It is one of the oldest buildings in the town and a relic of technical infrastructure from the period when this resort near Warsaw was under development. At the same time, it is a material reminder of waterworks belonging to a small group of waterworks constructed prior to World War I on the territories belonging to the Russian partition.

History

The construction of the feature is linked to the beginnings of the summer resort located near Warsaw, established at the initiative of count Witold Skórzewski and count Władysław Mielżyński on the land separated in 1897 from the property of the Potulicki family of Obory. The founders intended to create a model and elite holiday resort. In 1900 the investment was taken over by the Towarzystwo Akcyjne Ulepszonych Miejscowości Letniczych [Joint Stock Society for Improved Summer Resorts], which owned all public utility facilities. To provide holidaymakers with comfort and to encourage them to purchase plots, plans were devised to equip the town with technical and recreational infrastructure such as, among others, a narrow-gauge railway station, a casino, a hotel, a power plant and waterworks. Towarzystwo Budowy Maszyn i Urządzeń Sanitarnych „Drzewiecki i Jeziorański Sp. akc. was entrusted with the construction of the water supply network with a sewage system . The main element of the network was the water tower built in 1899, along with back facilities. Water was drawn from an artesian well. According to the standards of then, the water station comprised a complex of technical devices, including a pumping station feeding water to a reservoir located in the tower head, aimed at supplying water to recipients and providing appropriate pressure within the network. The interior layout corresponded to the building’s function. The structure of the shaft resisted the load of the filled reservoir and safeguarded communication. Emphasis was put on the aesthetics of the exterior of the building that rose above the surroundings. The tower in Konstancin is an example of a fairly popular use of decorative elements drawn from the Romanesque and Gothic styles in such historical sites. The tower was designed by a constructor Edward Lilpop, at that time a member of the committee for the construction of water supply and sewage networks. Engineer Izydor Pianko assisted at the construction. According to the plot division plans from the early days of the resort, the plot on which the tower was built was of a rhomboidal shape, with a tip facing the street. A tall silhouette of the building constituted a dominant architectural element, closing Sienkiewicza Street, delineated as the main promenade and the compositional axis, on the south. The first segment of the water supply network was laid under that street and was systematically extended so in 1917 it ran under as many as 10 streets of the central part of Konstancin. Before World War II, a plumber Kuźmiński performed his duties in the tower and provided his services for the residents of the resort. In 1930 the artesian well was renovated. The building survived both world wars. However, little is known about its postwar history. In 1974 it was deprived of window frames and interior fixtures and fittings. Later on, a café moved into its transformed interiors. Currently, the site is protected and is being renovated.

Description

The feature is located in Konstancin-Jeziorna at Żeromskiego Street, at the south-east end of Sienkiewicza Street, on the axis of the latter. It is situated on a fenced property covered with old trees. The building is made of brick, is not plastered and comprises two elements: a single-storey pavilion on a rectangular floor plan and a four-storey octagonal tower cutting into its south-west corner. Meticulously designed building façades are adorned with sumptuous detailing formed by bricks, distinctive for the 19th century industrial architecture. That style can be seen particularly well in parts of ornamental cornices and crownings, rich with arcaded and cubical friezes, window and door surrounds, all using two-coloured bricks. Smooth parts of walls are diversified by panels of various shapes. Tower corners are accentuated by rusticated pilasters. The walls on its lower storey are pierced by single small windows with semicircular arches; above, on four sides, there are rectangular openings in an alternate rhythm, with walls decorated with longitudinal panels. The third, lower storey is adorned with 8 oculi. The tower capital is slightly overhanging and rests on a stepped, corbelled frieze with triple arcades over each tower side, resembling of machicolations (a defensive porch of medieval fortifications). The tower is crowned with an original crenellation and topped with a multi-hipped, flattened roof clad in sheet metal and terminating in a spire in the middle. The façades of the one-storey pavilion have small rectangular windows with extravagant brick finials. An elaborate, decorative part of the crowning cornice with an arcade frieze and crowning the front wall with crenellation adds similarity of the walls to medieval defensive walls. In the section of a flat roof, the feature has a terrace separated at the front, hidden behind the battlements. Door portals with cubical surrounds are located on the tower front and on the south-west façade of the pavilion. Traces of remodelling are visible in the north-east wall, while a building devoid of stylistic features and added later adjoins the rear façade. What also deserves attention is an original cast wicket gate with brick pillars crowned with interesting decorative elements, located in the fencing.

The building can be viewed from the outside.

Compiled by Małgorzata Laskowska-Adamowicz, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Regional Branch in Warsaw. 19-12-2017

Bibliography

• Record sheet, Wieża ciśnień, Konstancin-Jeziorna, 1975, Archive of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw;
• Municipal record of monuments sheet, Wieża ciśnień, Konstancin-Jeziorna, 2006, collection of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Warsaw;
• Lachowski T., Konstancin Obrazy z przeszłości, Warsaw 2008
• Lachowski T., Był sobie Konstancin, Warsaw 2007
• Szulińska M., Popławska-Bukało E. Marconi-Betka A., Zabytki powiatu piaseczyńskiego, Piaseczno-Warsaw 2006
• Świątek T. W., Konstancin śladami ludzi i zabytków, Warsaw 2007
• Pustoła-Kozłowska E., Barbasiewicz M., Jankowska M., Szkurłat A., 100 lat Konstancina, “Mazowsze” 1997, no. 9-10, pp. 45-97
• Urbaniak M., Komunalne wieże ciśnień w regionie leszczyńskim, “Kronika Wielkopolski” 2004, no. 1, pp. 71-84
•  http://www.muzeumkonstancina.pl/1231_wieza_cisnien - accessed 7-12-2017
• http://www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl/a/biografia/edward-august-karol-lilpop - accessed 13-12-2017
• http://www.wodociagi-polskie.pl/default_036.html - accessed 14- 12-2017
• http://wiezecisnien.eu/wieze-cisnien/ - accessed 14-12-2017