir to the Duchy of Milan, and Isabella of Naples , daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples from

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2112-521: The World War I , they were left without appropriate care and froze. The building consists of an oblong hall, with glass walls. Today it houses a tropical garden and a restaurant in the northern wing. In 1822, Jakub Kubicki erected a classicist temple to the goddess Diana . Also called the " Temple of the Sibyl ," it stands next to the northwest part of the southern Łazienki lake. The wooden building

2208-466: The morganatic wife of the last King of Poland , Stanisław August Poniatowski . Elżbieta Szydłowska was a daughter of Polish nobleman Teodor Kajetan Szydłowski , voivode of Płock , Lubicz coat of arms (1714–1792), and his wife, Teresa Witkowska, Nowina coat of arms (1722–1778). In 1768 she married a Polish noble , General Jan Jerzy Grabowski (died 1789). Some of the children of this marriage are thought to have actually been children of

2304-709: The 1 April 1548, Sigismund I the Old died and was succeeded by Sigismund Augustus. The mother and the son had entered into a conflict over his marriage to Barbara Radziwiłł , a former mistress who was vehemently opposed by the nobility, but she eventually accepted her son's decision. Still, their relationship turned difficult, and after her husband's death, Bona moved with her unmarried daughters to Masovia and stayed there for eight years before moving back to Bari. In February 1556, Bona left Poland for her native Italy with treasures that she had accumulated over 38 years. In May, she reached Bari and took possession of her mother's duchy. She

2400-460: The 16th-17th centuries. In 1922 the 16 statues were replaced by 8 statues. The stage , sited on an isle, was modeled after ancient Herculaneum and features decorations imitating ruins in the Roman Forum . Performances are still staged on the isle. The amphitheater and its stage provide a perfect setting on a summer evening, despite occasional noise from the swans , ducks , and especially

2496-566: The 1730s, the old building was replaced with a new brick building of rectangular shape designed by architect Józef Fontana . Having purchased the Belvedere to add to his estates in 1767, Stanislaus Augustus had originally planned to reconstruct it. That, however, never came about. Instead, he had it used for officials‘ and servants‘ quarters and set up a porcelain-manufacturing plant. in the north annexe. The Belvedere first underwent major reconstruction in 1819–1822 when Grand Duke Constantine ,

2592-725: The Amphitheatre, Waterworks and the Cadets’ Hall which recently became the home of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Museum. This historic palace and garden complex, now situated in the city centre, performs various cultural functions and is regularly visited by a great many domestic and foreign excursions as well as Varsovians. The principal edifice of Łazienki is the Palace on the Isle ( Polish : Pałac Na Wyspie ). It

2688-528: The French manner, the park also contained scenic areas inspired by the romantic English garden. Near the Royal Promenade a small pavilion meant for then a popular game called Trou Madame was built, later converted into a theatre. Directly opposite, on the southern shore of the pond, an earthen amphitheatre with a stage in a cluster of trees was established. The view from the Bath House to the south

2784-453: The Isle was the scene of the famous Thursday Lunches , to which the king would invite scholars, writers and poets. Łazienki at that time was an important cultural centre that flourished thanks to the support of Stanislaus Augustus, a patron of the fine arts and propagator of science and learning. As a palace and garden complex, Łazienki reflected the classicist style widespread in Europe during

2880-517: The Polish crown in return for her hereditary principalities of Bari and Rossano, but Sigismund the Old did not fully support this idea. Wanting to secure her eldest daughter in the Kingdom of Hungary, Bona successfully supported her son-in-law John Zápolya as successor against Ferdinand of Habsburg after Louis II of Hungary was killed at Mohács in 1526. Alongside her husband's profound interest in

2976-549: The Pompeii Room, and the Drawing-Room. Many pieces of furniture and other smaller historic items have also survived. Until recently, the Belvedere was the seat of the president of Poland. Bona Sforza Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old , and Duchess of Bari and Rossano by her own right. She

