A Symbol of Polish Patriotism: The Royal Castle in Warsaw

Larger than life: Art that inspires us through the ages

Sigismund’s Column and the Royal Castle in Warsaw (R), Poland. Over the centuries, the castle’s architects have incorporated medieval, baroque, and neoclassical art and architectural styles to the building. (Sergii Figurnyi/Shutterstock)

WARSAW, Poland—Take a walk through Warsaw’s old town, and soon enough, you’ll meet King Sigismund III Vasa (1566–1632), who stands tall atop a column between the colorful old buildings and the pink façade of the Royal Castle.

Having been plundered, raised to the ground, and rebuilt several times, the Royal Castle in Warsaw today stands as a symbol of Polish patriotism, incorporating medieval, baroque, and neoclassical architectural styles with Polish panache.

In the early 14th century, long before the castle became a royal residence, the Duchy of Masovia had built a wooden castle and tower on the site.

In 1568, King Sigismund II Augustus (1520–1572) was the first royal to establish his court at the castle, which then became the seat of parliament (Sejm) in 1569. In 1596, King Sigismund III Vasa moved the seat of the commonwealth and royal power to Warsaw and expanded the castle to the five-winged structure that it is today.

Between the end of the 17th century and the start of the 18th century, the Saxon–Wettin dynasty added a baroque-style wing.

In the second half of the 18th century, the last king of the Polish–Lithuanian commonwealth, Stanislaw II Augustus Poniatowski, commissioned architects Johann Christian Kammsetzer (Dresden) and Domenico Merlini (Italy) and painter Marcello Bacciarelli (Italy) to create neoclassical style interiors (known as the Stanislavian style).

The castle we see today was painstakingly reconstructed after World War II had left Warsaw and the Royal Castle in ruins. While a castle reconstruction committee quickly formed in June 1945, the communist regime forbade the rebuilding of a monument that supported the lost Polish monarchy.

In 1971, the Polish people, not the state, paid for the reconstruction. Some of the original objects and architectural fragments were incorporated into the reconstruction. These included precious items that firemen, museum employees, conservator-restorers, and civilians risked their lives to save and hide during the Nazi occupation.

To find out more about the Royal Castle in Warsaw, visit Zamek-Krolewski.pl

The baroque eastern facade, with its extensive gardens, faces the Vistula River. (Royal Castle in Warsaw)

Classical architects Domenico Merlini and Johann Christian Kammsetzer created a light and airy Great Assembly Hall. Within its white walls, gilded stuccos, and glittery columns, guests once attended feasts, balls, concerts, and court ceremonies. Artists spent four years decorating the hall with themes showing Poland’s laws and the king's responsibilities. For instance, the ceiling painting “The Disentanglement of Chaos'' glorifies the king's reforms to bring stability to Poland after years of turmoil. (A. Ring/Royal Castle in Warsaw)

French and Italian masters created the interior decor in the gold and crimson Throne Room. Five huge crystal mirrors reflect the stucco work, paneled walls, and marble fireplaces imported from Rome. Italian sculptor Angelo Puccinelli created sculptures of ancient Roman rulers to convey the virtues of wisdom, justice, restraint, and courage. (A. Ring/Royal Castle in Warsaw)

French embroiderers from Camille Bernon Ltd. in Lyon made the silver decorative borders and silver eagles (the emblem of Poland) on the canopy of King Stanislaw II Augustus’s crimson throne. During World War II, the eagles disappeared, and only one surfaced years later in Canada. Embroiderers took three months to make each eagle on the reconstructed throne, using materials from the original French embroiderers. (Tomasz Szymanski/Shutterstock)

The walls of the Royal Bedroom are lined in cream silk with floral patterns and yew paneling with gilded laurel branches, both complementing the Carrara marble fireplace. The Turkish-style bed in duck egg green is a reconstruction of the one that the king sat on during the day and slept upright in during the night. Paintings by Italian Marcello Bacciarelli show scenes from the Old Testament, and the couches and armchairs are upholstered in tapestries of Jean de la Fontaine's fables. (A. Ring/Royal Castle in Warsaw)

In the mid-17th century, Italian baroque architect Giovanni Battista Gisleni designed the Marble Room, a vestibule in the state apartment. In the late 18th century, baroque and neoclassical architect Jakub Fontana added more objects, such as 22 portraits of Polish kings. (M. Bronarski/Royal Castle in Warsaw)

King Stanislaw II Augustus Poniatowski commissioned the nephew of Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto), Bernardo Belotto, to paint 22 scenes of Warsaw. Belotto often signed his paintings “Bernardo de Canaletto.” His paintings, which hang in the Canaletto Room, were so precise that they were used as references to rebuild Warsaw after World War II. (A. Ring/Royal Castle in Warsaw)

Poland’s Permanent Council once met in the Senatorial Hall, designed in King Stanislaw’s classical style with its elegant white and gold decor and parquet floor. The 3rd May Constitution was passed in 1791 in the Senatorial Hall—the first constitution in Europe and the second in the world. (A. Ring/Royal Castle in Warsaw)

Everything in the Knights’ Hall is set to glorify Poland, from the paintings of historical events to the busts of great men by French sculptor André-Jean Lebrun. A line from Virgil’s “Aeneid” runs under the cornice, which translates as: “Here is the band of them who bore wounds in fighting for their country, and they who were pure in priesthood while life endured, and the good poets whose speech abased not Apollo; and they who made life beautiful by the arts of their invention, and who won by service a memory among men.” (A. Ring/Royal Castle in Warsaw)