Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art is a place where we reflect on the world through art. In a castle at the heart of Warsaw, close to the Royal Łazienki Park, we not only present exhibitions and performances, but also run a cinema, a library, a bookshop and an artist residency programme. We present artists‘ ideas through publications, workshops and guided tours, inviting and...

The Royal Castle in Warsaw is one of the most important royal residences in Europe. However, it is not the beauty of the architecture, the dazzling interior design or the rank of the works of art gathered in the castle walls that determine the unique significance of the building, but the symbolic charge contained in it. The Royal Castle is a monument to Polish independence – like it, dying...

The origins of today’s 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...

The Palace of the Commonwealth and the adjacent Krasiński Garden form a palace-cum-garden complex (French: entre cour et jardin) which was typical of the Baroque style. Built in the years 1688–1699, according to Tylman van Gameren’s design, was unanimously considered by the contemporaries as one of the most beautiful magnate palaces in Warsaw. The construction of the Krasiński Palace was a...

The Water Tower, also known as the Reservoir, dates back to the times of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. It was used as a tank to collect water from local sources and then to channel it to the Palace through pipes. In 1777, the Water Tower was augmented with an architectural cylinder-shaped shell. At the time, the building was not plastered; it had a brick elevation, and the residents of the...

The small villa-type building is a unique monument of 18th-century residential architecture in Poland. It was the first building on the premises of Royal Łazienki which was erected from scratch on the order of king Stanisław August. It was built around 1774 by the Royal Promenade, most likely to the design of Domenico Merlini. In the years 1775-1777 it was furnished and gained a painting...

The Old Orangery was built to house exotic trees in the winter season. It is also a place which is very closely linked to art and culture. The Royal Theatre is situated in the Old Orangery, as is the Gallery containing Stanisław August’s collection of sculptures. The Old Orangery was raised in the years 1785-88, according to a design by Domenico Merlini, court architect to King Stanisław...

The Chinese Garden, situated in the northern, naturalistic part of the Royal Łazienki, was designed according to existing historical models from Prince Kung’s Mansion in Beijing. Additionally, the garden alludes to the chinoiserie style, which reached its peak popularity in the Royal Łazienki thanks to King Stanisław August. It was on his initiative that in 1780 the former Road to Wilanów...

The Modernist Garden in the southern part of the Royal Łazienki, with corresponding style and trends, extends along the eastern edge of the Chinese Avenue. The composition of this type of garden is also visible in the western part of the Łazienki, close to the Fryderyk Chopin Monument. The changing fashions in the 1920s, 1930s and 1960s resulted in the Royal and Romantic gardens having a...

The Romantic Garden adjoining the Belvedere Palace, and composed of many interesting elements and a rich assortment of plants, is an excellent example of nineteenth-century European garden design. The Belvedere Palace, located at the top of the escarpment, dominates this part of the garden which was established in a manner widely acclaimed throughout Europe in the nineteenth century and which...