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3072-688: The Second World War, an arduous reconstruction project of the Łazienki royal complex, which was to last nearly two decades, got underway. The first seven ground floor chambers of the palace was opened to the public in 1960 and in 1965 the entire first floor. Fortunately, the White House, Myślewicki Palace and the theatre in the old orangery were spared from any severe destruction during the war. Nevertheless, they required thorough restoration, since they did sustain damage. At present they are completely renovated and open to visitors. Also restored are

3168-610: The Triumvirate. She became openly involved in various state affairs, which did not agree with the traditional ideal of a royal wife to use discreet manipulation in government. Although the royal couple disagreed on many domestic and foreign issues, the marriage was a supportive and successful partnership. Believing that one of the most important things needed for strengthening royal authority was appropriate revenue , Bona sought to assemble as much dynastic wealth as possible, which would give her husband's financial independence to defend

3264-744: The Vatican, she sought to maintain good relations with the Ottoman Empire and had contacts with Hürrem Sultan , chief consort of Suleiman the Magnificent . It is believed that the good relationship between the Queens saved Poland from the attack of the Ottoman Army during the Italian Wars . Worried about the growing ties between the Habsburgs and Russia by 1524, Sigismund signed a Franco-Polish alliance with King Francis I of France to avoid

3360-495: The artist's father, Franciszek Pinck and Andrzej Le Brun. Dating from the mid-19th century are works by such artist as Paweł Maliński - the first professor of Warsaw University's Chair of Sculpture, Jakub Tatarkiewicz , Władysław Oleszczyński - an outstanding representative of the romantic school, as well as Marceli Guyski and Henryk Sattler, the son of the painter Korneli. The building was built by Adam Adolf Loewe and Józef Orłowski in 1860. Neo-classicist with eclectic elements, it

3456-401: The baroque Belvedere Palace situated at the southern edge of the escarpment. In one of the wings, the king set up a faience factory whose products were known as Belvedere vessels. Whenever Stanisław Augustus visited Łazienki, he was followed by his entire court and closest family members. Decorative tents were set up in the garden to accommodate mainly all the servants and guards. At such times,

3552-402: The classicist style in Poland. The stuccowork and mural decorations were subordinated to architectural divisions. The axis of the composition was set off by two monumental marble fireplaces in the form of wall porticoes, featuring statues of Apollo and Farnesian Heracles set against the shorter walls. The longer, white marbled walls decorated by vertical panneaux, painted by Jan Bogumił Plersh in

3648-552: The consent of all the noble brothers. In 1539, Bona reluctantly presided over the burning of the 80-year-old Katarzyna Weiglowa for heresy, but that event ushered in an era of tolerance. The Queen's confessor, Francesco Lismanini , assisted in the establishment of a Calvinist Academy in Pińczów . Bona was instrumental in establishing alliances for Poland, but she was rumored to be a notorious conspirator because of her gender and Italian heritage. In addition of her good relationships with

3744-472: The corridors running along its main trunk a Gallery of Polish Sculpture has been set up. On exhibit are works dating from the 16th century up to 1939. Only a very few sculptures dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as the first half of the 18th, are on display and they may be admired in Room 1. The next room contains sculptures from the latter half of the 18th century including works by Jan Jerzy Plersch,

3840-596: The early morning of 19 November 1557, at the age of 63. It is suspected she was poisoned by trusted household members. She was buried in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, where her daughter, Anna , had a tomb erected for her in Renaissance style. Bona was considered from her youth a very ugly woman, so much so that the proposal (advanced by Naples) of a marriage between her and the fourteen-year-old Federico Gonzaga

3936-423: The eerily hooting peacocks . The Little White House ( Biały Domek ) is a garden villa built in 1774-76 by Domenico Merlini . It housed King Poniatowski 's mistress and, for a time, Louis XVIII , who lived here in 1801-05 during his exile from France. Built in the form of a square, it has identical facades, adorned with rustication , an attic and a small pavilion at the top. The interiors were decorated by

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4032-420: The elegant classicist Palace on the Isle. Throughout the gardens, many new structures were built and adorned by architects Dominik Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer, painters Jan Bogumił Plersch and Marcello Bacciarelli , and sculptors Andrzej Le Brun, Jakub Monaldi, and Franciszek Pinek. In 1774 a White House was erected in the form of a simple hexagon with comfortably appointed interiors. According to legend,

