Description of the attraction
The bronze figure of the Polish king Jan III Sobieski, mounted on a horse and armed with a mace, was created by the sculptor Tadeusz Boroncz in 1897. This monument with a difficult history greets the residents and guests of Gdansk on Targu Derevenny. It is interesting that it was created for a completely different city. In 1883, Poland, divided between different countries, celebrated the bicentennial of the victory over the Turks during the Battle of Vienna. In Lviv, by this date, it was decided to erect a monument to King Jan III Sobesky, for which a fundraiser was announced. The required amount appeared only after 10 years. The local sculptor Tadeusz Boronch modeled the Polish king from a simple Lviv merchant Marian Stipal. The king is depicted in the national Polish attire.
The monument weighing 7 tons was made by master Artur Krupp and in 1897 was brought to Lviv from Vienna. For him, a site was selected on the Hetman Ramparts - one of the central streets of Lviv. Neither the first nor the second world wars affected the state of the monument, but the authorities of the Soviet Union did not like it to such an extent that it was decided to make a monument to Bogdan Khmelnitsky out of it. However, common sense prevailed, and a monument to one of the Polish kings was simply presented to the neighboring state. In 1950 he moved to a Warsaw park. So this sculpture would still be in a deserted place, if not for the requests of several cities, including Krakow and Wroclaw, to move the monument. Unexpectedly for everyone, the monument was presented to Gdansk, where in 1965 it was solemnly installed.
