The first residence built on the edge of the Vistula escarpment was constructed between 1671 and 1676 according to the design of the Dutch architect, Tylman van Gameren. The founder was the Grand Marshal of the Crown, Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, who dedicated the building to his wife Zofia from Opaliński. Shaped in a rectangular plan, the palace
with four alcoves referenced defensive architecture in its form. According to contemporary trends, a baroque Italian garden was created around the palace. The residence had a rich iconographic program, developed in close cooperation with the clients.
On the Vistula side, the decoration of the facade expressed contents referring to water symbolism. There was a cartouche
with the coats of arms: Szreniawa - the heraldic river of the Lubomirski family and Łódź - the coat of arms of the Opaliński family. Above the cartouche was a couplet that, translated from Latin, reads: "These shores require such waves of the river and such boats".
Many changes in the compositional and spatial layout of the palace occurred as a result of the Great Northern War. The destruction caused by fires set by Swedish troops was compounded by the landslide of the escarpment in 1722. The palace and its surrounding garden lost their original character. After the death of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, the Puław estate was inherited by his daughter Elżbieta, the wife of Adam Sieniawski, whose commissions for work in Puławy were limited to minor protective repairs. The poor technical condition of the building did not allow for a quick restoration to its former glory.
A comprehensive reconstruction of the palace and garden complex only began when the owner of Puławy became Maria Zofia, the daughter of the Sieniawski family, married to Stanisław Denhoff and, after his death, to August Aleksander Czartoryski. At the initiative of the spouses, the architect Jan Zygmunt Deybel was commissioned, who rebuilt the palace in the style of a rococo residence. Its appearance of that time is known thanks to survey drawings by Deybel kept in St. Petersburg. The projects of Deybel were carried out by Franciszek Mayer. Among other things, the alcoves were also enlarged, and two pavilions were erected: a kitchen and a guesthouse. The external stairs leading to the vestibule of the first floor were expanded. The main decoration of the palace was the ballroom, the so-called Golden Salon, whose design was entrusted to the French architect Juste-Aurèle Meissonier. The top floor housed, among other things, a chapel and a billiard room.
The glory of the Puławy residence complex is associated with the time when the Puławy estate passed into the hands of Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and his wife Izabela from Fleming. At that time, the ducal couple began a thorough transformation, expanding the palace and transforming the regular French garden into a new one, in accordance with contemporary fashion and trends developing in England, resembling a natural landscape garden. The reconstruction of the palace was led by the architect Chrystian Piotr Aigner. During the work on transforming the residence, the alcoves and side pavilions were expanded, and a new facade was created from the courtyard side. Thus, the palace lost its rococo character. An orangery was also added to the left wing apartments of the princess, connecting it with the left pavilion. From there, one could enter the garden. Above the entrance was an inscription: Here let sweet oblivion lead away the troubles of life. Besides Aigner, architects associated with Puławy included, among others, Szymon Bogumił Zug, Joachim and Jakub Hempl, decorator Wojciech Jaszczołt, and stucco artist Fryderyk Bauman. The outbreak of the November Uprising led to the collapse of the Puławy center. The Czartoryski estate was confiscated, and the family went into exile. The palace housed the Alexandrian Institute of Education for Young Ladies, relocated from Warsaw, which underwent another reconstruction in 1840 under the supervision of architect Józef Górecki. At that time, the representative external stairs leading to the first floor and the palace's orangery were removed. The main body of the palace was also connected with the palace pavilions, creating a horseshoe layout. The palace interiors were also adapted to the needs of the Institute. The former Golden Salon was transformed into a Catholic chapel, and on the second floor, in one of the rooms, a chapel for Orthodox students was located. In 1858, the palace interiors were ravaged by a fire, caused most likely by negligence. The most representative interiors and the internal wooden staircase were destroyed. The reconstruction was directed by architect Julian Ankiewicz, to whom we owe the preserved form of the palace to this day. A significant change was the introduction of a staircase made of cast iron, produced by the Government Machine Factory in Solec in Warsaw. The Catholic chapel on the first floor was remodeled, which has survived to this day in almost unchanged form. The room, which stylistically represents English Gothic, was named the Gothic Hall, and the interior of the vestibule of the current Stone Hall received decoration referring to the original space. It was adorned with stucco decorations in the form of musical instruments and plant vines.
Since the 1860s, the palace has been the seat of agricultural institutes: the Polytechnic and Agricultural-Forest Institute and the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry. The current owner - the Institute of Crop Production, Fertilization, and Soil Science oversees the entire complex. Located in the area of the Czartoryski Residence Complex, the palace is also home to the Czartoryski Museum in Puławy, as well as the National Institute of Culture and Heritage of Rural Areas Library.
The Czartoryski Museum in Puławy also houses other monuments such as:
Prepared by Grażyna Bartnik-Szymańska, assistant at the Czartoryski Museum in Puławy
Photo by Grażyna Bartnik-Szymańska
