- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1598 · 16th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Masovian Voivodeship, Poland
- Style
- Gothic art
- Commissioned by
- Sigismund III Vasa
- Architect
- Giovanni Battista Trevano
- Heritage
- part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an old town or a valley, for example)
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 52.2478°, 21.0142°
History
In the 14th century the dukes of Masovia built a stronghold on the Vistula escarpment, followed by the brick Great Tower and the Great Court. After the Union of Lublin in 1569 the castle became the meeting place of the Sejm, and late in the 16th century Sigismund III Vasa moved his court here from Kraków and rebuilt the residence as a five-sided block with a clock tower. Under Stanisław August Poniatowski, Domenico Merlini and Johann Christian Kamsetzer created Neoclassical interiors, and in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May was adopted in the Senate Chamber. The castle burned after shelling in September 1939, and in 1944 the Germans blew it up. Its reconstruction in 1971–1984 was funded largely by public donations.
What to see
The route leads through the Great Apartment with the Great Assembly Hall, the Knights' Hall and the Throne Room, and the Royal Apartment with the Canaletto Room, hung with Bernardo Bellotto's views of Warsaw. You can also see the reconstructed parliamentary chambers and two Rembrandts donated by Karolina Lanckorońska. On the river side lie the Kubicki Arcades and gardens, and Sigismund's Column stands in Castle Square in front.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q756098
Popularity: articles about this site in 43 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).