If you love strolling in parks, you should go to Warsaw to see one of the earliest publicly accessible parks in the world

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Some early parks include the la Alameda de Hércules, in Seville, a promenaded public mall, urban garden and park built in 1574, within the historic center of Seville. The City Park, in Budapest, Hungary, which was property of the Batthyány family was later made public. Another possible claimant for status as the world's first public park is Boston Common (Boston, Massachusetts, USA), set aside in 1634, whose first recreational promenade, Tremont Mall, dates from 1728. An early purpose built public park was Derby Arboretum which was opened in 1840 by Joseph Strutt for the mill workers and people of the city. This was closely followed by Princes Park in the Liverpool suburb of Toxteth, laid out to the designs of Joseph Paxton from 1842 and opened in 1843. Another early public park is the Peel Park, Salford, England opened on August 22, 1846. Central Park in New York City, the most-visited urban park in the U.S. was established in 1857 on 778 acres (315 ha) of city-owned land. And you might ask where on this prestigious list is the Warsaw Saxon Garden and then I would say “On the top of the list”. Founded in the late 17th century, it was opened to the public in 1727 as publicly accessible park. It is much older than most of them.

The wicked mathematician made me love ancient history

I love London public parks. When I visit my favourite city, a walk in Hyde Park is a must. I even  choose accommodation in Bayswater near Kensington Gardens (being part of Hyde Park) fence because of proximity to this park. It makes me feel excellent. I have Hyde Park at my heart and it`s the same with the Saxon Garden in Warsaw. Shall I tell you why? The high school I attended to as a young girl has been close to that garden. My maths teacher was wicked, used to close classroom door exactly at 8 am, and I was always a few minutes late. I was pushed to skip classes and that`s why I was walking to the Saxon Garden. As a result I was not good in maths but I was excellent in ancient history due to many park statues which are allegories of the Virtues, the Sciences, and the Elements. Thank God, I had course of general education with extended curriculum in humanities. No maths was needed for my secondary school-leaving examination. While strolling in the Saxon Garden I was absorbing ancient stories very easily. And now I suggest you should  sink into history with me.

The gardens are missing a palace

Stretching out a couple of blocks west of ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście (Kraków Suburb Street), this magnificent garden – as I have written above – dates from the early 18th century and was one of the world`s earliest publicly accessible parks and also the city’s first public one. This was a typical example of the Baroque extension of formal vistas inspired by the park of Versailles. In the 19th century it was turned into a Romantic English-style landscape park.

The Saxon Garden was originally the site of Warsaw fortifications, "Sigismund's Ramparts," and of the palace built in 1666 for the powerful aristocrat, Jan Andrzej Morsztyn. The garden was extended in the reign of King Augustus II, who attached it to the "Saxon Axis", a line of parks and palaces linking the western outskirts of Warsaw with the Vistula River.

The park started from the back façade of the Saxon Palace (Pałac Saski) flanking a long alley with many sculptures. The central avenue led directly to the palace, as was usual in French parks of the era. The gardens are filled with chestnut trees and mentioned Baroque statues, and there’s an ornamental lake overlooked by a 19th-century water tower in the form of a circular Greek temple.

If it looks to you as though the gardens are missing a palace, you are right. The 18th-century Saxon Palace, which once occupied Plac Piłsudskiego (Piłsudski Sq), was, like so many other buildings, destroyed during WWII. The palace was blown up by the Germans as part of the planned destruction of Warsaw after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. All that survived were three arches of a colonnade, which have sheltered the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier since 1925. There are plans to rebuild the Saxon Palace from scratch at fabulous expense, but so far they remain unfulfilled.

Parks and gardens history

The parks and gardens history is very long and impressive. The Saxon Garden belongs to the "Ivy" League of the world`s famous parks. Let`s see when they were first laid out.

The Egyptians made domestic gardens and temple gardens. The Assyrians also made hunting parks. The Greeks added public gardens, as meeting and market places protected within city walls.

