The Copper-Roof Palace () is an 18th-century palace in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It takes its name (which is less precisely phrased in the original Polish) from the

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

roof A roof (: roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of tempera ...

, a rarity in the first half of the 18th century. Since 1989 the palace has been a branch of the Royal Castle Museum. The palace is contiguous with Warsaw's Royal Castle, and down a slope from Castle Square and Warsaw's Old Town. Beneath the palace, a 17th-century lodge still exists.

History

The original patrician house of Wawrzyniec Reffus was built in 1651–1656. After its 1657 destruction by the army of George II Rákóczi, it was completely remodeled in 1698–1701 for Jerzy Dominik Lubomirski. Lubomirski built on a southern wing, perpendicular to the rest of the structure, and expanded the western elevation. Soon after, the palace came to be called ''Palais Martin'' after Lubomirski's grandson. In 1720 the palace was rebuilt with the addition of a second, northern wing; and the interior was decorated with

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

paintings. After 1777 the palace passed into the possession of Poland's last king,

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

(regnal name Stanislaus II Augustus), who hired the architect Domenico Merlini to redesign the rooms and to join the Royal Castle's library wing to it. The King then presented the redecorated palace to his nephew, Prince Józef Poniatowski. The Prince was a successful commander in the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising, and later one of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...

s. Under the Prince's ownership, the palace became a center of Warsaw's high-class social scene. When Warsaw became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

after the Third Partition of Poland (1795), the palace became a Prussian Ministry of War headquarters. The left wing and the '' corps de logis'' (central building) of the Copper-Roof Palace were deliberately burned in 1944 by the occupying German forces during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The right wing survived. In 1948–1949 it was reconstructed, based on 18th-century paintings by Bernardo Bellotto. The palace is now a museum, part of Warsaw's Royal Castle, and hosts a historic library and a permanent exhibit of

oriental rug An oriental rug is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in "Orient, Oriental countries" for home use, local sale, and export. Oriental carpets can be knotted-pile carpet, pile woven or Kilim, ...

Gallery

File:Warszawa, pl. Zamkowy 1-2 20170516 007.jpg, Aerial view File:1642011 DSC0035.JPG, Front view File:Palac pod Blacha 001.jpg, Southern (right) façade File:Palac pod Blacha 002.jpg, Eastern façade, St. Anne's Church on the left, Royal Castle on the right File:Kolekcja Kobierców Wschodnich Pałac pod Blachą 01.JPG, Exhibition of oriental rugs File:Pokój sypialny Pałac pod Blachą.JPG, Prince Józef Poniatowski's bedroom

References

::In-line:

External links

Pałac pod Blachą
*http://www.zamek-krolewski.pl/?page=1212 {{Authority control Houses completed in 1730 Palaces in Warsaw Rococo architecture in Warsaw Rebuilt buildings and structures in Warsaw Baroque palaces in Poland 1730 establishments in Europe Old Town, Warsaw

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links