The residence was built for the well-known Mielżyński family from Wielkopolska. The designs were probably made by Seweryn Mielżyński from Miłosław, the uncle of the estate’s owner at that time, Józef Mielżyński. Near the palace there is the Karino hotel, built in place of a former Baroque manor house, which was rebuilt into an annex in the 19th century. The residence is surrounded by a large landscape park with features typical for the second half of the 19th century. On the outskirts of the park there are buildings functionally connected with the palace, dating back to the 1840s-50s. The farm buildings located to the west of the residential part constitute a complex of agricultural and industrial buildings from the period between the second half of the 19th century until the 1920s. The buildings have been used until now as a stud farm, the beginnings of which date back to the early 20th century.

History of the structure

The origins of Iwno date back to the early medieval times. The village was located on the old route from Poznań to Gniezno, near the early medieval hillfort in Giecz. The medieval origins of Iwno, revealed by archaeological research, is confirmed by written sources. The first mention of the village dates back to the year 1319. (Gywna). Iwno was then in the hands of the well-known Grzymalit family. Their seat was most likely a wooden manor house, traces of which were discovered during archaeological research. The family is also connected with the foundation of the village under German law (1421 records mention a head of the village).

The Grzymalit family lost Iwno in 1434. Further development of the village is connected with the Tomicki family of the Łodzia coat of arms (15th century), who then bore the surname of Iwieński (16th century). Their seat was a brick manor house of unknown form, existing from the beginning of the 16th century. In 1642, Iwno with other manor houses was sold to the Słonecki family, then (1695) to the Ciświcki family, who in turn sold the estate to the Krzycki family. The Krzycki family erected a new brick manor house in Iwno (1778-80).

In 1803 the Iwno estate became the property of the Poniński family, and from 1842 it belonged to Franciszka Mielżyńska. In the 1850s, the administrator of the estate was Franciszka’s grandson, later owner of Iwno - count Józef Mielżyński. During this time the main body of the palace was built (1850-57), as well as the farm buildings and a residential colony. It is believed that the design of the palace was prepared by Józef’s uncle Seweryn Mielżyński from Miłosław. In later years (1868-72) the residence was enlarged by two side pavilions, connected with the main body with corridors. After Józef’s death in 1900, the estate passed to his daughter Seweryna, who a year later married her cousin Ignacy Mielżyński. Presumably shortly after taking over Iwno (around 1902), the new owner introduced some changes (adding a floor above the western avant-corps, changing the interior layout). Before 1912, an orangery was added to the eastern side pavilion with a winter garden and the terrace in front of the main entrance was enlarged. A significant development of the estate took place in the interwar period. Horse breeding (purebred horses) played an important role on the farm. The stud in Iwno was the second largest in Wielkopolska (after Posadowo).

In 1945 the horses were taken away, but soon the Iwno State Stud Farm was established, which took over the local palace with park, farm buildings and land belonging to the former Mielżyński estate. The stud existed until 1992, when it was transferred to the resources of AWRSP in Warsaw. In 1995, the “Iwno” sp. z o.o. Stud Farm was established, which exists until today.

Description of the structure

The village of Iwno is located in the Gniezno Upland, on the shore of Iwno Lake. The original layout of the village in the form of a linear village with the church in the northern part and the manor house in the southern part was created along the road from Glinka to Libartów, running south. The existing layout, crossed by a road from Kostrzyn Wlkp. to Gniezno, dates back to the 19th century. The road separates two historic dominants: a church surrounded by a cemetery and a palace-park-manor farm complex, which occupies the greater part of the village area. The residence, which in its present form is the work of the Mielżyński family, is an example of a rural manor house surrounded by a landscape park, spatially isolated from the manor farm. On the outskirts of the park there are buildings functionally connected with the palace: a stable for racehorses, a riding school with a stable for draught horses and a coach house, a garden building with an orangery, the so-called gardener’s house (an outhouse) and a former hunting lodge (?), the so-called nursery.