Parks were made for domestic pleasure, for exercise, for hunting, for the fine arts and for celebration of the emperor's godlike status. As such, they became models for Renaissance villas, in Italy and then throughout Europe, from the 15th to the 18th century. North European park and garden designers paid their respects to this ancestry when they included Greek and Roman statuary in their designs. So do all those gardeners who place concrete casts of Diana, Flora and Aphrodite amongst the roses of their suburban "villas".

Fryderyk Chopin at the Saxon Palace

Fryderyk (Frédéric) Chopin spent his first seven years of life (except to the first early months spent  in Żelazowa Wola) in the Saxon Palace, and so in the direct vicinity of the Saxon Garden. Mrs Justyna Chopin certainly took her children little Frycek and Ludwika to the nearby park. Given Fryderyk's fondness for walks around the city, we can assume that a dozen years or so later he visited this beautiful spot on many occasions in the company of his friends. Some biographers have even held that he used to go there with Konstancja Gładkowska[BS3] , a Polish soprano, his muse and first love although there is no information regarding such romantic walks in mentions of Fryderyk's contacts with her.

A vast palace complex according to a Dutch-born Polish architect and engineer Tylman van Gameren's  design arose here between 1661 and 1664 for Jan Andrzej Morsztyn[BS4] [a5] . He was  a Polish poet, member of the landed nobility, and official in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1669 the palace was rebuilt and enlarged. The main break was enhanced and a two galleries ended with a double-storied pavillons were added to the palace's alcoves. In 1713 the building was purchased by King Augustus II, who started to repurchase surrounding freeholds and demolishing the buildings. Reconstruction of the palace establishment and creating of the Saxon Axis passed through three distinct stages – from 1713 to the 1720s according to the architects Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann's and Joachim Daniel von Jauch's design, secondly to 1733 and completion in 1748 by Augustus III "the Corpulent". The Palace was remodelled in 1842.

Brühl Palace

The former palace of a Polish nobleman and Crown Court Treasurer Jerzy Ossoliński, was rebuilt between 1681 and 1697 by Tylman van Gameren. Purchased by Polish-Saxon statesman Heinrich von Brühl  in 1750, on his request it was reconstructed by German architects Johann Friedrich Knöbel and Joachim Daniel von Jauch between 1754 and 1759. The two outbuildings were built in that time and put together with the palace. Later another two were added and composed together by an enclosure decorated with sculptures. The central limb of the building was enhanced and covered with a mansard roof. During 1932 – 1937 the palace was adapted for use as the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the new Polish Republic. It was deliberately destroyed by the Germans on December 18, 1944.

Sandstone statues

They are a part of the rich collection of sculptures removed to Saint Petersburg after recapturing the city by Marshal Suvorov in 1794, and placed in the Summer Garden. According to the 1745 plan of the Saxon Garden there were 70 plinths in the Garden, and in 1797 there were only 37 sculptures left, only 20 of them have been preserved until our times. Four of these sculptures were completely destroyed during the blowing up of the Saxon Palace in 1944, but they were later reconstructed. Comprised are groups of sculptures, including Arithmetic, Astrology, Bacchus, Flora, Geography, two sculptures identified as Glory, Instruct, Intelligence, Intellect, Justice, Medicine, Military Architecture, Painting, Poetry, Rationality, Science, Sculpture, Venus and Winter. They were generally made before 1745 by anonymous Warsaw sculptors under the direction of Polish sculptor of German origin Johann Georg Plersch.

The Great Salon

Situated on the axis in the center of the Saxon Garden, was intended simply to provide a suitable end to the main garden axis. It was constructed after 1720 according to Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann's design (a German master builder who helped to rebuild Dresden after the fire of 1685). The building was opened to the garden by semicircular porte-fenêtres and oculuses. A terrace above the ground level of the building was enclosed by an attic decorated with vases; also, two outhouses from both sides were added. The Great Salon was demolished in 1817.

