Description of the attraction
The Royal Arsenal is a military arsenal building in Warsaw, located in the immediate vicinity of the Old Town. Currently, the arsenal houses the National Museum of Archeology.
The building was built in the middle of the 16th century by order of King Stefan Batory. The construction was led by Paul Grodziki and Krzysztof Artsiszewski. Originally, the two-story building with a large courtyard served as a hostel for war veterans. During the reign of King Vladislav IV in 1638-1643, the building was rebuilt in the classical style, the walls were thickened to protect against direct attack.
Since then, the building has served as the main arsenal of the Warsaw garrison. In the 18th century, it was rebuilt twice: in 1752-1754 and in 1779-1782, designed by Shimon Zug and Stanislav Zawadsky, two of the most famous Polish architects of the era.
During the Warsaw Uprising in 1794, the building was damaged. In 1817 it was rebuilt under the direction of Wilhelm Minter. In 1835 the arsenal became a prison.
However, in the end, the Russian authorities decided to build the Warsaw Citadel, and the arsenal was transformed into a place of temporary detention of criminals. After Poland gained independence, the building continued to serve as a police station, which was in dire need of renovation. From 1935 to 1938, under Stefan Starzinski, the arsenal was transformed into a city archive. The architects Bruno Zborowski and Andrzej Wegzeki decided to restore the original appearance of the building.
Since 1959, the Archaeological Museum of Warsaw has been located in the building of the Royal Arsenal.
