Jankowice Palace

Jankowice Palace, about 20 km west of central Poznań, began life as a strikingly modern villa built for a Swedish diplomat. Today it is a municipal cultural centre with an 18.5-hectare park that is open around the clock. Between the palace and a long pond with four islands grow trees that, according to the managers, are in some cases more than 300 years old. It makes an easy half-day trip for a slow walk, a family picnic or an evening concert.

History: from the Engeström villa to a €5 million restoration

The residence was built in 1803 on the site of an older manor house of the Twardowski family. It was commissioned by Lars (Wawrzyniec) von Engeström, the Swedish envoy at the court of King Stanisław August, who settled in Greater Poland after marrying Rozalia Chłapowska. The original square block, with a flat roof and balustrade, followed the avant-garde Neoclassicism then fashionable in Berlin and was considered remarkably modern. A winter garden was added in the late 19th century, and in 1912 the Poznań architect Roger Sławski added side wings and two terraces for Count Stefan Kwilecki.

The war brought tragedy: in September 1939, in the first days of the occupation, the Germans killed the then owner, Konstanty Dziewulski, together with Henryk Kwilecki. After the communist land reform the estate became a farming cooperative, the palace a training centre, and from the 1990s the building slowly decayed. In 2005 the Tarnowo Podgórne municipality took it over and in 2016–2018 carried out a full restoration costing about €5 million.

What to see in the park

The park was laid out for the Engeström family in the early 19th century on about 12 hectares; a century later the gardener Augustyn Denizot enlarged it and planted exotic species. Highlights:

• the pond with four islands of different sizes, surrounded by the oldest trees,
• a large group of plane trees and an avenue of horse chestnuts in the south-western part,
• exotic specimens: ginkgo, tulip tree, western red cedar and eastern hemlock,
• a tree trail with information boards next to selected trees, including a small-leaved lime and a European larch,
• for families – a rope course, a playground, a climbing wall and an outdoor gym.

The palace today

The palace is not a museum with period interiors. It hosts concerts, poetry evenings, workshops and events for senior citizens, and has a café. The palace website offers an audio guide (in Polish), an outdoor game and a virtual tour that work well for an independent visit.

Tripto tip

Allow about an hour for the park, or 1.5–2 hours with the tree trail and the playground. According to the palace website (as of October 2026) the park is open 24/7 and the palace Mon–Fri 7:00–20:00 and Sat–Sun 12:00–20:00; it is closed on 24–26 December, among other dates. The on-site car park is open until 19:00, so for evening visits it is better to park outside. Address: ul. Ogrodowa 2, Jankowice, on national road 92 from Poznań towards Nowy Tomyśl. Lake Lusowskie nearby is a good second stop for the day.