Description of the attraction
Krulikarnia Palace is a neoclassical palace in Warsaw, built in 1782-1786 on the picturesque Vistula slope. Its name comes from the Saxon times, when a menagerie was set up here for King Augustus II the Strong.
In 1778, Count Karol de Valerie-Tomatis, who was the chamberlain of the last Polish king Stanislav Poniatowski, acquired land and commissioned the royal architect Domenico Merlini to build the palace. Merlini drew up the project on the model of the famous Villa Rotunda, located outside Vicenza. In addition to the palace building itself, a brewery, a hotel and a mill were also built.
In 1794, during the uprising, Tadeusz Kosciuszko lived in the palace. In 1816, the residence was bought by Prince Michal Radziwill. The prince, being a collector of works of art, placed some paintings from his collection in the palace. In 1849, the palace passed into the possession of Xavier Pustovsky and remained in the property of his family until the outbreak of World War II. In 1879, a fire broke out in the residence, taking away a large collection of tapestries, bronzes, books and paintings. Gus Jozef was involved in the restoration of the palace.
In 1939, during the bombing of Warsaw, the palace was badly damaged. The reconstruction began only in 1960 and lasted for 5 years. In January 1965, a museum of the sculptor and artist Xavier Dunikovsky was opened in the palace.
Today, in addition to the permanent exhibition, the palace hosts concerts and other cultural events.
