Mieroszewski Palace in Będzin

Not far from Będzin Castle, in the Gzichów district, stands a palace whose drawing rooms revealed ancient commanders – Hannibal, Pompey and Scipio Africanus – only during restoration work in the late 20th century. The Mieroszewski Palace of 1702, also called the Gzichów Palace, is now one of the sites of the Zagłębie Museum, and its Neoclassical wall paintings are a rare survival.

History: from a standard-bearer to industrialists

The palace was built by Kazimierz Mieroszewski, standard-bearer of the Duchy of Siewierz, after the model of French residences of the day. The Mieroszewski family owned it until the 1830s; it then passed to the Siemieński and Mycielski families, and after the January Uprising of 1863 it was bought by the Silesian industrial magnate Christian Gustav von Kramsta. From 1890 until the outbreak of the Second World War it housed offices and staff flats of the Sosnowiec Mining and Steelworks Company. After the war an agricultural cooperative used it, and from 1958 it was a community arts centre.

From the mid-1960s the museum, together with the regional conservation office, campaigned for a full restoration. The work was completed in March 1982, and the palace was adapted for museum use.

What to see

• The brick building on a rectangular plan with corner pavilions, a mansard roof with dormers and a central projection crowned by a gable with volutes. In front of the entrance stands a portico whose columns carry a balcony.
• The Hall of Ancient Commanders – Neoclassical wall paintings uncovered during restoration in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The western rooms also preserve scenes of knightly duels and portrait medallions, while the south wing has hunting scenes set in a landscape that includes Będzin Castle.
• The exhibition "Period Interiors of the 18th and 19th Centuries" with furniture, carpets and decorative arts, plus a collection of edged weapons and firearms.
• Paintings and prints by Samuel Cygler, a Jewish-born artist from Będzin who died in 1945 in the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
• An ethnographic exhibition on the folk culture of the Zagłębie region and an archaeological display with a Lusatian culture settlement and an early medieval stronghold.

A park with statues from 1718

Behind the palace lies a park laid out in the early 18th century, with trees more than a hundred years old. In front of the garden facade stand the stone figures of Bacchus and Flora, carved in 1718 by Jerzy Leonard Weber. The palace is surrounded by outbuildings and farm buildings, and the front opens onto a driveway with a formal garden parterre.

Tripto tip

Start in the garden: at the back of the palace, Bacchus and Flora make a fine picture against the facade. Allow 1–1.5 hours for the exhibitions. Check opening hours and ticket prices with the Zagłębie Museum before you go – the same institution runs the Gothic castle on Castle Hill, so both are easy to see in one day. The palace is at ul. Gzichowska 15.