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                       http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81azienki_Park

 

Łazienki Park (Polish: Park Łazienkowski or Łazienki Królewskie, literally "Baths Park" or "Royal Baths"; often rendered "Royal Baths Park") is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center.

The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district (Śródmieście),

on Ujazdów Avenue (Aleje Ujazdowskie) on the "Royal Route"  linking the Royal Castle with Wilanów palace to the south. North of Łazienki Park, on the other side of Agrykola Street, stands Ujazdów Castle.

 

                                                        History

 

Łazienki Park was designed in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren, in the baroque style, for Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski.

It took the name Łazienki ("Baths") from a bathing pavilion that was located there. In 1764 the gardens were acquired by Stanisław August Poniatowski,

after his election that year as King of Poland. The development of the classical-style gardens became a major project for King Stanisław August.

The park-and-palace complex was designed by Domenico Merlini, Johann Christian Kammsetzer and landscape gardener Jan Chrystian Schuch.

Its principal buildings stand beside or near the Łazienki Lake and Łazienki River. Stanisław August's palace is situated on the lake and hence is known as the "Palace on the Water."

 

 

                                                Palace on the Water

 

The Palace on the Water (Polish: Pałac na Wodzie), also called the Łazienki Palace (Pałac Łazienkowski) and the Palace on the Island (Pałac na Wyspie), was built in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren for Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski. Between 1772 and 1793 it was remodeled by Domenico Merlini for King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who made it his residence.

The original bathhouse was built in a Chinese style. The building, now a beautiful mixture of architectural styles, was then graced with reliefs and painted Dutch tiles. The palace's furniture and paintings belong to the Classicist style. The building is dominated by an attika supported by columns,

and featuring statues of mythological figures. The palace stands on an artificial island in Łazienki Lake, and is connected to the rest of the park by two arcaded bridges.

The long Łazienki Lake is divided by the palace into two parts, a smaller northern lake and a larger southern one.

The palace's ground floor includes the "Bacchus room," royal baths,

a ballroom, a portrait gallery, the Solomon Room, a rotunda with figures of Polish kings, a lower picture gallery which contains minor works by Rubens and Rembrandt, and a chapel. Also on the ground floor is a dining room which hosted the famous "Thursday dinners" to which Stanisław August Poniatowski invited leading artists, writers and politicians.