Page 714 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

712  CENTR AL AND EASTERN EUROPE

3 Royal Castle
Plac Zamkowy 4. Tel 22-355 51 70.
@ 116, 175, 178, 180, 503.
Open daily (separate tickets for
Royal Apartments and Parliament).
Closed Oct–Apr: Mon; some public
hols. &(free Sun). 8
∑ zamek-krolewski.pl
Warsaw’s Royal Castle (Zamek
Królewski) stands on the site
of an original castle built here
by the Mazovian dukes in the
14th century. It was transformed
between 1598 and 1619 by King
Zygmunt III Waza, who asked
Italian architects to restyle the
castle into a polygon. The king
Horse-drawn carriages in Warsaw’s Old Town Market Square chose this castle as his royal
residence in 1596, after the
1 Old Town Market not until 1798 that St. John’s Sejm (Parliament) had moved
Square became a cathedral. The here from Krakow in 1569.
coronation of Poland’s last
In the 18th century, King
Rynek Starego Miasta. @ 116, 175, king, Stanisław August Augustus III remodeled the
178, 180, 503. Museum of Warsaw: Poniatowski, in 1764, and east wing in Baroque style
Tel 22-531 38 02. Open Tue–Sun. the swearing of an oath and King Stanisław August
by the deputies of the Sejm Poniatowski added a library.
Painstakingly restored after (Parliament) to uphold the 1791 In 1939, the castle was
World War II, the Old Town Constitution took place here. burned, and then blown up
Market Square was the center After World War II, various by the Nazis in 1944.
of Warsaw public life until the elaborate 19th-century Reconstruction, which was
19th century, when the focus additions were removed from funded by public donations,
of the growing, modern city the facade, and the cathedral took from 1971 to 1988.
moved. The tall, ornate, and was restored to its original The castle’s fascinating
colorful houses, which lend the Mazovian Gothic style. The interiors are the result of its
square its unique character, interior features religious art, dual role: being a royal
were built by wealthy richly carved wooden stalls, residence as well as the seat
merchants in the 17th century. and ornate tombs, including of parliament. Meticulously
The houses on one side form those of Gabriel Narutowicz reconstructed, the castle has
the Museum of Warsaw (1865–1922), Poland’s first royal apartments, as well as
(Muzeum Warszawy). This president, assassinated two the Chamber of Deputies
displays the city’s history days after taking office, and and the Senate. Some of the
through paintings, photographs, Nobel prize-winning novelist woodwork and stucco is
sculpture, and archaeological Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846– original, as are many of the
finds. There is also a film show, 1916). In a chapel founded by furnishings and much of the
with footage of the Nazis’ the Baryczka family hangs a art. Among the paintings
systematic destruction of 16th-century crucifix, which is are 18th-century works by
Warsaw in 1944. Today, café credited with several miracles. Bellotto and Bacciarelli.
tables and stalls line the square,
and horse-drawn carriages offer
tours of the Old Town.
2 St. John’s
Cathedral
Świętojańska 8. Tel 22-831 02 89.
@ 116, 175, 178, 180, 503.
Open daily (Sun: pm only).
Completed in the early 15th
century, St. John’s Cathedral
(katedra św Jana) was originally
a parish church. Gaining
collegiate status in 1406, it was The opulent interior of the Marble Room in the Royal Castle
For hotels and restaurants see p722 and p723

712-713_EW_Europe.indd 712 14/07/16 10:20 am