Operalnia

The 500-seat opera house, was opened in 1748. It was built under the architect Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann and modelled on the Small Theatre in Dresden, built by Christoph Bayer in 1687. The interior was decorated in a heavy, sumptuous baroque style by the court artists. On November 19th, 1765 in Operalnia, the actors of The Majesty put on the premiere of Józef Bielawski’s Intruders (Natręci), a comedy which was a loose adaptation of a play by Molière. Since the acting team had all the features of a fully professional and national group (they performed in Polish and earned their living through acting), November 19th is the anniversary of the establishment of the National Theatre. The National stage belonged to the elements of the educational and cultural reform programme in the falling Republic of Poland, prepared by King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Over decades this theatre, taking care of the works of Polish playwrights, was the ground on which the cultural development of Polish people thrived. The building was demolished in 1772.

Last year we celebrated the 250th Anniversary of the National Theatre in Poland. I shall write about this story in next text.

The Blue Palace

It took its name from the colour of the roof. The palace was purchased by King Augustus II for his daughter Anna Karolina Orzelska from bishop Teodor Andrzej Potocki. The palace was rebuilt in 1726 by Joachim Daniel von Jauch and a Saxon Rococco architect Johann Sigmund Deybel. The King wished to offer it to Anna as a Christmas present. In six weeks, the Palace was renovated by 300 masons and craftsmen working night and day. The courtyard, encompassed by a walled enclosure, had two gates. Column galleries were situated on both sides of the garden façade. A backside garden (integral part of the Saxon Garden) and a cascade fountain were designed by Carl Friedrich Pöppelmann. Since 1811, it has been the property of the Zamoyskis [BS6] , Polish aristocratic family which remodelled it in a late Neoclassical style. The palace was rebuilt after the war devastations.

The Church of St. Anthony of Padua and Reformed Franciscan Monastery

It was founded in 1623 in gratitude for the capture of Smolensk on June 13th, 1611 (Liturgical Feasts of Saint Anthony of Padua) by king Sigismund III Vasa (Zygmunt III Waza) and dedicated on May 13th, 1635. This church was heavily damaged during the Deluge by the Transylvanian army of George II Rákóczi. The new church was founded by Castellan Stanisław Leszczyc-Skarszewski. Work began in 1668 following the plan of Italian-born Polish royal court architect Józef Szymon Bellotti. In 1734, the church became the parish church of the royal court in the Saxon Palace. The king ordered a special loge for him and his wife to be built on the left side of the presbytery (1734–35), and the royal sculptor Johann Georg Plersch created the sculptures inside. The church was partly destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising.

The Iron Gate

It was a part of The Saxon Establishment, which itself had a shape of a pentagon covered an area of around 17 ha (42 acres). The gate was constructed according to Joachim Daniel von Jauch's design after 1735, together with other buildings of the Saxon Axis border, like Mounted Crown Guards barracks, a wall with bastions from the south and west, or the Blue Palace. It was embellished with cartouches with Polish and Lithuanian Coats of Arms. The Gate was demolished in 1821.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

It was dedicated to the unknown soldiers who have given their lives for Poland. It is one of many such national tombs of unknowns that were erected after WWI, as well as the most important national symbols of bravery and heroism. In 1925, architect Stanisław Ostrowski produced a design to be located under the arcades of the Saxon Palace in Warsaw. The triple arch of the Tomb is the only remnant of the Saxon Palace colonnade. Here official delegations place wreaths and pay homage to the killed soldiers. The tomb has a change of guards every hour.

Fountain

With an elaborately carved plaque resting on a shell form basin supported by a scrolled bracket, is often used by dating couples as their meeting place. It was established in 1855. The fountain is the centrepiece of gardens designed by the 19th-century designer and architect Henryk Marconi and also one of the most precious urban symbols of Warsaw.

Marble sundial

An 1863 horizontal sundial, is situated close to the big fountain in the centre of the park. It was established by the significant physicist and meteorologist Antoni Szeliga Magier.

