Zamek Królewski w Warszawie

History [edit]

15th century [edit]

Medieval wall of the Curia Maior
Original Gothic basement under the castle
Wall of the Curia Maior with holes drilled during the WWII

16th century [edit]

Castle in the 16th century
Renaissance interior of the Old Chamber of Deputies
Renaissance fireplace

17th century [edit]

Vasa period [edit]

Plan of the Royal Castle, 17th century
Portrait of Queen Constance of Austria and her son John Casimir, 1610
Tsar Vasili IV of Russia and his Brothers before the King Sigismund III in the Senate Chamber at the Castle, 1611
Sejm session at the Royal Castle, 1622
A Solemn Audience before the Sigismund III in the Senate Chamber at the Castle, 1630
Sigismund III on his deathbed in the Guard Chamber at the Castle, 1633
Sigismund III on his deathbed in the Guard Chamber at the Castle, 1633
Opera Hall at the Royal Castle, built in 1637
Tapestry with the coat of arms of Anna Catherine Constance Vasa, Warsaw Royal Castle manufacture, ca. 1642
Orchestra of Władysław IV Vasa, 1649

Marble Room [edit]

The Marble Room was adorned with the so-called Jagiellon Family, a collection of 22 octagonal effigies, painted by Peeter Danckers de Rij between 1640-1643.

Design by Giovanni Battista Gisleni
Portrait of Sigismund Augustus
Portrait of John III Vasa
Portrait of Cecilia Renata of Austria

Furnishings [edit]

Majority of the preserved castle furnishings from the Vasa period found its place in the collection of the Visitationist Monastery in Warsaw as donations of the last Vasa, John II Casimir and his wife Marie Louise Gonzaga.

Ebony cabinet, David Altenstetter
Portrait of Maria Anna of Spain, Frans Luycx
Portrait of Anne of Austria, Justus van Egmont
Our Lady in a garland of roses, Il Sassoferrato

Sobieski period [edit]

Royal Castle in Warsaw during the reign of John Sobieski
Castle Square and Sigismund Column, 1690-1698
The New Chamber of Deputies at the Royal Castle in the end of the 17th century
Jan III Sobieski's Bath, built in 1681

18th century [edit]

Saxon period [edit]

Reconstruction design, c. 1700
New Senate Chamber, 1720
Saint John's Gate, 1720s
Eastern wing of the Royal Castle, 1740/41

Stanisław Augustus period [edit]

Reconstruction design of the Castle by Jakub Fontana
Reconstruction design of the Senate Chamber by Victor Louis
View of Warsaw from the terrace of the Royal Castle by Bernardo Bellotto, 1773
The Constitution of May 3, 1791, is adopted by the "Great" or Four-Year Sejm of 1788–92 at the Senate Chamber

19th century [edit]

The Castle in 1830, xylograph depicting the early stages of the November Uprising in Warsaw
The Castle in 1860
Russian army in Warsaw 1861 during martial law
Throne of Stanisław Augustus Poniatowski displayed in the Moscow Kremlin
Conference Room at the Castle without paintings (looted by the Russians)

20th century [edit]

Castle Square, ca 1910
Kierbedz Bridge and the riverside view of the Castle
Polish airship "Lech" over Royal Castle.
Aerial view of the Castle in the 1920s

Destruction [edit]

On September 17, 1939 (date of the Soviet invasion of Poland) the Castle was shelled by German artillery. In 1944, after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising, the Germans blew up the Castle’s demolished walls.