4128-476: The first Polish play, Dismissal of the Greek Envoys by Jan Kochanowski . To the south, King Sigismund III Vasa had a four-sided stone castle with corner towers erected in 1624. In the second half of the 17th century, Ujazdów became the property of Grand Crown Marshal Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski . He was the first to call attention to the thickly wooded area of a former animal park stretching along

4224-545: The first half of the 18th century, Ujazdów was leased to King Augustus II the Strong , during whose reign a regular waterway known as the Piaseczno Canal was built. In 1764, Ujazdów became the property of King Stanisław II Augustus. The monarch first set about rebuilding Ujazdów Castle which he chose as his summer residence. Work was begun in the castle's forefield, where a series of straight paths converging at circles

4320-410: The first president of the resurrected Polish Republic. Today the building serves as a nursery school. This building should not be confused with Narutowicz's villa , just outside Łazienki Park at 23 Dworkowa St., where Narutowicz stayed as president from 11 to 16 December 1922, when he was assassinated. A bridge with a monument to King John III Sobieski closes off the view from the north windows of

4416-463: The foot of Ujazdów Castle where he built two garden pavilions. The first pavilion was a hermitage and the other originally contained an ornate bath chamber which first gave its name to the building and eventually to the entire garden. The original baths designed by the renowned architect Tylman van Gameren in the Baroque style , are contained to this day within the walls of the Palace on the Isle . In

4512-529: The gardens also changed their appearance. In 1778, a Royal Promenade was laid out – a lane joining the White House to the Bath-House. At the point where it crossed the Wilanów Road, a one-storey Chinese-style summer house (subsequently dismantled in the 19th century and recently reconstructed) was erected. The old canals and pool near the Bath House were transformed into diversely shaped ponds of considerable size. In addition to gardens geometrically laid out in

4608-512: The historic buildings were taken over by the German military. Towards the end of December 1944, before evacuating the palace, the Nazis drenched its walls with petrol and set the complex on fire. In the building's blackened walls they drilled some one thousand holes to place the dynamite in order to blow it up the way they had Warsaw's Royal Castle but ultimately they were unable to do so. Following

4704-400: The interior's previous climate. Among the other ground-floor chambers is also the portrait room and the considerably bigger picture gallery with paintings collected over time by kings and queens. A small chapel was also erected on the ground floor. It was topped with an oval cupola and the walls were divided by pilasters and panels covered with multi-coloured stucco. The first floor consists of

4800-518: The king's mistress, Elżbieta Grabowska , as well as his sisters resided in the manor. From 1775 to 1783 the Myślewicki Palace was built opposite the Bath-House. Originally it took the form of a cube built on a square, to which eventually wings were built on and subsequently elevated. During the 1770s the hermitage, which had been damaged by lightning, was restored and one of the king's companions, Teresa Lhullier, took up residence there. Gradually,

4896-653: The kingdom from external threats without the Parliament's slow support. The royal family gained numerous estates in Lithuania and finally took over the Grand Duchy by 1536–1546. She helped to reform agriculture taxation , including uniform duties on the peasants and area measurements . Those actions generated huge profits . Wanting to ensure the continuity of the Jagiellonian dynasty on the Polish throne,

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4992-513: The last Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth king, Stanisław August Poniatowski. In 1789, she became a widow and possibly entered into a secret, morganatic marriage with the King, remaining known at court as his maîtresse-en-titre . However, Wirydianna Fiszerowa , a contemporary who knew her, reported that tales of this marriage only circulated after Poniatowski's death, and were spread about by Elżbieta herself, but were not generally believed. She

5088-405: The last ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , King Stanisław August Poniatowski (Stanislaus II Augustus). In the mid-16th century, it became part of the estates of Poland's Italian-born Queen Bona Sforza , who built a wooden manor house with an Italian garden on this site. Later, the wooden manor house of Queen Anna Jagiellon stood on this spot, immortalized in 1578 by the performance of

