A manor house of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
-
Lithuanian nobility is called dwór or dworek in
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
and dvaras in
Lithuanian.
The
architectural form In architecture, form refers to a combination of external appearance, internal structure, and the Unity (aesthetics), unity of the design as a whole, an order created by the architect using #Space and mass, space and mass.
External appearance
Th ...
of the
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
evolved around the late
Polish Renaissance
The Renaissance in Poland ( , ; ) lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (from 1569 part of ...
period and continued until the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, which, together with the
communist takeover of Poland and
Soviet occupation of Lithuania
The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic st ...
, spelled the end of the nobility in both nations. A 1944 decree
nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
most
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
s as property of the nobility; few were adapted to other purposes and many slowly fell into ruin. A vast majority of such mansions remain unused and are slowly deteriorating.
Architectural history
Noble manors in Poland were typically small to medium-sized residencies for the landed gentry. According to estimates, in the 16th century,
Greater Poland
Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland.
The bound ...
alone had several hundred to a thousand middle
szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...
manors, while the entire
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (; ) was a political and legal concept formed in the 14th century in the Kingdom of Poland, assuming unity, indivisibility and continuity of the state. Under this idea, the state was no longer seen as the Pat ...
had at least a dozen thousand.
During the times 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 ...
, Polish-Lithuanian nobility built manor houses in the countryside. This was a preferred location for one's residence, as the nobility, following the
sarmatism
Sarmatism (or Sarmatianism; ; ) was an ethno-cultural identity within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was the dominant Baroque culture and ideology of the nobility () that existed in the time from the Renaissance to the early 18th ce ...
ideology, felt contempt for the cities, even though members of this elite also had residences in a major city or town (but these were large lateral apartments rather than townhouses).
The vast majority of such countryside manors in the beginning were made of
wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
.
[Dwór]
Interia Encyklopedia
Encyklopedia Internautica (Polish: "Encyclopedia Internautica") is a Polish Internet encyclopedia based on the ''Popularna Encyklopedia Powszechna'' (Popular Universal Encyclopedia) or Pinnex. It is freely accessible on the pages of Interia, Pola ...
Norman Davies
Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...
, ''God's Playground, a History of Poland: The origins to 1795'', Columbia University Press, 1982,
Google Print, p.246-247
/ref> They tended to fall into two types: rare palaces of the magnate
The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
s, and smaller, one-story houses, in which wood was the most common building material.[ Starting with the Renaissance period, mansions built with masonwork appeared, often designed to enhance their defensive characteristics.][Dwór]
WIEM Encyklopedia
WIEM Encyklopedia (full name in - "Great Interactive Multimedia Encyclopedia"; in Polish, ''wiem'' also means 'I know') is a Polish Internet encyclopedia.
The encyclopedia was based on the first printed edition was released in mid-1990s (with Vo ...
Although early on, such mansions were often designed as defensive mini-fortresses, over time - around the baroque period - the defensive function began to disappear.[
The smallest ones had 2-4 rooms. Larger ones would have many more, including guest rooms and a chapel. Magnates' palaces would even boast their own ]opera house
An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...
.[ Common furniture included benches, cupboards, tables, beds and small chairs, commonly made from ]tilia
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Bri ...
wood.[ Rarer furniture would include chests and wardrobes. Furniture was often painted (green being the most common color),][ sometimes engraved and inlaid. Walls were often painted with floral or moral and historical motifs, and decorated with ]Oriental
The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world.
In English, it is largely a meto ...
(Persian, Turkish) or West European (Belgian, Flemish, French) tapestries
Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...
and rugs, coats of arms, portraits, mirrors, weapons and trophies.[ Floors were wooden. Ceilings were carved and decorated with various hanging decorations (including ]candelabra
A candelabrum (plural candelabra but also used as the singular form) is a candle holder with multiple arms. "Candelabra" can be used to describe a variety of candle holders including chandeliers. However, candelabra can also be distinguished as b ...
s).[ Windows in the richest mansions would be fitted with ]Venetian glass
Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techniques, as well as ...
, and the rest would use green glass or waxed canvas.[ Stoves were common. Depending on a family's wealth, they would be made of materials from rough ]earthenware
Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...
to porcelain
Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
and alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alab ...
.[
Early renaissance mansions were based on a rectangular design, with corner chambers (''alkierze'') and a ]porch
A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...
.[Dwór]
PWN Encyklopedia The roof was a Polish variant of the hip roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...
(termed the ) covered with shakes.[ In the ]baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
period, alkierze were replaced by risalits, and mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...
s appeared.[ The ]Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...
period saw porches replaced by portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
s with tympanums.[
Over time, Polish manors adopted a palace-villa form with Baroque and ]Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
style elements. As Polish architectural writing developed, their design became more standardized. The first Polish architectural treatise, from around the mid-17 century, included instructions for building early modern
The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
manors.
Manors were constructed across Poland not only in rural areas but also in cities, particularly 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 ...
, where they remained the most popular type of residence from the 17-18th centuries until the 1830s.
19-20th century
Since the 19th century, richer residences (palaces) were termed ''manors'' (), while the more modest homes of provincial nobility were called ''little manors'' ().
Many Polish and Lithuanian noble families lost their ancestral manor houses and lands after the failed uprisings against Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, as Tsarist authorities confiscated manors owned by families who supported the uprisings.
In Lithuania, after the abolition of serfdom in 1861, many manor estates lost ownership of the nearby towns and villages, as peasants were no longer the property of the manor's lord. During the Lithuanian Land Reforms of 1922, almost every manor's land size was greatly reduced and the land was redistributed to landless peasants. After Lithuania was occupied by Soviets in 1944, all manors were nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...
.
In Poland, the ideologically driven nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English)
is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
policies and architectural preservation guidelines enacted during the early years of the Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...
contributed to the destruction of many manors houses. Before WW2, there were tens of thousands of manors. Today, only over 2,000 remain, often in very poor condition.
Influences
Manor architecture influenced church buildings and, by the mid-19th century, impacted peasant and small-town architecture as well. Inns and smithies were built in a similar style. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a view emerged that identified the manor architecture with 'Polishness', treating it as 'native' and 'unique'. It gained particular traction in the 19th century during the period of Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
, leading to the creation of the ''dworek style'' () — an urban or suburban villa from the first half of the 20th century, in which public utility buildings, such as railway stations, were also designed in Poland. The dworek style design was popular in the Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...
, and is still inspiring some modern Polish manors.[
]
See also
* Houses in Poland
* Lithuanian architecture
* Polish architecture
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwor (Manor House)
Social history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth