Royal Palace in Łobzów
Kraków Monuments
A historic 16th-century palace at Podchorążych Street 1, part of the palace and park complex in Łobzów, once royal property. The history of the residence begins in the 14th century under Casimir the Great, who built a masonry residential and defensive tower by the trade road from Kraków to Silesia. In the times of Sigismund I the Old and Queen Bona it was turned into a Renaissance summer residence, and near the fenced residence stood a menagerie where bears, among other animals, were kept. At the king's commission Santi Gucci incorporated the remains of the tower into a new layout, adding a two-storey palace with stone gables.
History
The beginnings of the Łobzów residence go back to the 14th century and the reign of Kazimierz the Great. A brick building combining residential and defensive functions was built at that time by the trade route from Kraków to Silesia, and its remains are still embedded in the walls of the palace. Under Zygmunt I the Old and Bona Sforza the old tower was turned into a Renaissance summer residence. Around it stood a house in the orchard, a bathhouse, a coach house, stables, a bakery and a granary, and next to the walled grounds a menagerie with bears was set up.
In the time of Anna Jagiellonka and Stefan Batory, Santi Gucci incorporated the remains of the tower into a new whole. On the west side he built a two-storey palace with stone gables, and he joined the two parts with galleries open onto the courtyard. The garden by the palace was laid out in the Italian manner, on a rectangular plan crossed by avenues. When Zygmunt III came to the throne, Giovanni Trevano added another two-storey wing with a carriage gateway on the south side. Its rooms were given doorways with the coats of arms of the Vasas, modelled on those at Wawel, as well as marble floors, fireplaces and stoves.
Łobzów hosted royal celebrations. On 4 December 1605 Constance of Austria was welcomed in the fields in front of the residence. In January 1633 the coffins of Zygmunt III and his wife were brought here from Warsaw, and they lay in the palace until 3 February. It was from here, in 1646, that the royal couple set off for Wawel to attend the coronation of Ludwika Maria Gonzaga. The Swedish Deluge put an end to its former splendour. Under Jan III Sobieski the palace was restored: during the war with Turkey Queen Maria Kazimiera lived here with the children, and the victorious king celebrated his return at Łobzów, not at Wawel, and displayed the captured trophies in the palace. In the 18th century the residence fell into decline, because the kings of the Wettin dynasty did not look after it.
During the partitions the Austrians set up a Cadet School in the palace, and after 1918 it housed an Officer Cadet School. After the Second World War the complex was taken over by the Kraków University of Technology, whose faculties are still based here. The palace was entered in the register of historic monuments in 1983, and it was once called a second Versailles.
Did you know?
According to legend, Kazimierz the Great's mistresses lived in his summer residence, among them the beautiful Esterka. Jan Długosz wrote that the king had two sons with her, Niemierza and Pełka.