Ostrogski Palace, or Ostrogski Castle (, or ''Zamek Ostrogskich''), is a fortified mansion in the

city center A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms that exist 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 ...

, on Tamka Street. The castle was originally constructed for the powerful

Ostrogski The House of Ostrogski (; ; ) was one of the more prominent families in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The family spanned from the 14th century Rut ...

family in the 17th century. It currently houses the

Fryderyk Chopin The Fryderyk is the annual award in Polish music. Its name refers to the original Polish spelling variant of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin's first name. Its status in the Polish public can be compared to the US Grammy and British BRIT Awar ...

Society and the

Fryderyk Chopin Museum The Fryderyk Chopin Museum () is a museum in Warsaw, Poland, established in 1954 and dedicated to Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. Since 2005, the museum has been operated by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. A department of the museum is the Bi ...

History

The spot for the palace, a large lot of land on 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 ...

escarpment directly below the

Nowy Świat ''Nowy Świat'' (), known in English as New World Street, is one of the main historic thoroughfares of Warsaw, Poland. It comprises part of the Royal Route (''Trakt królewski'') that extends from Warsaw's Royal Castle and Old Town, south to K ...

, was bought by Prince

Janusz Ostrogski Prince Janusz Ostrogski () (1554 – 17 September 1620 in Tarnów) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble and statesman. He served as a voivode of Volhyn (1584-1593), as a castellan of Kraków (from 1593 on), and as a starosta of Bohuslav (from 1591), ...

in early 17th century. As the area had been still a suburb of Warsaw and exempted from the laws of the city which prevented the inhabitants from building private fortifications, Ostrogski decided to build a small castle there. For that he financed a

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

on which the manor was to be constructed. However, it was not until after his death that the manor itself was started. Designed by

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

, the palace built on top of the bastion was to become one of the wings of a huge future palace. However, it was never completed and was bought by deputy chancellor of the crown Jan Gniński, who turned it into his seat. In 1725 the palace was bought by yet another magnate family, the

Zamoyski The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is an important Poland, Polish noble (''szlachta'') family Magnates of Poland and Lithuania, belonging to the category of Polish magnates. They used the Jelita coat of arms. The surname "Zamoyski" litera ...

, who made it a seat of their

jurydyka Jurydyka (plural: jurydyki, improperly: jurydykas), is a legal entity in the Polish legal system from bygone centuries (originating from Latin: ''iurisdictio'', jurisdiction), denoting a privately owned tract of land within a larger municipality, ...

. However, as the unfinished manor lacked many features of an 18th-century magnate palace, it never served its original purpose and with time became neglected. Since 1778 it was divided onto small flats and started serving as a hostel for students, owned by Marcin Nikuta. Converted into a military hospital by the French in 1806, between 1812 and 1817 it was abandoned and gradually fell into disrepair. During the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

it was bought by the Polish government and refurbished to become a military hospital once again. Turned over to civilian authorities in 1836, it continued to be a hospital until 1859, when it was bought by the Musical Institute. It was there that both

Stanisław Moniuszko Stanisław Moniuszko (; May 5 (17), 1819 – June 4, 1872) was a Polish composer, conductor, organist and pedagogue. He wrote many popular art songs and operas, including '' The Haunted Manor'' and '' Halka'', and his music is filled with patr ...

and

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;

r 1859 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

received their education. In late 19th century an additional story was added and in 1913 a new, much larger seat for the institute was built adjacent to the palace. Destroyed by the Germans in the effect of the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

of 1944, the building had been rebuilt by Mieczysław Kuzma between 1949 and 1954, while the ruins of the 1913 construction were demolished. Since then it has housed the

Society.

Chopin Museum

The

at the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Warsaw was established in the 1930s. At that time, thirteen valuable manuscripts were purchased from Ludwika Ciechomska, granddaughter of Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, Chopin's sister, and Bogusław Kraszewski. The creation of a Collection of Photographs, Recordings and a Library was started prior to 1939. In 1945, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute opened again in Warsaw, and was housed at first in Zgoda Street and from 1953 in Ostrogski Castle. This was also the home of the museum, Library and Collections of Photographs and Recordings. The museum covers the history and works Chopin, including original manuscripts and documents written by the composer, photographs and sculptures of him, letters, as well as hosting piano recitals and competitions of Chopin's works. The rich plafonds, stucco and

Pompeian style The Pompeian Styles are four periods which are distinguished in Roman art#Painting, ancient Roman mural painting. They were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau (1840–1909) from the excavation of wall painti ...

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es are a fitting setting for the rooms of the Fryderyk Chopin Museum.

Trivia

* The cellars below the bastion are supposedly home to a Golden Duck, a mythical creature from one of Warsaw's

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...

History

Chopin Museum

Trivia

See also