Nieborów Palace

Nieborów Palace (say "nyeh-BOH-roof") is a Baroque residence of the Radziwiłł princes in central Poland, designed by the Dutch-born architect Tylman van Gameren and now a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw. Together with the romantic Arkadia garden a few kilometers away, it forms one of the finest palace-and-garden ensembles in the country and a national Historic Monument. It is an easy day trip from Warsaw or Łódź, about an hour's drive along the A2 motorway.

A short history

A Gothic-Renaissance manor stood here in the early 16th century. In 1694 Cardinal Michał Stefan Radziejowski, Primate of Poland, bought the estate and built a Baroque palace on the old foundations to plans by Tylman van Gameren. Its two four-story corner towers with bulbous Baroque cupolas are a classic feature of Polish aristocratic architecture.

Later owners kept updating the interiors: Michał Kazimierz Ogiński added Rococo decor in 1766–1768, and from 1774 the palace belonged to Prince Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł, one of the wealthiest magnates of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He filled it with Old Master paintings, a print room of more than ten thousand engravings, rare early books, fine furniture and silver. The architect Szymon Bogumił Zug laid out a formal French garden for him and remodeled several rooms in an early neoclassical style. His wife, Helena Radziwiłłowa, began creating Arkadia nearby in 1778.

The estate declined in the 19th century, and parts of the collection were sold at auction in Paris. From 1879 Michał Piotr Radziwiłł restored it, bought Arkadia back and in 1881 opened a majolica workshop beside the palace. In the 1920s Janusz Radziwiłł added a second floor and turned Nieborów into a well-known political salon near Warsaw. After World War II the palace became part of the National Museum in Warsaw, and in 2017 Nieborów and Arkadia were jointly declared a Historic Monument of Poland.

What to see in the palace

The historic room layout and much of the furnishing survive. The route leads from the main hall up the grand staircase to the first floor: the White Hall, the Yellow and Green Studies, the Voivode's Bedroom, the Library, the Small Dining Room, the Red Salon, the princely bedroom and the boudoir. A more expensive ticket adds the second floor. Highlights picked out by the museum include an ancient marble head of Niobe, a portrait of Anna Orzelska by the Prussian court painter Antoine Pesne, and historic tiled stoves.

The Nieborów garden and Arkadia

Behind the palace lies a Baroque garden with orangeries, a hunting pavilion, stables and ancient stone "baba" figures. The former brewery houses the Majolica Manufactory with a permanent display of decorative ceramics from around 1900.

About 4.5 km away, on national road 70 toward Łowicz, is Arkadia, a sentimental-romantic landscape garden full of follies: the Temple of Diana, the High Priest's Sanctuary, the Sibyl's Grotto, an aqueduct, a Gothic House, a stone arch and a tomb on Poplar Island. Zug, the painter Jean-Pierre Norblin and Aleksander Orłowski helped design it, and Princess Helena kept adding to it until her death in 1821.

Opening hours (as of October 2026)

• Palace: October 1 – November 30, daily 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., last entry 3:00 p.m.; closed November 1.
• The palace is closed for winter from December 1, 2026 to February 28, 2027.
• Gardens in Nieborów and Arkadia: 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. in October, and from November to March with free entry; they may close without notice in bad weather.
• Majolica Manufactory: 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. in October. The Temple of Diana in Arkadia opens May to September.
• Mondays are free when the sites are open.

Tickets

• All-in ticket (palace, majolica workshop, Nieborów garden, Arkadia): PLN 62 standard / PLN 46 reduced / PLN 3 for students up to age 26.
• Palace (both floors) + majolica + garden: PLN 46; first floor only: PLN 37.
• Nieborów garden + majolica: PLN 18; with Arkadia: PLN 30.
• Children under 7 go free. Dogs are allowed in the gardens only (PLN 7, waste bags included).

How to get to Nieborów

By car, take the A2 motorway from Warsaw or Łódź to the Skierniewice junction and follow signs to Nieborów. By public transport, take a train to Łowicz or Skierniewice and a regional bus that stops in Arkadia and Nieborów. Parking is free along the palace fence in Nieborów and in the municipal lot at the Arkadia gate. Warsaw Chopin Airport is the nearest major airport. Address: Aleja Lipowa 35, 99-416 Nieborów; phone +48 46 838 56 35.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, especially from spring to early fall, when you can see the palace, both gardens and the follies in one day; allow 2 to 2.5 hours for Nieborów plus an hour for Arkadia. In winter only the gardens are open. Combine the trip with the historic town of Łowicz, about 10 km away.