Valley of Palaces and Gardens

At the foot of the Karkonosze (Giant Mountains), in an area of about 100 km², more than thirty former residences survive – from medieval strongholds to 19th-century palaces of the Prussian aristocracy and royal family. The Valley of Palaces and Gardens of the Jelenia Góra Basin is not a single site but a whole cultural landscape, declared a Monument of History in 2011. In the 19th century its visitors included Goethe, Chopin, Caspar David Friedrich, John Quincy Adams and Princess Izabela Czartoryska.

How the landscape came about

The basin, enclosed by the Jizera Mountains, the Kaczawskie Mountains, the Rudawy Janowickie and the Karkonosze, changed hands many times – the Piast dukes of Świdnica and Jawor, the Habsburgs and, from 1740, the kings of Prussia. In the 19th century it became one of the most fashionable holiday regions. The Schaffgotsch, Radziwiłł, Czartoryski and Hohenzollern families built residences here, and the designers included Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Friedrich August Stüler and the landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné. The palaces were set into farmland and forest so that the mountains became part of the park views.

After 1945 many of the buildings were looted and turned into state farms, schools or flats, while the parks passed to the State Forests. Some were saved only when new owners took them on. In 2005 the owners of several palaces set up the Valley of Palaces and Gardens Foundation, which put up signposts and is seeking UNESCO listing, and on 24 October 2008 the Karkonosze Municipal Association created the Jelenia Góra Basin Cultural Park.

What to see

Within the cultural park there are 20 castles and palaces, including:

• residences in Bukowiec, Karpniki, Łomnica, Wojanów, Bobrów, Staniszów, Mysłakowice and Miłków,
• palaces in Kowary (Nowy Dwór, Ciszyca) and in Jelenia Góra (Cieplice, Sobieszów, Czarne),
• Chojnik and Bolczów castles and the ruins of Sokolec and Niesytno,
• the Tyrolean houses in Mysłakowice and the Kowary-Wysoka Łąka sanatorium complex.

Did you know?

In the 1990s the palace in Łomnica was bought from the municipality by the von Küster family, who had lived there until 1945. When Elisabeth von Küster first arrived, the building had not a single intact window, and the roof and ceilings had collapsed. The family saved the palace and the neighbouring Small Palace, known as the Dower House, and then began restoring the farm buildings.

Tripto tip

There is no joint ticket and no common opening hours: some residences are hotels and restaurants, others are museums, and some can only be seen from outside. Pick two or three places for one day and check access with the owners. A good starter set might be Łomnica, Wojanów and Karpniki – allow half a day for such a route. The parks look their best in spring and autumn, when the ridge of the Karkonosze shows through the trees.