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| Beautiful View Belvedere
Curzio Malaparte, who experienced Nazi-occupied Warsaw, was so captivated by Belvedere's whiteness, innocence and typically Polish, manorial architecture, that he referred to it as the "immaculate building".
The building's written history dates back to about 1659, when Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac, a wealthy gentleman, together with his wife Klara Maria Lascaris, was considering locations for their future residence. They examined various "views and panoramas," but none delighted them more than today's Belvedere Palace hill. "Bel vedere!," exclaimed Klara Maria, which means beautiful view in Italian. And so the place was christened.
No trace of the building raised by Pac has survived; one can only can guess at its appearance. Belvedere owes its present shape to Grand Duke Constantine, who had unrestricted power over Poland at the beginning of the 19th century. He was the brother of Tsar Alexander I, the ruler of Russia and of Poland.
Before becoming Constantine's property, the palace had belonged to the last king of Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, a tragic ruler in the times that saw the partitioning of Poland's territory between three powers. The king established a porcelain manufacture at Belvedere. The fine white clay (kaolin) was transported to Belvedere from the nearby village of Mokotów, today a district of Warsaw. However, the quality of the clay was unsatisfactory. The production of fine china was abandoned and replaced by faience. The products, bearing the "B" or "Varsovie" marks, were designed by masters from Meissen and Vienna, and are today a rarity.
The period of Constantine's residence in Belvedere is a tragic chapter in the palace's history. Reconstructed by Jakub Kubicki at Constantine's commission, the building became the target of an attack by Warsaw's Military College students preparing an insurrection against Russia in 1830. A group of young cadets broke into the palace to kill Constantine. He was saved by a servant, who helped him escape. The duke died of cholera shortly thereafter. His wife, a Polish aristocrat Joanna Grudzińska, Duchess of Łowicz, left Belvedere for Russia, where she also soon died. Some mementos of Constantine have survived to this day, including malachite candlesticks, a helmet-shaped paperweight and a bell, all displayed in the Kominkowa [Fireplace] Hall, where he liked to spend his time.
During the two decades before World War II (1918-1939), Belvedere was one of the most elegant buildings in the capital. It housed the residences and offices of dignitaries, including President Stanisław Wojciechowski and Chief of State, Marshal Józef Piłsudski.
In October 1939, the Germans occupied Warsaw and, with it, Belvedere. Gradually they remodeled it, damaging the historical integrity of the building. The Nazi flags with swastikas at the entrance to the palace were shocking. The old Belvedere was vandalized in a most despicable way. At the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945, the occupants drilled dynamite holes in the palace and mined its cellars, but did not manage to blow it up. Polish soldiers who entered Warsaw Jan. 17, 1945, quickly detected the danger.
After the war, in keeping with tradition, Belvedere was once again headquarters to top state authorities. It housed the office of Bolesław Bierut, Edward Ochab, Aleksander Zawadzki and Wojciech Jaruzelski, and was the venue of Council of State meetings; it was here that, Dec. 13, 1981, the decision was made to introduce martial law in Poland.
President Lech Wałęsa lived and worked in Belvedere for some time. By his decision, the presidential office was moved to the historical palace of the Radziwiłł family on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street-the current Presidential Palace.
Full of historical treasures and hidden amidst the luscious vegetation of its ancient gardens, Belvedere has hosted the most eminent statesmen. Today, it is a museum open to visitors on certain days of the week, and also a guest palace to accommodate the distinguished visitors to the Republic of Poland.
2004-01-01, Biuro Promocji Miasta
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