5184-508: The latter half of the 18th century. But it stood for its picturesque nature and variety, hence that classicism (also found in the interiors of Ujazdów Castle designed by the King) has come to be known as the style of Stanislaus Augustus. Following the partitions of Poland , in the 19th century, Łazienki fell into the hands of the Russian tsars . In the period from 1819 to 1830, at the request of

5280-471: The likeness of the outstanding playwrights Sophocles , Shakespeare , Molière and Racine extend. The theatre's interior was built entirely of wood to ensure excellent acoustics. The deep stage has a slanted floor and displays fragments of the equipment of a former engine-room. At either sides of the stage, three-tiered actors' dressing rooms were found. In the west wing of the Old Orangery as well as in

5376-454: The marble statues of the greatest Polish monarchs: Casimir III the Great , Stefan Batory , Sigismund III and John III Sobieski . The cupola contained four tondi painted by Bacciarelli symbolizing the four virtues exemplified by the monarchs: courage, wisdom, justice and mercy. They concealed (in 1795) earlier frescos by Plersch illustrating the times of the day which had been in keeping with

5472-489: The new owners architect Jakub Kubicki rebuilt the Belvedere in the late-classicist style and subsequently erected new pavilions in the gardens – the Egyptian Temple and Temple of Diana. He converted the former Trou Madame pavilion into a new guardhouse and a school, hence today it is best known as Podchorążówka (Cadets’ Hall). The Nazi occupation was a tragic period for Łazienki. In 1939 it was closed to Poles and

5568-412: The north pond, at the roadside. The building's façade was embellished with four Doric columns and a partly balustraded attic. Though modest-sized, the building conveys a majestic image. It now serves as a venue for temporary exhibitions. The new Guardhouse is situated near the west side of the Palace on the Isle . It came into being through the reconstruction of a little building erected in 1779–1780 for

5664-416: The northern side, they formed part of the new, monumental northern façade which featured a columned portico crowned by a triangular tympanum. The entire elevation was crowned with a stone attic embellished with sculptures by André-Jean Lebrun . In 1793, two additional pavilions were constructed. They were joined to the palace by little bridges with columned galleries. Despite the numerous reconstructions over

5760-480: The park was filled with strolling couples, people in carriages and small boats or gondolas . Colourful and raucous spectacles including firework displays and other illuminations were staged in the gardens and often attended by the citizens of Warsaw. Such was the case when a magnificent carousel was set into motion to mark the unveiling of the King John III Sobieski monument in 1788. The Palace on

5856-463: The precincts of Łazienki Park on the opposite side of Agrykola Street, this small square building is covered with a mansard roof that conceals its little upstairs rooms. The Hermitage once served Marshal Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski as a retreat. For a time, a companion of King Stanislaus Augustus , Madame Teresa Lhuiller, lived here. Destroyed by fire at the start of his reign, the Hermitage

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5952-576: The prominent Polish painters Jan Ścisło and Jan Bogumił Plersch. Though the Little White House was devastated by the Germans during World War II , many of its interior furnishings survived. The most interesting include grotesque paintings in the dining room, 18th-century Chinese wallpaper in the parlor, the king's bed in the bedchamber, and a cabinet in the form of an arbor with trompe-l'œil paintings by Plersch. The palace, which

6048-418: The prowls. On the second floor, only the décor of the little study has survived. Its walls are adorned with grayish-green panels into which medallions incorporating personification of learning and art have been woven. The Old Orangery was erected in 1786–88 in a rectangular horseshoe shape, with the southern façade of the core structure broken up by pilasters and arcaded great windows. The adjoining wings to

6144-496: The reconstruction of an older structure from about 1600. It was Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac , the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania , who erected a palatial villa at the edge of a tall escarpment for his wife, Klara Izabella de Lascaris, who was an attendant at the court of Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga . Owing to the views from the villa's windows, it was named the Belvedere (from Latin bellus vedere , literally "beautiful view"). In

6240-688: The revival of classical antiquity, Bona was instrumental in developing the Polish Renaissance . She brought renowned Italian artists, architects and sculptors from her native country. Her most known artistic involvement were the expansion of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius and the construction of Ujazdów Castle , which included a large park and a menagerie. The plans were prepared by Bartolomeo Berrecci da Pontassieve , who designed several other projects in Poland. On

