Warsaw: Have a rest [PARKS AND GARDENS]
Łazienki Królewskie, Warsaw / Arkadiusz Cichocki / Agencja Gazeta
Łazienki Park
The beginnings of this most beautiful and loved park go back to the 13th century and the fortified settlement of the Mazovian Princes, built on the Vistula embankment. When Mazovia was annexed to the crown, the manor house, called Ujazdów, became the property of Queen Bona, who initiated the building of a palace where Belvedere Palace now stands. Łazienki Park looks the way it does mostly thanks to Stanisław Augustów Poniatowski, who bought the lands near Ujazdowski Castle. On this large wooded terrain, Poniatowski built a beautiful lake according to a design by Tylman Van Gameren, which then gave its name to the whole complex ? Łazienki (bath). The best architects and artists of the time were involved in the project ? Dominik Merlini, Jan Christian Kamsetzer, Marcello Bacciarelli and Giacomo Monaldi. The King kept his eye on the work and personally consulted on the designs brought before him, resulting in the Palace on the Isle. In this building Stanisław August Poniatowski gathered an impressive art collection of works by the greatest Italian, Dutch and Flemish artists. Under the direction of Poniatowski several other buildings were constructed, including the White House, built in 1774, which, at the end of the 19th century, was the home of the French King in exile ? Louis the 18th. A short time later the Old Orangery was built, which housed the Stanisłowski Theatre and a glyptothek which gathered faithful copies of Greek and Roman sculptures for students of art schools. Unfortunately, after the reign of the last king of Poland, the park deteriorated. During Congress Poland many works of art were taken away to deepest Russia. The complex regained its earlier glory in between the wars, but was then destroyed in the 2nd World War. It took a long tome to rebuild Łazienki and it was finally opened as a museum in 1960.
The most well-known monument to Frederic Chopin by Wacław Szymanowski can be found in the park which is the site for the famous summer piano concerts. By the park gates on Agrykola you can visit the building of the officer cadet school where the November Uprising began. Near the south gates there is a mini-golf course and a riding club as well as the most elegant restaurant in the area ? Belvedere.