Mordy Palace

In 1930 this palace saw the death of Jerzy Hutten-Czapski, father of the painter Józef Czapski and the writer Maria Czapska, and its drawing rooms welcomed the owners' relatives and friends, among them Archbishop Edward von der Ropp and Father Władysław Korniłowicz. Today the Neoclassical residence in Mordy near Siedlce stands empty and dilapidated, but it has kept something rare: a Baroque gate in the form of a tower with an arched passage, untouched by any of the later rebuilds.

History: from fortified manor to restitution

The palace probably stands on the site of a fortified manor from the early 17th century, of which traces of fortifications remain. The brick Baroque residence was built in the first half of the 18th century for the Ciecierski family, owners of Mordy since 1571; some sources give the year 1717. The entrance gate may date from around 1750. In the 18th century the palace was already given a Neoclassical character.

After 1838 the new owners, the Zembrzuski family, remodelled it thoroughly: the portico, the pediment and the side wings date from their time, the wings raised in the second half of the 19th century in Neo-Renaissance style. In 1912 Konstanty Przewłocki bought the estate for his son Henryk, later president of the Landowners' Union in the Siedlce district. Towards the end of the Second World War the palace served as quarters for the newly forming 8th Infantry Division of the Polish Army.

After the war the estate was nationalised, and Henryk Przewłocki died in a Soviet labour camp in Borovichi. The palace housed a nursery and a kindergarten, then an agricultural school with a boarding house, and from 1978 it belonged to a college in Siedlce, later the Podlasie Academy. A renovation begun in the late 1980s was never finished, and the building fell into ruin. The Przewłocki family recovered the palace and park in 2018.

What to look for

• The Baroque tower gate with its arched passage, the most valuable and best-preserved part of the ensemble.
• The front façade with a three-bay central projection, a four-column portico and a triangular pediment bearing the Zembrzuski family's Doliwa coat of arms.
• The wrought-iron balconies, the most interesting of which, on the south façade, echoes Gothic Revival forms.
• The 18th-century park of about 6 ha with a pond, where alongside limes, ashes, maples, elms and hornbeams grow yellow buckeye, eastern hemlock and tulip tree.

Tripto tip

The palace is not open to visitors and is in very poor condition, so view it from outside and do not enter the building. The complex is on ul. Narutowicza in Mordy; fifteen minutes is enough to see the gate and the façade. The owners have announced plans to restore the palace and open it to residents and tourists, so check before you go whether the park or courtyard is accessible.