6336-502: The royal couple decided to make the nobles and magnates to recognise their only son, the minor Sigismund Augustus, as heir to the throne. First, the Lithuanian nobles gave him the ducal throne (ca. 1527–1528). In 1529, he was then crowned Sigismund II Augustus . This led to huge opposition from Polish lords, which led to the adoption of the bill that the next coronation would take place after the death of Sigismund Augustus and only with

6432-717: The style of Raphael's grotesques in the Vatican . Gold was the dominant colour in all chambers, especially in Solomon's Hall. The plafond, bed-mouldings and both longer walls were filled with paintings by Marcello Bacciarelli illustrating the life of King Solomon . It was also during the time that the interior of the former baroque grotto at the centre of the building was changed into something exceptionally monumental and serious. The walls were stuccoed in gold, grey and white and were divided with half-columns (between which neighbouring premises were entered) as well as four niches containing

6528-517: The temple survived; the southern part has never been rebuilt. The Museum of Scouting is currently located in the temple. The Water Tower is a neoclassical structure, built in 1777–78 and 1822 by Jan Christian Kamsetzer and Chrystian Piotr Aigner . It was modeled after Caecilia Metella 's mausoleum on the Appian Way in Rome and currently serves as a museum of jewelry . Situated outside

6624-400: The then fashionable Chinese-style roofs . Several years later, a floor was added to the one-storey pavilions. The edifice, designed by Merilini, took on the appearance of a classicist mansion. Tradition holds that the king gave it to his nephew, Prince Józef Poniatowski . The mansion survived World War II , and many of its interiors retain their original décor. Noteworthy on the ground floor

6720-470: The then-popular game Trou-Madame, and murals adorned both its exterior and interior walls. In 1782, the building was converted into a theatre called the "Little Theatre", with portable wooden booths serving as the actors’ changing rooms. After a proper theatre was created in the Old Orangery, the Little Theatre lost its reason for existence. It was turned into a storage-room where statues were kept and

6816-551: The tsarist viceroy in Russian-occupied Poland , decided to make it his residence. The baroque structure was remodelled in the classicist style. To the building's main hull two one-floor perpendicular wings were added. The façade and garden wall were enhanced with monumental columned porticoes. Elements of the original décor have survived to this day in the palace's interior, particularly in the Blue Room, known as

6912-843: The war reached the Kingdom of Naples and her maternal great-uncle, King Frederick of Naples , was deposed. Together with other relatives, Bona was temporarily hidden at the Aragonese Castle on Ischia . By April 1502, Bona was the only surviving of her siblings. She and her mother settled at the Castello Normanno-Svevo in Bari more permanently, where Bona started an excellent education. Her teachers included Italian humanists Crisostomo Colonna and Antonio de Ferraris , who taught her mathematics, natural science, geography, history, law, Latin , classical literature, theology, and how to play several musical instruments. When

7008-408: The west were quarters for gardeners and staff. In the considerably larger wing to the east, a theatre was set up with an entrance in the two-tiered elevation. Due to its richly decorated interior which has luckily survived to modern times, it is one of the world's few extant examples of an authentic 18th-century court theatre. The simple, square-shaped audience area accommodated about 200 and comprised

7104-420: The western one leading to what soon would be the Royal Promenade. In 1784, a more extensive reconstruction of the Bath-House was launched according to a design by Dominik Merlini . Two new annexes were built on the southern side, joined by a row of four columns. The classicist façade was covered with sandstone slabs. Four years later two new segments slightly set back from the south were added on both sides. On

7200-478: The years, the edifice had remained as a harmonious whole. But what started as a simple bathing pavilion had been transformed into a lavish palace. The exterior changes were accompanied by work on the interiors, most of which were given a classicist-style appearance. A completely new interior, in the western segment added in 1788, was the two-tiered Ballroom with decorations designed by Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer. Completed in 1793, it constituted an outstanding example of