Water Tower

In the northwest part of the Saxon Garden, it is situated by the ornamental lake surrounded by willows. This classicist water tower in the shape of a Roman monopteros was modelled on the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli. It was designed in 1852 by Henryk Marconi.

Summer Theatre

A popular summer variéte theatre, existed between 1870 and 1939. It was under famous Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko's "rule" at the Grand Theater (Teatr Wielki) that the wooden Summer Theatre was built in the Saxon Garden, between the Water Tower building and the Blue Palace by Polish constructor Aleksander Zabierzowski. From then on, summer performances from the Warsaw theatres were shown there every year. At the time, the Summer Theatre could seat an audience of 1,065. Famous Polish actresses: Helena Modjeska (whose actual Polish surname was Modrzejewska) and Pola Negri (born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec) made several appearance there. The theatre burned in September 1939 following a direct hit by an incendiary bomb and was never restored.

Palm House

Modelled after Victorian glass and iron structures in England, was built in 1894. It was created specifically for the exotic palms being collected and introduced to Europe in the 19th century. The elegant design, with its unobstructed space for the spreading crowns of the tall palms, was a perfect marriage of form and function. The structure was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising and planned destruction of Warsaw, and was never restored.

The Monument dedicated to Maria Konopnicka

The Monument of famous Polish poet and writer mainly for children and youth, was unveiled in 1965.

The Statue of Stefan Starzyński

The Statue of brave leader of the fighting capital during the Siege of Warsaw, was added in 1981.

***

I have strong connection with the Saxon Garden. This place witnessed my classes skipping when I was young and now I work there, at least twice a year making live coverage of state ceremonies of Armed Forces Day August 15th and National Independence Day November 11th. Piłsudski Square turns then into a colourful stage with subdivisions and reconstruction groups on that. It`s really worth seeing. It`s spectacular, and the Saxon Garden is gorgeous and worth seeing any time. If you happen to visit this place in August I can likely see you walking down the alleys. If it happened I would be most delighted.

See you there!

If you want to step in a few eras and experience European heritage, you should go to Warsaw Royal Baths Museum & Park

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You can take a trip without leaving your home.  You have all sorts of opportunities  to see even the furthest corner of the world. You can „walk in” to most galleries, museums and other places of interest with just one click. Many cultural institutions offer the virtual tours. If you feel like seeing  these locations you can see them from the sky. Just google a desired place and see satellite images which are covering almost the whole planet. The museums and galleries in Poland are available online, too but I must say it is not the same and it will never replace traditional sightseeing. If you come here you will get my point.

One place, many famous owners

When you are tempted to visit my wonderful town you must not miss one place which is crucial to history of Poland. The Royal Łazienki is the largest city park, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district (Śródmieście), on Ujazdów Avenue (Aleje Ujazdowskie) on the "Royal Route" linking the Royal Castle with Wilanów Palace to the south. North of Łazienki Park, on the other side of Agrykola Street, stands Ujazdów Castle (also worth seeing).

Łazienki premises, literally "Baths Park" or "Royal Baths", often rendered "Royal Baths Park" derive their name from baroque baths pavillion. It was the first construction onsite built in the second half of the 18th century. Located on the isle surrounded by canals richly ornamented bathing pavillon was designed by Tylman van Gameren for Court Marshal of the Crown Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, the owner of Ujazdów.  Tylman van Gameren was the one who designed the whole Łazienki estate in the baroque style.

But we have to look more deeply into the past as far as to the mid-16th century when Łazienki became part of the estates of Poland’s Italian-born Queen Bona Sforza, who built a wooden manor house with an Italian garden on this site. Later, the wooden manor house of Queen Anna Jagiellon stood on this spot, immortalized in 1578 by the performance of the first Polish play, “Dismissal of the Greek Envoys” by famous Polish Renaissance poet Jan Kochanowski. To the south, King Sigismund III Vasa had a four-sided stone castle with corner towers erected in 1624.

