Montelupi Palace, also known as the Tarnowski Palace or the Palace on the Way ( pl, Pałac na Szlaku or ) is a 17th-century palace in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland. It was built for the Montelupi family, descendants of an Italian-born merchant

Sebastiano Montelupi Sebastiano Montelupi ( pl, Sebastian Montelupi, name occasionally Polonized as ''Wilczogórski'', 1516 – 18 August 1600), was an Italian-born merchant and banker in Kraków, Poland, and Postmaster General of the Polish royal postal service under ...

, banker in the court of King

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

. The palace was later owned by the noble

Tarnowski family The House of Tarnowski (plural: Tarnowscy) is the name of a Polish noble and aristocratic family (see: Szlachta). Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Tarnowska is the form for a female family member. History The ...

and others. The palace is located at ul. Szlak 71 street (translated as ''on the Way'') in the District of Stare Miasto close to the city centre. Even though the building is listed as monument since 1989 in the registry of the

Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship or Lesser Poland Province (in pl, województwo małopolskie ), also known as Małopolska, is a voivodeship (province), in southern Poland. It has an area of , and a population of 3,404,863 (2019). It was created on 1 ...

, it has been neglected since 1998, while the Tarnowski family members continued their legal proceedings against the city for its private ownership.

History highlights

The foundation document and the first mention of the Palace dates back to 1574. The original structure which later had been expanded with

risalit An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...

s and new stonework, used to have Polish kings and members of royal families among its frequent visitors. From in front of the Palace, ''royal'' funeral processions used to begin, hence its popular name at the time, ''royal mortuary''. The funeral parade of King Sigismund III Vasa started there on February 4, 1633. Around the sixteenth century, the Palace on the Way (or, ''on the Road'') was one of the most prominent noble residences in the area of

Kleparz Kleparz is a neighbourhood in Kraków, Poland, situated directly to the north of the Old Town, marking the beginning of the Royal Road. It was a separate town between 1366 and 1792. It is now part of the Stare Miasto administrative district. His ...

within the jurisdiction of Szlak. Originally completed in 1613 for the Montelupi merchant family of the Italian background, the Palace was purchased by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Order in 1639; than by the Badeni family in 1773; and the Tarnowskis, in the 19th century. It was refurbished and expanded in 1878 during the foreign

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

by renown local architect Antoni Łuszczkiewicz. In the

interwar Poland 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 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

the building was transferred to the Salwatorian Fathers (''Ojcowie Salwatorianie''). During the Nazi German

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

its interiors were consumed by fire. Following World War II, the building was renovated by the state, and since 1950 held the offices of the

Polish Radio Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland. History Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...

, Poland's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization. The Tarnowski family took over the property in 1998 following a court battle. In 2005 it was sold to ''Kraków Hostel'' owned by GD&K of Ireland. Further plans of redesigning the Palace were also rejected, and the foreign owner, formally obliged to maintain it, has become the subject of legal proceedings by the city in 2011 for neglecting it.

Notes and references

{{Reflist Palaces in Kraków