7296-406: The young Ettore Pignatelli as her lover. He was the eldest son of Alessandro Pignatelli, who, in turn, was the lover of her mother Isabella d'Aragona, Duchess of Milan . However, Ettore died under mysterious circumstances. It is believed that he was poisoned by Bona after he refused to follow her to Poland, where she intended to marry Sigismund. Widowed by her husband in 1548, Bona became involved in

7392-413: The Łazienki Palace. The bridge, originally single-span, covered with stone panels, was erected in 1777–80. In 1877, when the canal was widened, two new spans were added on the east side. The central section of the bridge was designed by Dominik Merlini . The King Sobieski Monument was designed by Andre Le Brun, who modelled it on King John Sobieski's equestrian statue at Wilanów . The statue's execution

7488-456: Was a bath chamber with walls adorned by bas-reliefs. Both the building's interior as well as its exterior elevation were richly decorated with stucco , sculptures and murals. A portion of the original decorations survived on the entrance wall of the columned portico. Also original is the Latin inscription to be read as a rebus. In translation, it states: "This house hates sorrow, loves peace, offers

7584-642: Was a surviving member of the powerful House of Sforza , which had ruled the Duchy of Milan since 1450. Smart, energetic and ambitious, Bona became heavily involved in the political and cultural life of the Polish–Lithuanian union . To increase state revenue during the Chicken War , she implemented various economic and agricultural reforms, including the far-reaching Wallach Reform in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . In foreign policy, she allied with

7680-549: Was afraid that Milan residents would rebel and install her popular brother Francesco . To minimize the risk, Ludovico separated the boy from the family and granted Bari and Rossano to her mother. The plans were interrupted by the Italian War of 1499–1504 . King Louis XII of France deposed Ludovico and took Francesco to Paris. With nothing left in Milan, her remaining family departed for Naples in February 1500. However,

7776-420: Was closed off with a water cascade and to the north – with a stone bridge upon which a monument to King John III Sobieski stands to this day. The Grand Annexe of considerable size contained the extensive premises of the royal kitchen as well as lodgings for officials and servants quarters. Exotic fruit was grown in the Old Orangery, which was frequently visited by guests. By then, the royal complex also included

7872-436: Was constructed in 1825–1826 in the grange area on the eastern side of Łazienki Gardens on the site of earlier wooden structures. It was designed along the lines of a simple horseshoe with a higher (one-storey) central portion used as staff quarters. The ground-floor wings directly adjoining the main (central) building were used as stables and the side wings served as coach-houses. The building was designed by Kulbicki and reflected

7968-412: Was designed to shelter the collection of orange trees. The building was necessary because tsar Alexander II of Russia , who purchased one of the largest in Europe collection of tropical plants from Nieborów , could not transport it to Saint Petersburg , due to climate conditions there. The collection's pride were long-lived orange trees (there were 124 of them in the collection). Unfortunately, during

8064-555: Was eliminated because of her age, and Eleanor's older brother instead selected King Manuel I of Portugal for her husband, Polish nobles suggested Anna Radziwiłł , the widow of Konrad III of Masovia . Isabella sent Bona's old teacher, Crisostomo Colonna, and diplomat Sigismund von Herberstein to Vilnius to convince Sigismund to select Bona. They succeeded and the marriage treaty was signed in September 1517 in Vienna . Bona's dowry

8160-624: Was guaranteed by custom duties collected in Foggia and the agreements were signed on both 23 September and 5 December 1556. However, the Habsburgs were determined to obtain Bari and did not intend to repay the loan. On 8 November, Bona became ill with stomach ache. On 17 November, as she was losing consciousness, her trusted courtier Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda brought to her the notary Marco Vincenzo de Baldis, who wrote her last will. It left Bari, Rossano, Ostuni and Grottaglie to Philip II of Spain and large sums to Pappacoda's family. Her daughters would receive

8256-412: Was laid out. The remodelling of the old Ujazdów Castle, which received an additional storey and new wings, dragged on without producing the expected results. The king became discouraged, abandoned further work and shifted his attention to the surrounding gardens. Modified and reconstructed in several stages over two decades beginning in 1772, the former Lubomirski Bath-House was eventually transformed into

