Gołuchów Castle (

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 ...

: ''Zamek w Gołuchowie'') is an early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

castle built in 1550-1560 for Rafał Leszczyński on a square plan and used as a defensive stronghold and residence. The castle is located in Gołuchów,

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. The province is named after the region called Greater Poland (''Wielkopolska'' ). The modern province includes most of this historic re ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

History

This early-

castle was raised in between 1550-1560 close by Trzemna, as small river and

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the

Prosna The Prosna is a river in central Poland, in the Oder river basin. The Prosna is a left tributary of the Warta river (near Pyzdry), with a length of 227 kilometres and a basin area of 4,917 km2 (all in Poland). Until 1918, it marked the we ...

. The building was built for

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

of the

Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship The Brześć Kujawski Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland (later Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), from the 14th century to the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. It was part of th ...

, Rafał Leszczyński. The castle was predominantly used for defensive purposes with

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

s in the corners of the structure. Leszczyński's son Wacław, the subsequent owner, expanded the residence – making the residence into a

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 ...

stronghold. In 1853, the partially run-down castle was bought by Count

Tytus Działyński Count Tytus Adam Działyński (1796–1861, son of Ksawery, father to Jan Kanty) was a Polish nobleman, political activist and protector of arts and a Prussian politician. Biography Tytus was born into the rich and influential Polish nobl ...

, for his son Count Jan Kantega

Działyński The House of Działyński was a Polish noble family whose name comes from their original place of settlement, Działyń in Dobrzyń Land. Members of the family held the tile of Count and used the Ogończyk coat of arms. History The original head ...

and his wife, Princess

Izabela Czartoryska Elżbieta "Izabela" Dorota Czartoryska ( Flemming; 31 March 1745 – 15 July 1835) was a Polish princess, writer, art collector, and prominent figure in the Polish Enlightenment. She was the wife of Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and a member ...

. The castle was reconstructed between 1872-1885, in the style of the French

according to the design of

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author, famous for his restoration of the most prominent medieval landmarks in France. His major restoration projects included Notre-Dame de Paris, ...

in collaboration with Maurycy Ouradou and Zygmunt Gorgolewski. The residence is surrounded by a 158-hecatre landscape park, the largest one in

, designed by Adam Kubaszewski, which asserted additional Romanesque and English architectural styles upon the castle. In 1939, the private museum located in the castle was plundered by Nazi Germans. Parts of the collection were subsequently recovered in the 1950s and 1960s. After 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 ...

, the castle has served as a branch of the

National Museum in Poznań The National Museum in Poznań (), Poland, abbreviated MNP, is a state-owned cultural institution and one of the largest museums in Poland. It houses a rich collection of Culture of Poland#Art, Polish painting from the 16th century on, and a coll ...

(

: ''Muzeum Narodowe w Poznaniu''). In 2016, the castle was bought by the Polish State Treasury from the Princes Czartoryski Foundation for PLN 20 million.

Gallery

File:Album widokow przedstawiajacych miejsca historyczne Ksiestwa Poznanskiego i Prus Zachodnich 1880 (5414387) (cropped).jpg, ''Gołuchów Castle'' by

Napoleon Orda Napoleon Mateusz Tadeusz Orda (; ; 11 February 1807 – 26 April 1883) was a Polish–Lithuanian identity, Polish–Lithuanian musician, pianist, composer, and artist, best known for numerous sketches of historical sites of the former Polish–Lit ...

, 1880 File:Castillo de Goluchow, Polonia, 2016-12-21, DD 16.jpg, French renaissance-style Castle File:SM Gołuchów Zamek 2022 (3952).jpg, A view from the park File:SM Gołuchów Zamek - dziedziniec 2022 (3977).jpg, Inner courtyard File:Gołuchów2003AJurk065.jpg, Neo-renaissance decorations of the facade File:2008 08050232 - Gołuchów - zespół zamkowy - zamek - wnętrza.JPG, Bedroom with 17th-century Spanish furniture File:Gołuchów wnętrza Zamku 05.JPG, 19th-century coffered ceiling and 18th-century tapestry File:Gołuchów wnętrza Zamku 07.JPG, Castle interiors File:Gołuchów - dawna oficyna (2).jpg, An outbuilding near the castle File:Floris Last Supper.jpg, ''The Last Supper'' by

Frans Floris Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits. ...

, 16th century

History

Gallery

See also