Its unique significance is based on one hand on the historical and artistic values of the oldest state stud farm with an impressive array of historical stables located in a captivating natural landscape, and on the other hand it is associated with the priceless herd of purebred Arabian horses and one of the best European Anglo-Arabian herds. Therefore, apart from the authentic, high-quality material historical significance, the unique value of stud is the breeding of purebred Arabian horses. Successes in breeding horses of noble breeds, despite difficult post-Partition situation, undoubtedly aroused national pride and sustained Polish identity. Thanks to this, the importance of Janów stud farm - as part of Polish heritage related to the national - that also includes military - topos of the horse (hussars, uhlans, and cavalry) - is generally recognised.

Great breeders and enthusiasts of horses are associated with the place, beginning with Count Aleksander Potocki - the last (probably) Great Royal Horse-Keeper (Koniuszy Wielki Koronny), who was also the first director of the stud that has contributed to the world's heritage with thousands of horses famous for their beauty and prowess. Their names have been filling up the pedigree book of the world’s noblest lineages of Arabian horses for many years.

An important part of the historic spatial layout of the stud is made of greenery in the form of a park with avenues, hedges, naturalistic clumps of grass along the runways and age-old embankments (including comely oaks - natural monuments). An attribute of the monument is also the preserved original view composed of the panorama of Janów Podlaski and the perfect alignment of the outline of the stud with theBugRiverriparian landscape.

History

The stud was established in 1817. The formal application of the Congress Poland’s Administrative Council for the establishment of a governmental stud farm was approved by Tsar Alexander I. The organization of the stud was entrusted to Count Aleksander Potocki, the Great Royal Horse-Keeper. The areas of the former property of the bishops of Łuck were allocated for this purpose. The first batch of horses (chosen, among others, from the tsarist studs) reached Janów in December 1817. The following groups were acquired, among others, from stud farms of Rzewuski and Sanguszko. The core of the herd was made of purebred English, Arabian, Persian, Turkish, Danish,Mecklenburg, Caucasian and Neapolitan horses.

In the period before the January Uprising the management of the stud was in the hands of experienced Polish breeders, forming there an important horse breeding centre, affecting the overall quality the country’s horses. Works aimed at improving and propagating breeding activities were accompanied by the expansion of the stable complex in Wygoda, where a vast farm was established connected to the town by the alley on the embankment. In the 1840s, the large brick stables - Czołowa (Head) and Zegarowa (Clock) - were constructed, internal roads were laid out and dikes were built.

After the January Uprising, the abolition of the autonomy of theKingdomofPolandand the degradation of Janów to the status of a settlement, the management of the stud was taken over by the Russians, with its activities being supervised by the State Studs Board inSt. Petersburg. In the years 1885-86, agreat stable for leading stallions and ‘mothers of herds’ called ‘Woroncowska’, and later (1896) the so-called Horses Hospital were established. At the end of the nineteenth century, the brick-wooden stables ‘No.5’and ‘No.6’, granary, barn, racetrack (in the western part), then four so-called Private stables were built, and at the main entrance, the so-called ‘Manor house’ surrounded by a park. During the First World War and the Polish-Bolshevik War, most of the buildings were damaged, and the horses deported into more distant areas ofRussiain 1914, were gone forever.

In Poland Reborn, there was reorganization and reconstruction of a herd of purebred and half-bred Arabian and half-bred Anglo-Arabian horses - unmatched at shows and racetracks and valued in the cavalry.

In September1939, alarge part of the herd and equipment was taken by the Soviet army. Under German occupation, the stud functioned until July 1944. At that time the horses along with the Polish workers were evacuated toGermany. Some of the horses were lost in confusion and bombardments, some were shipped to theUSAafter the war. The remaining ones returned in 1950. They were the progenitors of another revival of the horses of ‘Janów's blood’. It was accompanied by reconstruction and conservation of stud farm properties, including historical stables, which were entered individually into the register of monuments already in 1956. The scope of conservation protection was expanded in the following years.

Description

The stud lies among pastures and riparian areas of the picturesqueBugRivervalley. It can be reached by a straight road leading from the north-east end of Janów Podlaski. The extension of this road forms the axis of the spatial design with a geometric arrangement of the avenues, stables, outbuildings and residential homes, runways, greeneries and flood embankments. Behind the main gate, the axial avenue leads to the representative, classicist Zegarowa (clock) stable, designed by Henryk Marconi. The stable's frame was designed in the form of an elongated rectangle, with a square two-story (‘neo-gothic’) clock tower along the axis, and two-storied square annexes on its sides. The second classicist building of the same architect stands a cross road earlier, at the intersection of the main avenues. This is the Czołowa (Head) stable, built in the form of an elongated rectangle, one-storey, preceded from the western side by a two-story rectangular manège with bevelled corners and projecting vestibule. To the east of the Czołowa stable is a neo-Renaissance stable called Woroncowska and Wyścigowa (Racecourse), erected according to the design of Paweł Suzor in the form of the horseshoe, with elevated manège on the axis of the frame and stables in the lower side parts and in both wings. Another building of Suzor’s design is the classicisticHorsesHospital, in the form of a letter L with a bevelled corner. It stands on the sidelines, closing the transversal avenue from the east. On north-east of the Woroncowska stable there are grassy runs, with two stables with the historical numbers ‘5’ and ‘6’. Both are built in the form of the letter T, with the middle part made of the brick and the remaining part of the frame structure, on brick poles. The western part of the design is framed by a row of four so-called Private stables. They all present good ‘barn’ architecture of unified forms, projections and elevations with a higher, avant-corps central span. In north-eastern part, there is a residential settlement of stud workers with the features of the native architecture from the turn of the century. The post-war administrative building of the stud is located in the south-western (entrance) part of the complex. It is distinguished by an oval driveway and park with a unique cemetery for the most deserving horses for Polish breeding. Behind the park (outside the area entered in the heritage list) there are a modern sports and entertainment arena and a green racetrack. The whole creates a composed landscape in the form of geometric quarters with horizontal stable complexes among trees and runways with characteristic clusters of shade giving trees. This landscape is dynamised by the ubiquitous horses of noble races.