8352-516: Was made easier by a rough-hewn stone block, set aside for this purpose, that had lain at the Szydłowiec quarry since Sobieski's time. The monument shows a rider in knight's armor astride a rearing steed whose hooves trample two Ottoman Turks . The monument symbolizes Sobieski's victory over the Turks at the Battle of Vienna (1683). The Belweder, also called Belvedere, came into being in 1659 through

8448-519: Was named after the now nonextant village of Myślewice, stood at the end of a road leading into town. Initially (in 1775) it was conceived as a one-storey villa set on a square. Flanking the building's main entrance, set off by lanterns held up by sculpted children, Monaldi's statues of Zephyr and Flora were enshrined within two smaller niches in 1777. Before the building could be completed (as originally planned) quarter-circular wings were added to either side, ending with one-storey pavilions covered with

8544-446: Was not even taken into consideration by his mother Isabella d'Este , nor by the archdeacon Alessandro di Gabbioneta, who considered it a sin to sacrifice the flourishing beauty of the young Federico to a "mature and ugly" woman like Bona. The latter, for her part, tried to make her face more graceful through jewelry and fabrics, but with little success, since "little or nothing has graced her." During her youth in Bari, Bona Sforza took

8640-505: Was originally a baroque Bath-House erected in about 1680 by Lubomirski according to the design of Tylman van Gameren , the most outstanding architect in Poland at that time. The square-shaped structure had a three-side protrusion on its northern elevation. Inside was a round hall with a fountain and the hall was topped by a cupola illuminated from above by lanterns. The walls were studded with pebbles, seashells and imitated grotto. Adjoining it

8736-415: Was rebuilt in 1777. For many years following World War II , the building housed a kindergarten . At present, since the restoration of its interior, the Hermitage serves as a venue for concerts, book promotions, meetings with authors, and other social and cultural events. The Old Guardhouse, designed by Kamsetzer, was built in 1791–92 for the guards protecting the approach to the palace. It stands next to

8832-508: Was soon visited by envoys of King Philip II of Spain , who attempted to convince her to give up the duchies of Bari and Rossano in favour of Habsburg Spain. However, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba , the viceroy of Naples , feared a French attack and raised money for troops. Perhaps having ambitions of becoming a viceroy of Naples herself, Bona agreed to lend the Duke of Alba a huge sum of 430,000 ducats at 10% annual interest. The loan

8928-438: Was therefore referred to at that time as the marble supply-house. In 1830, Jakub Kubicki rebuilt the structure in the classicist style . Between the segments added on the east side, he introduced columns with partially grooved shafts. The external decorations incorporated cartouches with panoplies and masks of Mars, the god of war. Today the building houses a café known under the 18th-century name of Trou-Madame. This building

9024-667: Was thought to have exercised some influence on the king during his reign perceived as negative, which made her unpopular. In 1795, King Stanisław abdicated following the Third Partition of Poland , and lived in Grodno under Russian watch until, in 1796, Paul I of Russia invited him to Saint Petersburg . Elżbieta, with her two sons, Stanisław and Michał, took the king to Saint Petersburg to care for him there, and she lived with him until his sudden death in 1798. Afterwards, she returned to Warsaw, then under Prussian rule following

9120-560: Was too strong and the plan failed. After Polish King Sigismund I the Old was widowed in October 1515, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , did not want Sigismund to marry another Habsburg opponent like his late wife, Barbara Zápolya . Therefore, the Emperor acted quickly and selected three suitable candidates for Sigismund: his granddaughter Eleanor of Austria , widowed Queen Joanna of Castile , and Bona Sforza. Although 36-year-old Joanna

9216-468: Was very large: 100,000 ducats, personal items worth 50,000 ducats and the Duchy of Bari . In exchange, Sigismund granted his future wife the towns of Nowy Korczyn , Wiślica , Żarnów , Radomsko , Jedlnia , Kozienice , Chęciny , and Inowrocław . Jan Konarski, Archbishop of Kraków , travelled to Bari to bring Bona to Poland. The wedding per procura took place on 6 December 1517 in Naples. Bona wore

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