The manor farm is located on the opposite (western) side of the road to Libartów. Along this road (today’s Ułańska Street) living quarters for farm workers were built (the oldest buildings are from 1857, 1897 and 1906). Manor farm buildings, built in the period from the fourth quarter of the 19th century until the 1920s, and modernized in the postwar years, are located around and in the centre of the farmyard. The buildings include a stallion stable, a workhorse stable, now a warehouse, ironworks with a blacksmith shop and store, a barn, a mill and steam plough garage, a piggery, and a multipurpose and residential building.

The palace and park complex is located in the eastern part of the establishment. In its centre there is a palace. In the first phase of construction, a symmetrical body was erected, composed of a rectangular two-storey central part and two one-storey side avant-corps. The interior has a two-bay layout, with a hallway in the axis of the front suite of rooms and a large hall in the garden suite of rooms. In the following years the palace was enlarged by round side pavilions, connected with the main body with low corridors. At the beginning of the 20th century, the western avant-corps was raised by one storey and the front terrace was enlarged. Individual parts of the building are covered with low gable roofs, over the side pavilions there are dome-shaped roofs.

The palace was built of brick, its walls were plastered. The roofs are covered with roofing felt. The cellars are covered with brick segmental vaults. Mirrored ceiling over the ballroom, wooden ceilings with a soffit over the remaining rooms.

The front eleven-axis elevation of the body is divided by a cornice. The corners of the five-axial central part and the three-axial avant-corps are covered with pilasters. The ground floor windows are semicircular, the upper floor windows are rectangular with plaster surrounds. The central part on the ground floor is divided by Ionic engaged columns, and higher - by composite engaged columns. The central part and the avant-corps are topped with triangular pediments. The elevations of the connectors are triaxial, divided by pilasters. The windows are rectangular in shape, framed by simple surrounds. The walls of the side pavilions are divided by engaged columns supporting semicircular arcades, originally open, now partially walled up. The garden-facing elevation is dominated by a grand, five-axis Ionic portico topped by a second-storey terrace. A triangular pediment crowning the central part of the elevation is visible above the terrace.

The interiors of the residence were designed in a two-bay layout. In the central part, on the axis of the frontal suite of rooms, there is a hall, and in the garden suite of rooms there is a grand hall with walls divided by stuccoed composite columns with composite capitals bearing the coats of arms of the Crown and Lithuania, covered by a mirror vault with rich Neo-Renaissance stucco decoration.

The residence is surrounded by a large (21.5 ha) landscape park with varied terrain, situated on a natural slope descending to Iwieńskie Lake (transformed into a reservoir in 1971-73). Between the palace, lake and two ponds, a system of greenery and paths has been composed. The park’s tree stand is diverse. There are many old trees preserved - chestnuts, lindens, willows, maples, ash trees, locust tress, oaks, beeches, larches and spruces. The main entrance to the park is on the northern side, next to the so-called gardener’s house, from where a plastered, rusticated gate with two wickets, framed by volutes, leads into the park. From the gate towards the palace there runs a well-preserved chestnut alley. The gardener’s house mentioned above is a small building with a very picturesque shape enriched with a turret on the western side, resembling a Neo-Renaissance villa (ca. 1850, probably designed by S. Mielżyński).

In the park, there is also a building with a neo-Gothic turret - former hunting palace, later a nursery and garden building with an orangery (on the south side), a stable for racehorses (south-west of the palace) and a riding school with a stable and a coach house, as well as a nearby house of the stud’s director (on the west side).

On the western side of the palace-park complex there is a large, walled manor yard surrounded by farm buildings. The buildings on its west side consist of a barn, a steam mill, and a steam plough garage. On the eastern side, the former stallion stable, repair horse stable and multipurpose building were erected. In the middle of the courtyard there is a stable with a blacksmith’s shop and storehouse, stables and a pigsty. Outside the yard there is an impressive distillery building.

Visitor access. The complex can be viewed from the outside. More information about the stud and “Karino” hotel is available on the stud website: www.sk-iwno.com.pl

Compiled by Krzysztof Jodłowski, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, 11.12.2017

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