Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw

On 12 January 1578, at the wedding of Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and Krystyna Radziwiłł, the manor house at Ujazdów staged the first performance of Jan Kochanowski's "The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys" — regarded as the first tragedy written in Polish. That is just one chapter in the story of a place that has been, in turn, a stronghold of the dukes of Masovia, a residence of the Vasa kings, barracks, a military hospital and a ruin pulled down to its cellars. Today the rebuilt Ujazdów Castle, on the escarpment above Agrykola park, is home to the Centre for Contemporary Art.

History: from the Jazdów stronghold to a royal residence

In the 12th century there was a settlement here called Jazdów, with a stronghold of the Masovian Piast dukes, first mentioned when Lithuanian raiders destroyed it on 23 June 1262. At the end of the 13th century Duke Konrad II moved his seat to the hill where the Royal Castle stands today. In the 16th century wooden manor houses were built at Jazdów for Queen Bona Sforza and later for Queen Anna Jagiellon.

After 1624 King Sigismund III Vasa began a brick residence: an early Baroque palace with a courtyard, arcaded galleries and hexagonal corner towers. The site was chosen with care — the castle stood on the edge of the escarpment exactly in line with a bend of the Vistula, so boats sailing to Warsaw saw the king's private residence first and the castle in town only after rounding the bend. According to a description from 1643, four marble lions guarded the entrance.

Mint, barracks and hospital

During the Swedish invasion known as the Deluge the castle was plundered; legend has it that Skokloster Castle in Sweden was built to imitate Ujazdów. From 1659 to 1665 it housed the mint of Tito Livio Burattini, which struck the famous copper coins known as boratynki. In 1717 King Augustus II had the 820 m Piaseczno Canal dug below the escarpment.

In 1766 King Stanisław August Poniatowski bought the castle, but in 1772 he stopped the rebuilding to concentrate on the nearby Łazienki. From 1784 it served as barracks for the Lithuanian Foot Guard, and from the early 19th century as a military hospital, which in 1818 became the main hospital of the army of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1852 the building was stripped of its architectural decoration.

Demolished and rebuilt

After the Second World War, in 1954, Marshal Konstanty Rokossovsky ordered the castle walls to be pulled down. Only the cellars survived; a military theatre was planned on top of them but never built. Reconstruction to a design by Piotr Biegański began in 1975, and since 1985 the castle has housed the Centre for Contemporary Art.

What to see

• Contemporary art exhibitions in Baroque interiors and in the courtyard under its glass roof.
• The terrace on the escarpment, with views over Agrykola park and the Vistula valley.
• The Piaseczno Canal — a straight strip of water running from the foot of the escarpment towards the river, part of the Stanisław Axis, an 18th-century urban layout.

Tripto tip

Exhibitions are open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00–19:00 and until 20:00 on Thursdays; the castle is closed on Mondays. Entry to the exhibitions is free on Thursdays. There is also a cinema, a library and a bookshop. Allow an hour for the castle and grounds, plus 1–2 hours for the exhibitions. The castle stands on Jazdów street, just off Aleje Ujazdowskie: walk down the escarpment into Agrykola park and along the canal or on towards the Royal Łazienki — a quieter alternative to the busy Royal Route.