Łazienki Park

Diary of living overseas in Warsaw, Poland

October 24th, 2021

Łazienki Park, or Royal Baths Park, is about 30 minutes away from me using public transport. It is a famous park created for Polish royals centuries ago. I went there for the first time today to walk around. It is beautiful and huge- about 190 acres. There were swans and even peacocks! It was especially beautiful with the changing leaves.

Update from November: I was able to visit the park again and go inside the museums and buildings. The main building in the park is now the Royal Łazienki Museum. It was the summer residence of Stanislaw August, the last king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. These palaces have also been home to King August II, the Romanov Family (the family of the Tsar of Russia), and Jozef Pilsudski (a President of Poland).

The Old Orangery

The Orangery (a building used to house fruit trees in the winter-similar to a greenhouse) now contains many sculptures. It also houses the Royal Theatre which is an original theater from the 18th century.

Palace on the Isle

The palace contains living quarters, the ballroom, bathhouse, and many famous works of art from the 17th and 18th century. They belonged to the last King of Poland.

The Myslewicki Palace

This palace once housed Prince Jozef Poniatowski, the nephew of King Stanislaw August. After WWII, the palace was used by the government for suspected secret talks between representatives of China and the United States. Both Ghana and Richard Nixon were once official guests of this palace.

The Stable Houses

Museum of Hunting and Horsemanship

This museum contained taxidermy of every animal imaginable. It was an educational museum to showcase many different species.

The grounds of the park are very picturesque. The buildings are surrounded by beautiful water and woods. The park is in the middle of the city but feels like it is in a forest.

Originally published at http://lessonslearned2021.wordpress.com on October 24, 2021.