Korczew Palace

On the Bug river, not far from Drohiczyn, stands a residence called the Pearl of Podlasie. The palace in Korczew began as the Baroque foundation of Castellan Wiktoryn Kuczyński in 1734, and its present shape is the result of the interwar rebuild — with a facade designed after sketches by Stanisław Noakowski. Today a hotel and a wedding hall operate here, and the palace complex is open to visitors daily.

The King of Podlasie and the little Wilanów

Wiktoryn Kuczyński, castellan of Podlasie, bought Korczew in 1712. He traded in grain and timber, for which he was called the King of Podlasie, and his palace earned the name the Wilanów of the Siedlce region. The brick residence was built in 1734 by the architect Konczeny Boni, then working for the Radziwiłłs.

Norwid in Korczew

At the beginning of the 19th century Aleksander Kuczyński commissioned Franciszek Jaszczołd to redesign the estate: the palace was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic spirit, an English park was laid out, and the summer manor called Syberia, an orangery and the St John's well were built. Aleksander's wife, Joanna Kuczyńska, corresponded with Cyprian Kamil Norwid, who dedicated to her the poem Do Pani na Korczewie (To the Lady of Korczew).

The Ostrowski rebuild

After the damage of the First World War the palace was rebuilt in the interwar period by Count Krystyn and Wanda Ostrowski; the facade was redesigned after sketches by Stanisław Noakowski — one of the few realized projects of this architect. The Second World War and the post-war decades (warehouses, a shop, flats) ravaged it again; in the 1990s the Ostrowski daughters recovered the palace and painstakingly reconstructed the whole complex with the park.

A menhir in the park

The oldest monument of Korczew is the menhir in the palace park — probably an object of cult from before Christianization.

In practice

The palace complex operates at 3a Księdza Brzóski Street, daily 9:00–18:00; a hotel and a wedding hall run in the palace, with exhibitions and a gallery in the park. Combine the visit with Drohiczyn (about 5 km) and Grabarka.