In 1766 Stanisław August Poniatowski bought Łazienki as the royal summer residence. At the times of famous Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin the Łazienki ownership passed to Tsar Alexander I. The Park was closed to public but not to young Fryderyk who enjoyed himself there. Now you can find the monument of our great artist, just take the entrance to the park opposite the Office of the Prime Minister in Ujazdów Avenue (Aleje Ujazdowskie).

Modern state and reforms ahead of the era

As I wrote the Royal Łazienki Park is located at the heart of Warsaw. These exceptionally beautiful and magical gardens are really worth visiting. Łazienki are inextricably linked with Stanisław August Poniatowski – a politician, reformer, philosopher-king, as well as renowned patron and art collector. The Royal Łazienki will always symbolize Stanisław August’s courageous attempts to transform the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into a modern state.

One huge step to the modern state was the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791. It was the second in the World and the first in Europe supreme law which was preceding the French September Constitution by several months. The American Constitution was forged in the fire of the American War of Independence, the French one was produced by the Revolution, while the Polish Constitution bloomed from bloodless changes effected by forces striving to recover independence of their own state and sovereignty of their nation and the enable development of the country predetermining an effective protection of independence.

Have you ever expected that Poland was once considered to have the strategic influence on the continent? The Commonwealth - the Polish-Lithuanian state (composed of the Crown - Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) was a European power during the 16th and the first half of the 17th centuries. However, it became dependent on its neighbours - Prussia, Austria and Russia in particular during the 18th century. Its republican system efficient earlier turned to anarchy. The Enlightened people raised their voices calling for reforms already during the first half of the 18th century. Attempts to lift the country from its downfall started with the new reign commenced with the election of Stanislaw August Poniatowski in 1764. Although this election was also conducted at the presence of the Russian army, the new king, a former favourite of the Russian Empress Catherine II, aimed, contrary to her intentions, at a civilisational, cultural, economic and military rebirth of the state and at gaining independence from Russia and changing relations with the country from vassal to partnership. Consecutive attempts at reforms were subverted by Russia. Russian interventions and the dislike towards the king among a major part of magnates and conservative gentry opposing reforms led to Confederacy of Bar in 1768. The gentry fought under the flag of the Confederacy defending their faith and freedom and trying to overthrow the king and to prevent reforms. The fall of the Confederacy in 1772 brought about the First Partition of Poland meaning a loss of 1/3 of the territory and population to Russia, Prussia and Austria.

The partition coalition forced King Stanisław to abdicate and he retired to St. Petersburg as Catherine II's trophy prisoner, where he died in 1798. Austria, Russia, and Prussia sought to permanently erase the existence of Poland, even down to the country's name, as proven by a secret and separate article signed by the partition coalition. The Third Partition of Poland ended the existence of an independent Polish state for the next 123 years. Immediately following the Third Partition, the occupying powers forced many Polish politicians, intellectuals, and revolutionaries to emigrate across Europe, in what was later known as the Great Migration. These Polish nationalists participated in uprisings against Austria, Prussia, and Russia in former Polish lands, and many would serve France as part of Napoleon's armies. In addition, Polish poets and artists would make the desire for national freedom a defining characteristic of the Polish Romanticist movement. If you ever meet Polish minorities members, they could be descendants of those great people.  

Going back to history line, Poland would not regain full independence until the end of World War I, when the signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the collapse of the Russian Empire allowed for the resurrection of Polish national sovereignty.

The time of revenge has come

Throughout centuries the Łazienki Park witnessed a difficult history of Poland. The November Uprising was one of the most significant Polish revolutions and Łazienki estate was where the headquarters of Cadet School was located. It became a scene of so called the November Night when the Cadet Revolution began. The signal for the uprising was supposed to be a fire in Warsaw district Solec`s brewery building and at town house in Wild Street (ul. Dzika). The Uprising broke out in the evening at 6 pm on November 29 1830 and its very beginning was moment when the Polish lieutenant Piotr Wysocki walked in the Cadet School, interrupted the tactics faculty and made a speech:

"The Poles! The time of revenge has come. Today, we shall die or win! Let`s go and let your breasts be Thermopylae for hostile."

