Belweder Palace

The name comes from the Italian "belvedere", a beautiful view: the palace stands on the highest stretch of the Warsaw escarpment, above Łazienki Park. Grand Duke Konstantin lived at Belweder, insurgents stormed it on the November Night of 1830, and Józef Piłsudski, the father of Poland's restored independence, lived and died here. Today it is a residence of the President of Poland and can only be visited at set times, by prior arrangement.

History: from Queen Bona's villa to a presidential seat

From 1533 this site was probably occupied by a villa of Queen Bona Sforza. In 1659–1660 Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac built a small palace here for his wife, and the whole estate was named Belvedere after its sweeping view. In 1767 it was bought by King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who set up the Royal Faience Factory in an outbuilding, making tableware for the court.

The present neoclassical palace was built in 1819–1822 to designs by Jakub Kubicki as the residence of Grand Duke Konstantin, brother of the Russian tsar. The architect gave it the feel of a country house, with Ionic porticoes on both sides and a landscape garden with a pond below the escarpment. On 29 November 1830, the start of the November Uprising against Russian rule, insurgents attacked Belweder, but Konstantin managed to hide.

From 1918 the palace was the seat of Chief of State Józef Piłsudski, later of the presidents. After his coup of May 1926 Piłsudski moved back in, and he died in the Corner Room on 12 May 1935. From 1952 to 1989 the chairmen of the communist Council of State worked here, and until 1994 Presidents Jaruzelski and Wałęsa.

What to see

• The Pompeian Hall, the palace's grandest room, once known as the Blue Room. The young Frédéric Chopin gave concerts here.
• The Marble Hall with a pre-war marble statue of Piłsudski by Stanisław K. Ostrowski, the model for the monument in front of the palace.
• The Mirror Room with huge mirrors and paintings featuring the signs of the zodiac.
• The garden with a fountain and sculptures representing the seasons.
• The Józef Piłsudski monument in front of the palace, unveiled in 1998, which stands by the street and can be seen at any time.

Interesting facts

Among those sentenced to work in the Belweder garden was the writer Maurycy Mochnacki, who laboured here in chains for 40 days. Near the palace stands the only surviving riding hall of its kind in Warsaw, built in 1823–1824. On 5 October 1939 Adolf Hitler visited Belweder and viewed Piłsudski's study.

Tripto tip

Individual visitors can tour Belweder on the last Saturday of the month at 10:00, after registering by email with the Chancellery of the President in advance. Organised groups of up to 25 people visit Monday to Friday at 10:00 and 11:30. Tours last 60–90 minutes, and the Chancellery may cancel them even at the last minute. If you cannot get inside, you can see the palace and the Piłsudski monument from Belwederska Street, and the visit combines easily with a walk in neighbouring Łazienki Park.