Mariemont Palace was a small summer palace of the kings of Poland. It was located in

Marymont Marymont (from French ''Mont de Marie'' - Mary's Hill) is one of the northern neighbourhoods of Warsaw, Poland, administratively a part of the boroughs of Żoliborz (Marymont-Potok) and Bielany (Marymont-Kaskada and Marymont-Ruda). Named after the ...

, a northern neighbourhood of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Today, nothing remains of this pleasure pavilion, and a church stands on its location.

History

At the behest of king

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 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, Sobie ...

, a palace was constructed between 1691 and 1696 for his wife, queen

Marie Casimire Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien ( pl, Maria Kazimiera Ludwika d’Arquien; 28 June 1641 – 30 January 1716), known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka", was a French noblewoman who became the queen consort of Poland and grand d ...

. The design was made by the Dutch architect

Tylman van Gameren Tylman van Gameren, also ''Tilman'' or ''Tielman'' and Tylman Gamerski, (Utrecht, 3 July 1632 – c. 1706, Warsaw) was a Dutch-born Polish architect and engineer who, at the age of 28, settled in Poland and worked for Queen Marie Casimire, w ...

. The palace was named ‘Mariemont’ after the queen, meaning Mary’s hill. It was a charming, compact building intended to be used as a pleasure pavilion for summer times and basis to go hunting. It was located on a lofty embankment along the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

river. The main structure featured multiple floors and had a square layout, crowned with an elegant tented roof and an intricately designed onion dome. The first floor, known as the "piano nobile," served as the noble living space. The palace's facades were uniformly adorned with frames and decorative pilasters, creating a harmonious aesthetic. In 1727, the Sobieski family sold the palace to king

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...

of Poland, who was also Elector of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. He undertook extensive renovations and established a menagerie. The architect Joseph Christoph Naumann helped in the design of the renovations. Various plans can still be found in the Saxon State main archive in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. Both August II and his son, king

Augustus III of Poland Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Aug ...

, regularly used Mariemont as a hunting lodge for trips into the Bielański forest and the Kampinos forest. The hunting trips could take up to two days with more than five thousand participants. In a hunting trip at Mariemont in 1724 around 700 aristocrats participated, around 200 hunters, and 4,000 peasants who helped as drivers). When

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch ...

became king of Poland in 1764, Mariemont palace remained in the possession of the Saxon Electors. They leases the palace out to various users, such as the English ambassador. After the

Third Partition of Poland The Third Partition of Poland (1795) was the last in a series of the Partitions of Poland–Lithuania and the land of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth among Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Russian Empire which effectively ended Polish ...

in 1795, they sold all their possessions to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. In 1816, an agronomic institute was established in the grounds of the palace. After the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

in 1863 and 1864, the palace and the institute were transferred to the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

to be used as cavalry barracks. In the palace a military warehouse was set-up, and its architecture was damaged. Today, nothing remains anymore of the palace. On its foundations, a catholic church has been constructed. During renovation works in 2016, archaeological research has been performed.

References

Literature

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History

References

Literature

See also