Belweder (; from the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

''belvedere'', "beautiful view") is a neoclassical palace in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Erected in 1660 and remodelled in the early 1800s, it is one of several official residences used by

Polish president The president of Poland ( pl, Prezydent RP), officially the president of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), is the head of state of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Polan ...

s as well as a

state guest house A state guest house is a building owned by the government of a country which is used as an official residence for visiting foreign dignitaries, especially during state visits or for other important events. Americas Canada * 7 Rideau Gate in O ...

for visiting heads of state. The complex is situated south of Warsaw's city center, in the vicinity of the historic

Royal Baths Park Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

(Łazienki).

History

The present building is the latest of several that stood on the site since 1660. Belweder once belonged to Poland's last king,

Stanislaus Augustus Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, Cali ...

, who used it as a porcelain-manufacturing plant. From 1818 it was the residence of Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich, who de facto acted as viceroy in the

Congress Kingdom of Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It ...

. He fled from Belweder at the beginning of the November 1830 Uprising. After the re-establishment of Poland's independence following the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(1918), Belweder served as the residence of Marshal

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

, Chief of State (1918–22) and later (1926–35) Minister of Military Affairs of Poland. Intermittently, it was also the residence of President

Stanisław Wojciechowski Stanisław Wojciechowski (; 15 March 1869 – 9 April 1953) was a Polish politician and scholar who served as President of Poland between 1922 and 1926, during the Second Polish Republic. He was elected president in 1922, following the assassi ...

. After the May 1926 coup d'état, the ownership of the complex had passed from Wojciechowski to Piłsudski, who died there in 1935. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the building was extensively remodelled for

Hans Frank Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party ...

, Governor of Nazi-occupied Poland and the so-called General Government. It remains one of the few original structures in Warsaw to survive the war. In 1945–1952 it was the residence of

Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Po ...

, and later of the president of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. From 1989 to July 1994, it was the official residence of Poland's presidents (

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military officer, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party b ...

and

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrati ...

), but proved too small for that purpose. Later on president

Bronisław Komorowski Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercis ...

used it as his private residence. Belweder is normally used by the president and the government for ceremonial purposes, while the president resides at the " Presidential Palace" in the city center. It also serves as an official residence for heads of state on official visits to Poland and other important guests. There have been plans to turn the Belweder Palace into a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

dedicated to Józef Piłsudski. Currently it houses a small exhibition devoted to the Marshal.

Gallery

Image:Pałac Belweder w Warszawie.jpg, Façade of the palace Image:Canaletto Łazienki.PNG,

Łazienki Park Łazienki Park or Royal Baths Park ( pl, Park Łazienkowski, Łazienki Królewskie) is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district ('' Śródmieście ...

in 1775 by

Bernardo Bellotto Bernardo Bellotto (c. 1721/2 or 30 January 172117 November 1780), was an Italian urban landscape painter or ''vedutista'', and printmaker in etching famous for his ''vedute'' of European cities – Dresden, Vienna, Turin, and Warsaw. He was th ...

Image:MWP 1830 Belweder.jpg, Storming of the Belweder Palace during the November Uprising Image:Pilsudski in Warsaw3.JPG, Statue of

in front of the Belweder, Piłsudski's residence

References

External links

*
Belweder
or the Polish road to independence'' {{Coord, 52, 12, 47, N, 21, 01, 40, E, region:PL_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title 1822 establishments in Poland Houses completed in 1822 Neoclassical architecture in Warsaw Official residences in Poland Palaces in Warsaw Royal residences in Poland Presidential residences State guesthouses

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links