Built in years 1904-1905 for Tomasz Zamoyski, the father of the famous sculptor August Zamoyski, it was designed by the Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer design studio in Vienna.

History

Jabłoń is a village which can traces its roots all the way back to the 15th century; initially part of crown lands, it was subsequently acquired by the Połubiński family. In the 17th century the village was held by the Firlej family, while towards the end of the 18th century it was acquired by Aleksander Sapieha, whose granddaughter, Emma Potocka, the wife of Piotr Strzyżowski, settled here in 1815. In 1856, the Jabłoń manor was inherited by Amelia Łubieńska, while in 1884 it was purchased by count August Zamoyski from Różanka for his son, Tomasz. In 1891, a Late Classicist manor house (known today as the outbuilding) was erected on the site, replacing the old Strzyżowski family mansion, with Ksawery de Makowo Makowski being responsible for its design. It was here that, in 1893, that Tomasz Zamoyski’s only son, August Zamoyski - who would go on to become an eminent sculptor - was born. In years 1904-1905, the new palace was built, designed predominantly in the Late English Gothic style, although it also incorporates both Renaissance and Mannerist influences; the design for the palace came from a Viennese design studio of Fellner & Helmer. The palace was accompanied by an orangery, a chapel and a covered walkway designed on a quarter-circular plan and linking the palace with the outbuilding (the former manor house). The surrounding park also gained a new form, with Franciszek Szanior being responsible for the redesign. A Gothic Revival gateway accompanied by the doorkeeper’s house were also erected during that period. A manor farm with a dozen-odd residential and utility buildings was established south of the residence. The palace itself was a luxurious, state-of-the-art mansion which came equipped with all the necessary sanitary amenities as well as central heating, an elevator and even air conditioning. In 1935, following the death of his father, August Zamoyski inherited the Jabłoń manor and established a sculptural atelier in the gallery alongside the palace; today, a museum dedicated to the sculptor’s life and work can be found in one of the residential buildings forming part of the manor farm. In 1944 the property was nationalised, with the palace serving as an agricultural school from 1952 onwards. In 1968, the building was damaged by fire; it was renovated shortly thereafter, in years 1969-1971. Today, the palace remains private property and is undergoing a comprehensive restoration programme.

Description

The palace complex is located in the eastern part of the village, on the northern side of the main road; it can be accessed through an ornate gate which leads to the mansion itself. The palace is a Gothic Revival edifice, its main façade facing south. Built on an elongated rectangular plan, the palace is a two-storey structure with a basement and habitable attic. The palace is a brick building, its walls covered with plaster. The overall shape of the mansion is picturesque indeed, with its tall mansard roof interspersed with dormer windows as well as a dozen-odd slender chimneys - a characteristic feature of the typical English mansion. The interior follows a two-bay, asymmetrical layout. The vestibule and the hall are positioned on the axis of the representational ground floor, both of them extending into the first floor level as well. The hall is flanked by the former dining and drawing room (the so-called “white room”), with the mansion owner’s study and library being positioned on both sides of the vestibule; the library takes the form of a gallery that leads to the orangery next to the palace. The front façade follows an asymmetrical design and features a trio of avant-corps crowned with Mannerist gables. The rear façade, on the other hand, features an axially positioned, three-sided avant-corps concealing the hall inside as well as a round turret on the north-eastern corner. The façade is partitioned by simple string courses and crowning cornices as well as mitered cornices which follow the outline of the first-floor windows. The windows are either rectangular in shape or topped with pointed arches; they vary in terms of width, with the ground floor windows being topped with sections of a mitered cornice. Inside the representational part of the palace some elements of the original fixtures and fittings have survived, with most items having originally been brought from England (including the wood panelling, parquet flooring, balustrades, window and door surrounds, plasterwork decorations and fireplace surrounds). The palace is accompanied by other Gothic Revival buildings: the orangery, the gallery designed on a quarter-circular plan, the gate with doorkeeper’s house as well as the outbuilding (former manor house, designed in the Late Classicist style). The residence is surrounded by a landscape park in the English style, with visual links to the nearby woods and meadows.

The historic building is partially accessible to visitors (private property).

compiled by Bożena Stanek-Lebioda, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Lublin, 17-03-2015.

Bibliography

• Cebulak A., “…chcę mieć rezydencje jak angielscy lordowie…”. Rzecz o angielskich wzorach pałacu w Jabłoniu, “Annales UMCS”, Sectio L, 2014, pp. 9-31.
• Jodłowski A., Dzieje obiektów zabytkowych z wybranych miejscowości północno-wschodniej części woj. lubelskiego, Biała Podlaska 2002, pp. 35-38.
• Jaroszewski T. S., O siedzibach neogotyckich w Polsce, Warsaw 1981, pp. 205-207.
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, Vol. VIII: Województwo lubelskie, issue 14: Powiat parczewski, Warsaw 1970, p. 2.
• Łusiewicz H. J., Dzieje rezydencji Tomasza hr. Zamoyskiego w Jabłoniu (in:) Ziemiaństwo na Lubelszczyźnie, compiled by Maliszewska R., the Zamoyski Museum in Kozłówka, 2003, pp. 183-196.
• Omilanowska M., Polska. Pałace i dwory, Warsaw 2005, pp. 70-71.
• Zamoyscy w Jabłoniu, collective work, Cebulak A., Wikło B (eds.), Jabłoń 2004.
• Żywicki J., Architektura neogotycka na Lubelszczyźnie, Lublin 1998, pp. 204-207.