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Special Venues: Royal Łazienki

Nov 22, 2022

royal_lazienki — Photo Credit: Royal Łazienki

CLASSICIST ARCHITECTURE AND FABULOUS GARDENS

The Royal Łazienki was King Stanisław August’s summer residence, in which classicist architecture is harmoniously blended with its natural surroundings featuring fabulous gardens.

Here, one can not only rest while watching nature but also deepen one’s knowledge of the ideas of the Enlightenment by visiting such gems of European architecture.

The Palace on the Isle

The origins of the Palace on the Isle date back to the late seventeenth century. The Bathhouse was built at the behest of Prince Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, one of the most important politicians, writers and philosophers of the time.

The Baroque garden pavilion, designed by the Dutch architect, Tylman van Gameren, was intended as a place for resting, leisure and contemplation. The interiors of the Bathhouse were stylized on a grotto with a spring which symbolized the Hippocrene, a fountain on Mount Helicon in ancient Greece, which was the source of poetic inspiration for the Muses.

The Old Orangery

It houses the Royal Sculpture Gallery with plaster copies of the most famous sculptures of the ancient world, and the Royal Theatre – one of the few original European 18th-century court theatres.

The White Pavilion next to it is a unique monument of 18th-century residential architecture in Poland, while The Myślewicki Palace, in which original polychromes by Jan Bogumił Plersch were preserved, including views of Rome and Venice, and the picturesquely located Amphitheatre.

In the Royal Łazienki gardens, one can stroll on paths and alleys surrounded by trees, shrubs, and flowers. The visitors to the Royal Łazienki may also experience high European culture with numerous cultural and educational events on offer. Among the best-known are the summer concerts near the Monument to Chopin, which take place each Sunday from the beginning of May until the end of September. These recitals have had a long tradition in the Royal Łazienki, and they are popular both among tourists and the inhabitants of Warsaw.