Toward the end of the 17th century, a smaller building stood in the place of today’s Great Annexe (Officer Cadets School). It served as a kitchen, where meals were prepared for the residents of the Bathhouse of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. In the time of Stanisław August, the building was considerably expanded (according to a design by Domenico Merlini) and then named the Great Annexe....

This splendid palace with its characteristic semi-circular form was originally conceived as the King’s primary residence.  With time, however, it began to take on a more official and representative function. Matters of state were discussed in its elegant interiors, and over the centuries the apartments were used to accommodate tsarist generals, members of the Polish government, as well as...