The most valuable monument of Skierniewice is, located in a vast landscape park, the palace of the Archbishops of Gniezno, also known as the Primate's Palace - now the seat of the Institute of Horticulture. The palace was built in 1609-1617 on the site of a wooden manor house; in Renaissance style. In 1762 the palace was expanded in classicist style according to the design of E. Szreger. Outbuildings, a park and an orangery were built around it, giving rise to the Palace Estate, which still exists today. The palace was the seat of archbishops, including:. Ignatius Karsicki, as well as French Marshal L. Davout, and the summer residence of Grand Duke Constantine, and later of Czars Nicholas I and Alexander I. In 1884, the Palace walls hosted the Congress of the Three Black Eagles - the rulers of the partitioned countries. Worth seeing are the palace interiors, especially the Hall under the Dawn, where a plafond by A. Blank has been preserved with a figure of the goddess of dawn with the face of Joanna Grudzinska, Duchess of Lowicz, wife of Konstanty. The attractiveness of the residence of the Polish primates is emphasized by the historic buildings of the Palace Settlement. The buildings served a variety of functions. During the reign of Archbishop Poniatowski, they housed a dye house and a school of spinners, as well as administrative, utility and residential rooms of the manor. The building under the escarpment connected to the palace by a pergola, designed by Szreger, was occupied by a kitchen, pastry shop and bakery. Under the pergola was an underground corridor used to transport meals to the palace. In the 18th century it also served as a hothouse, where orange and lemon trees and grapevines grew. The graphic collection of King Stanislaw Augustus preserved inventory drawings made by Szreger, thanks to which it is possible to determine the purpose of the various buildings of the Palace Settlement.
18.07.2013
