Wilanów Palace is one of the most precious monuments of Polish Baroque. Built for King Jan III Sobieski at the end of the 17th century and gradually expanded by successive owners, it represents an unusual combination of a traditional Polish court with an Italian rural villa and a French chateau.  The interiors of the palace, with their original design and decadent furniture, represent three style eras – Baroque, 18th and 19thC. 
The first floor houses the Polish Portrait Gallery of Works from the 16th to the 19th centuries, with portraits of kings, representatives of aristocratic families, distinguished Poles and cultural figures. 

 

 

 

 

 

   I particularly liked the portrait of Thimoteusz Tyszkiewicz (tongue twister name!), who looked like a roguish purse stealer but was also a Governor of Kiev in the 15thC. Father to 6 sons. 

The two-level garden is the ‘frame’ of Wilanów Palace, and somehow manages to combine a stylish Baroque garden, a romantic English-Chinese park, an English landscape park and a neo-Renaissance garden into a stylish and harmonious whole. The eastern part of the grounds are surrounded by a lake, the southern end of which has a cascading water feature, and the whole of the garden is decorated with sculptures, fountains and miniature samples of architecture. 

Amazing! A shame that the weather has turned cloudy and rainy, so pics reflect that.

Watched Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz on TV last night in “Knight and Day”, and managed to understand pretty much all the dialogue in Polish! Surprised myself. Or does that say something about the level of vocab in the movie??? Not sure….. 🙂