Mariemont Palace was a small summer palace of the kings of

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 was located in

Marymont Marymont (from French ''Mont de Marie'' - Mary's Hill) is one of the northern neighbourhoods of Warsaw, Poland, administratively a part of the boroughs of Żoliborz (Marymont-Potok) and Bielany (Marymont-Kaskada and Marymont-Ruda). Named after ...

, a northern neighbourhood of

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. Today, nothing remains of this pleasure pavilion, and a church stands on its location.

History

At the behest of king

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

, a palace was constructed between 1691 and 1696 for his wife, queen

Marie Casimire Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien (, ; 28 June 1641 – 30 January 1716), known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka", was a French noblewoman who became the queen consort of Poland and grand duchess consort of Lithuania from 1674 ...

. The design was made by the Dutch architect

Tylman van Gameren Tylman van Gameren, also ''Tilman'' or ''Tielman'' and Tylman Gamerski, (Utrecht, 3 July 1632 – c. 1706, Warsaw) was a Dutch-born Polish architect and engineer who, at the age of 28, settled in Poland and worked for Queen Marie Casimire, ...

. The palace was named ‘Mariemont’ after the queen, meaning Mary’s hill. It was a charming, compact building intended to be used as a pleasure pavilion for summer times and basis to go hunting. It was located on a lofty embankment along the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

river. The main structure featured multiple floors and had a square layout, crowned with an elegant tented roof and an intricately designed onion dome. The first floor, known as the "piano nobile," served as the noble living space. The palace's facades were uniformly adorned with frames and decorative pilasters, creating a harmonious aesthetic. In 1727, the Sobieski family sold the palace to king

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

of Poland, who was also Elector of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. He undertook extensive renovations and established a menagerie. The architect Joseph Christoph Naumann helped in the design of the renovations. Various plans can still be found in the Saxon State main archive in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. Both August II and his son, king

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as List of rulers of Saxony, Elector of Saxony i ...

, regularly used Mariemont as a hunting lodge for trips into the Bielański forest and the Kampinos forest. The hunting trips could take up to two days with more than five thousand participants. In a hunting trip at Mariemont in 1724 around 700 aristocrats participated, around 200 hunters, and 4,000 peasants who helped as drivers). When

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 ...

became King of Poland in 1764, Mariemont palace remained in the possession of the Saxon Electors. They leases the palace out to various users, such as the English ambassador. After the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polis ...

in 1795, they sold all their possessions to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. In 1816, an agronomic institute was established in the grounds of the palace. After the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

in 1863 and 1864, the palace and the institute were transferred to the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

to be used as cavalry barracks. In the palace a military warehouse was set up, and its architecture was damaged. Today, nothing remains anymore of the palace. On its foundations, a Catholic church has been constructed. During renovation works in 2016, archaeological research has been performed.

References

Literature

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History

References

Literature

See also