Piotr Wysocki brought the cadets to the meeting point where now you can find the statue of king John III Sobieski. The brotherhood captured the Belvedere Palace, the residence of Russian Grand Duke Constantine, who fled it unluckily for conspirators. He was told to have escaped in female disguise.

The November Uprising turned into the Russo-Polish War lasting almost the year. In 1831 Piotr Wysocki was sentenced to death by Russians, but his sentence was commuted to a 20 years exile in Siberia. On 3 March 1831 he was awarded the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari, being Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. To make the fact even more prestigious Piotr Wysocki was the bearer of cross number 1.

There are not so many places in Poland that have so strongly engraved in our emotionality and imagination as the summer residence of King Stanislaw August. The Royal Łazienki Park is a symbolic masterpiece of Stanislaw August who - as I have written above - through his entire reign, from his coronation in 1764 to abdication in 1795, strived to transform the kingdom into a modern country. In the end, following the third partition of the country among Russia, Prussia and Austria Stanisław August suffered a political defeat but his utopian vision of the “Republic of Dreams” is symbolised by Warsaw Łazienki.  King as Apollo rules a world of justice, peace, prosperity and simplicity of life. The Royal Łazienki Park is an allegory of Stanislaw August’s political visions and views. Łazienki is also where the past meets the future.

Where the past meets the future

Today the Royal Łazienki is considered “the most convivial place in Warsaw”. Here visitors are able to not only relax and observe the wildlife and plants, but also broaden their knowledge of the Enlightenment, thanks to meetings organized with eminent philosophers and art historians. Because of the Museum’s contacts with European high culture, visitors are given the opportunity to participate in numerous cultural and educational events. The most famous of them are undoubtedly the traditional piano recitals which take place each year from May to the end of September in front of the Fryderyk Chopin Monument.

Above and beyond, Łazienki offers many spectacular events all the year round: The Winter Evening of Light, Gardens of Light, The Night of Museum, The Festival of Lights, international concerts, The Sphere of Silence, Tulipomania in the Royal Łazienki, European Picnic, The 3rd Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Festival. Most of these events are ahead and if you want to plan your visit, you should go to The Royal Łazienki official website: http://www.lazienki-krolewskie.pl/en/.

The Royal Łazienki premises are open daily to visitors from all over the world, who can admire the unique collection of paintings and sculptures amassed by the last Polish king, both in the palace interiors and in the gardens. Royal Summer Residence of King Stanisław August has been renovated recently and now has even better look. This former royal residence is also one of the most elegant and prestigious venues in Warsaw frequented by prominent politicians, scholars, representatives of the arts, as well as royal couples and crowned heads.

And what is more important to me the Łazienki Park is very significant to a few generations of the Warsaw common people. Most of us have our favourite tree there which was both shelter and hideaway for the dates who were kissing secretly under the cover of branches. It is also our stories, love stories hidden behind the fence of the loveliest Polish park. But the King has been always the first and the Łazienki is mainly a story about him - about Stanisław August Poniatowski who was the great man being ahead of an era. He was the last king of Poland whose abdication unfortunately made my country vanish from the map of Europe.

If you want to learn more about world history, discover an undiscovered part of European heritage you should go to Warsaw. You can take a trip without leaving your home - home sweet home, your shelter, your hideaway, not even your comfortable armchair but you won`t experience the history and you won`t smell blooming trees, just mown lawn, you won`t hear peacocks making noise, nor ducks or swans swimming in the pond. So you should go there to experience all this, meet the past and look to the future.     

Palace on the Isle

The Amfitheatre

The Royal Peacock

The New Orangery

The Chinese Garden

The Statue of John III Sobieski

Photos by my son Michał Stanisławski