Archiv für 3. September 2013
Warsaw – The Palace on Water
This is the second name for the Lazienki Palace. In the past in was a bathhouse which was built on an islet in the middle of a lake for powerful aristocrat Stanislaw Hraklisz Lubomirski. I was fully remodelled between 1764 and 1795 to fulfil need of Stanislaw August Poniatowski for a private residence where he wanted to relax. He was a patron of the arts, so the interior of the palace hides a really great collection of arts which luckily survived.
As the palace is in the middle of a lake, the lake is divided into two parts, northern lake and southern lake connected by two Ionic colonnaded bridges to the rest of the park.
On the ground floor there is the Bacchus Room which is decorated with 17th century Dutch blue tiles and paintings from Jacob Jordaens. There is also the Dining Room where the famous Thursday dinners took place where the most important and notable members from the era of Enlightenment in Poland were invited. In the central part of the palace, the Rotunda can be find that was designed by Domenico Merlini and shows figures of the Polish kings. This part is one of the most important examples of neoclassical decoration in the palace. From this place you can come to the Bath Room where the Dutch blue tiles from 17th century can be found as well as China vases and the stucco ornaments from the Baroque era.
There were a lot of balls, formal dinners and masquerades which were held in the Ballroom.
The first floor is where the royal apartments, upper picture gallery, the balcony room, the king’s cabinet, the royal bed chambers, the cloakroom and the officer’s room can be found.