Kurozwęki Palace

A 14th-century knights' castle that spent four centuries turning into a Baroque and Neoclassical residence, and now has more than 80 American bison as neighbours. Kurozwęki Palace, 7 km north-west of Staszów, is one of the few places in Poland where a single building shows the whole journey from fortress to palace. Add a museum with paintings by Józef Czapski and the country's only bison herd grazing in the meadows beyond the moat.

History: from castrum Curoswank to the Sołtyk palace

In the second half of the 14th century the Kurozwęcki family built a castle here, recorded in documents as "castrum Curoswank". It began as an oval stone wall of roughly 28 × 40 m surrounded by a moat, plus a four-storey tower about 14 m high. In 1521 the castle passed to Jan Lanckoroński as a dowry, and for more than two centuries the Lanckoroński family remodelled it in Renaissance and Baroque taste, joining the buildings into wings with arcaded galleries around the courtyard.

The turning point was a wedding in 1752: Anna Dembińska, widow of the last Lanckoroński, married General Maciej Sołtyk. In 1768–1772 the old gate tower became a five-bay wing with a ballroom on the first floor, crowned by a semicircular pediment bearing the coats of arms of both spouses. In June 1787 King Stanisław August Poniatowski stayed here on his way back from the Dnieper.

The Popiels, decline and return

In 1833 the heiress Emilia Sołtyk married Paweł Popiel, and the palace has belonged to the Popiel family ever since. Between the wars the estate covered 6,000 ha and was famous for its Anglo-Arab horses. In September 1944 the family was forced out, and the palace served in turn as flats, state-farm offices and a social-insurance office until it fell into ruin. In 1991 the heirs bought back the ruin and part of the park, and Jan Marcin Popiel and his family began a long restoration.

What to see

• Palace interiors – guided tours cover the dungeons, cellars, the arcaded courtyard and the first floor with the ballroom, the Red and Green Salons and the chapel.
• Attic museum (opened in 2023) – Popiel family heirlooms, paintings by Piotr Michałowski, Józef Mehoffer, Henryk Siemiradzki and Walenty Wańkowicz, and in a separate room more than 20 oil paintings by Józef Czapski, a friend of the family.
• Bison Safari – the herd grew from 20 heifers and 2 bulls brought from Belgium in December 2000. You can watch the bison on foot or from a western-style wagon that drives into the enclosure.
• The park, laid out in the 18th century and reshaped in 1811–1820 and 1859–1873, with magnificent plane trees, plus the annexe, the orangery and the coach stable with a portal guarded by two lions.

Did you know?

Stefan Żeromski portrayed the palace in his novel "Ashes" as Prince Gintułt's seat at Grudno. In 2010 the palace and its surroundings appeared in an episode of the TV series "Ojciec Mateusz". Among the museum's treasures the owners single out a "Madonna and Child" attributed to the Florentine painter Francesco Antonio Zacchi.

Tripto tips

Allow about an hour for the interiors and half a day if you add the safari, the park and the mazes. The Bison Safari is seasonal and runs daily in season from 10:00 to 17:30. Bison calves usually appear in the meadow from May. The palace is also a hotel with a restaurant, so staying overnight is easy. Check current prices and tour times at kurozweki.com.