King John III Sobieski Monument in Gdańsk (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: ''Pomnik króla Jana III Sobieskiego w Gdańsku'') is an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

of the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

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 ...

(1629-1696). Originally built in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

in 1898, the monument was transferred to

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

in 1965.

History

The monument was funded by the city of Lviv,

Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,, ; pl, Królestwo Galicji i Lodomerii, ; uk, Королівство Галичини та Володимирії, Korolivstvo Halychyny ta Volodymyrii; la, Rēgnum Galiciae et Lodomeriae also known as ...

(part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

). It was officially unveiled on 20 November 1898. The equestrian statue of the Polish king was designed by sculptor Tadeusz Barącz and cast in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

by the Viennese company owned by Artur Krupp. The large Neo-Baroque

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

of the monument made of grey Ternopil

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

was created in Julian Markowski's sculpture studio in Lviv. The design of the king was modelled on a Lviv entrepreneur Marian Stipal. It was erected at a garden square along the Wały Hetmańskie Avenue (currently Freedom Avenue), one of the most representational pedestrian boulevards of the city. At present, a monument dedicated to

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...

is located in that place. Sobieski, the only King of Poland hailing from the Lviv region (he was born in

Olesko Olesko ( uk, Олесько; ; pl, Olesko; yi, אַלעסק, Alesk; ) is an urban-type settlement in Zolochiv Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. It belongs to Busk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: . It w ...

, frequently visited the town of

Żółkiew Zhovkva ( uk, Жовква ; pl, Żółkiew; yi, זאָלקוואַ, translit=Zolkva; russian: Жо́лква, 1951–1992: ''Nesterov'') is a city in Lviv Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. Zhovkva hosts the administration of Zho ...

and owned a royal townhouse in Lviv), was depicted in a festive national costume (wearing

żupan Żupan (; lt, žiponas, cz, župan, sk, župan, hu, kabát, be, жупан, uk, жупан) is a long lined garment of West or Central Asian origin which was worn by almost all males of the nobility in the multi-ethnic Polish–Lithuanian ...

and

kontusz Kontusz (Polish plural ''kontusze''; uk, кунтуш, Lithuanian: ''kontušas''; originally from Hungarian ''köntös''- "robe") - a type of outer garment worn by the Hungarian and Polish-Lithuanian male nobility. It became popular in the ...

) jumping on horseback over a fallen enemy cannon and smashed remnants on the battlefield including a broken gun carriage. The figure of the king faced the south-eastern direction from where Lviv was frequently subjected to attacks by invading forces. Tadeusz Barącz's work stylistically resembles earlier depictions of the king, especially the statue in the

Łazienki Park Łazienki Park or Royal Baths Park ( pl, Park Łazienkowski, Łazienki Królewskie) is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district ('' Śródmieście ...

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 ...

unveiled in 1787, in both cases the proportions of the horse and the rider seem to be questionable. When Lviv was re-captured by the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

in 1944, a suggestion was put forward in order to remodel the statue to resemble

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Bohdan Zynovii Mykhailovych Khmelnytskyi ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern ua, Богдан Зиновій Михайлович Хмельницький; 6 August 1657) was a Ukrainian military commander and ...

, the national hero of Ukraine. However, in 1950 the statue was handed over to Polish authorities. For 16 years, it was displayed in a park near the

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace ( pl, Pałac w Wilanowie, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. Wilanów Palace survived Poland's partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish ...

, one of the monarch's residences, before it was moved to Gdańsk. The city officials from

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 ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

were also interested in acquiring the monument but their bids to host it proved unsuccessful. The monument is located in one of the major parks of Gdańsk's Old Town, the Drzewny Targ (Wooden Market), and it was ceremonially unveiled on 26 June 1965. The king faces the western direction. The original plaque with the inscription ''Królowi Janowi III, miasto Lwów, MDCCCXCVIII'' ("To King John III, the City of Lviv, 1898") was fitted after 1989. In 2000, the monument became illuminated. The monument weighs approximately 7 tonnes and is over 8 metres high. In 2019, the city authorities announced plans to construct an illuminated fountain in front of the monument.

Gallery

File:Jan III Sobieski monument Gdansk 4.jpg, The king's Janina

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

with an eagle and ''Pogoń'' File:Gdańsk. Pomnik Jana III Sobieskiego (przewieziony ze Lwowa) - panoramio.jpg, Targ Drzewny and the Monument to John III Sobieski File:Pomnik Jana III Sobieskego, Gdańsk (39882781894).jpg, Illumination of the John III Sobieski Monument File:Pomnik króla Jana III Sobieskiego w Gdańsku.JPG, Front view File:Gdańsk, Pomnik króla Jana III Sobieskiego - fotopolska.eu (322806).jpg, Rear view File:Jan III Sobieski monument Gdansk 5.jpg, Dates of the king's victorious battles File:Jan III Sobieski monument Gdansk 3.jpg, Original plaque with dedication

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:John III Sobieski Monument in Gdansk 1898 sculptures Equestrian statues in Poland Outdoor sculptures in Poland Buildings and structures in Gdańsk Sculptures in Poland

History

Gallery

See also

References