Radziejowice Castle is a complex of Classical residences surrounded by a park, located in the village of

Radziejowice Radziejowice () is a village in Żyrardów County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Radziejowice. It is situated on the Pisia River, approximately south-east of Żyrar ...

, Żyrardów Powiat,

Masovian Voivodeship Masovian Voivodeship or Mazowieckie Province (, ) and any variation thereof, is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, containing Poland's capital Warsaw. Masovian Voivodeship has an area of and had a 2019 po ...

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 ...

. Since 1965 the complex has performed the function of a cultural centre, including

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

. The palace houses a museum and an exhibition space.

History

The location of the palace was already the site of a residence for the Radziejowski family in the 15th century. During the 17th century, the palace, after various expansions and modernisations, took on the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

architectural style, as did the other buildings in the complex. During the complex's greatest time of magnificence, the palace was a residence to various

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

: Zygmund III Waza,

Władysław IV Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: People Mononym * Włodzis ...

and

Jan 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 ...

. The current look of the complex comes from the turning point of the 18th and 19th centuries, after

Kazimierz Krasiński Count Kazimierz Krasiński (1725–1802) was a Polish szlachcic, noble, politician and patron of art. He was the son of Antoni Krasiński and Barbara Zielińska.http://www.jednorozec.pl/?c=mdTresc-cmPokaz-259 (Polish) The last Grand Camp ...

's reconstruction of the complex, designed and by

Jakub Kubicki Jakub Kubicki (1758–1833) was a Polish classicist architect and designer. Biography Born in Warsaw in 1758, into a bourgeois family, Jakub Kubicki graduated from the Jesuit College, at the same time that he was taking lessons from Dom ...

. The expansion of the complex was later continued by Józef Wawrzyniec Krasiński, who had built the surrounding landscape park and the small

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

castle. During the next decades, the Radziejowski family was visited by people of culture such as

Juliusz Kossak Juliusz Fortunat Kossak (15 December 1824 – 3 February 1899) was a Polish historical painter and master illustrator who specialized in battle scenes, military portraits and horses. He was the progenitor of an artistic family that spanned fou ...

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

Lucjan Rydel Lucjan Rydel, also known as Lucjan Antoni Feliks Rydel (17 May 1870 in Kraków – 8 April 1918 in Bronowice Małe), was a Polish playwright and poet from the Young Poland movement. Life Rydel was the son of Lucjan Rydel, a surgeon, ophthalmolog ...

Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz Jarosław Leon Iwaszkiewicz (; also known under his literary pseudonym Eleuter; 20 February 1894 – 2 March 1980), was a Polish writer, poet, essayist, dramatist and translator.Bartłomiej Szleszyński, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. 2003 Culture.plJ ...

Józef Chełmoński Józef Marian Chełmoński (7 November 1849 – 6 April 1914) was a Polish painter of the Realism (art movement), realist school with roots in the historical and social context of the late Romanticism in Poland, Romantic period in partitioned Pol ...

and

Stanisław Masłowski Stanisław Masłowski (Polish: ; born Stanisław Stefan Zygmunt Ludgard Masłowski; 3 December 1853 – 31 May 1926) was a Polish painter of realistic style, the author of watercolor landscapes. Life and career Masłowski was born on 3 Dec ...

. The castle and complex were devastated during World War II, but the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage () is a ministry within Polish government led by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage responsible for national heritage preservation and Polish culture promotion. Ministry oversees state o ...

has thoroughly restored the site to its former beauty. Currently, the castle and the complex are visited by writers,

columnists A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...

, actors, film-makers, musicians and

visual artists The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

. Among notable visitors was Jerzy Waldorff.

References

{{Commonscat, Radziejowice Palace Houses completed in the 15th century Castles in Masovian Voivodeship Żyrardów County

History

See also

References