Historia

Construction of the manor house in the late 16th century, probably in place of an older structure, is ascribed to Jan Tarło, a cup-bearer of the Crown, owner of Łęki Górne from 1540; however, the manor house owes its artistic expression to Jerzy Mniszech from Wielkie Kończyce, a courtier of Sigismund August and son-in-law of Jan Tarło. After the Mniszech family, the manor house belonged to the Romer family in the 17th century, while between the 1730s and the 1860s it belonged to the Lubieniecki family, followed by, among others, Bobrowski family and Walery Brzozowski. The last pre-war owner was Jan Artwiński. The manor house, erected as a defensive structure, was altered around mid-19th century to perform a residential and representational function. At that time, another residential storey was arranged in the attic, embrasures were walled up and replaced with windows and a porch was added to the manor house’s front façade, over which a small viewing terrace was arranged. The interior was also reconstructed, wall-thick, tunnelled corridors in the northern wall were removed and the stairs were reconstructed. In the late 19th century the Brzozowski family restored the manor house, transformed the colonnaded portico under the terrace into an enclosed vestibule, while in the 1920s the building was expanded by a one-storey annex in the north.

The manor house has survived with an original body. During preservation works performed in 2007 the northern annex was slightly modernised and the interiors were restored, thus the feature was brought to a perfect condition. The owners of the manor house were honoured with an award granted by the General Monument Inspector as part of the competition “Well-Cared For Monument AD 2013” in the category “reinforcement of the historic value of a single feature” for the works carried out in the years 2007-2011.

The complex also includes a chapel with a figure of St John of Nepomuk, dated back to the 18th century, and a landscape park planned on the basis of a former complex, bearing relics of former fortifications in the form of traces of ramparts and moats.

Description

The complex, consisting of a masonry manor house, park and chapel, is situated in the western part of the town, on the southern side of the local road, on the northern slope of an elevation at the foot of which there are traces of non-existent ponds; tree stands of the park prevail across the plateau. The whole complex is limited in the east by a road leading to Zwiernik, by the Dulcza river valley in the north and utility buildings and arable fields in the west and south. The manor house itself stands in the centre of the surviving complex.

The manor house was erected on a rectangular floor plan with a vestibule along the axis, two transverse and three longitudinal bays. A cuboidal, four-storey body covered with a gable roof is beefed up at the front by a vestibule with a terrace on the first floor as well as an annex with a glazed shed roof in the north. The front façade of the manor house, facing the south, has five axes; east and west façades have two axes. The façades include decorations in the form of pilasters in the Giant Order as well as window surrounds, window headers and a string course. A vestibule in the front façade is rusticated on corners and comprises five glazed areas; it forms a basis for a terrace with a simple metal balustrade and masonry posts on corners. Decorations of shorter façades include volutes in niches with a rhythmical row of Corinthian pilasters, conchas, pinnacles on the sides and abutments with busts of the God the Father-Creator of the World and Christ the Saviour of the World.

The interior includes original component parts, among others: vaults of the vestibule, a Classicist oven in the vestibule, beamed ceilings, a Renaissance frieze in a representational room and wooden stairs.

The manor house is surrounded by a landscape park arranged upon the former formal layout. Numerous tree stands and monumental trees have been preserved there.

Between an access road to the complex and ponds, there is a chapel with a figure of St John of Nepomuk (the figure is not visible in the photos - at that time it was subject to preservation works). It was erected on a square floor plan, with a niche facing to the south, towards the road; it was made of brick, plastered, covered with an envelope roof clad with wood shingles. Corners are accentuated by plain pilasters; the chapel body is circumscribed by a crowning cornice. In the east and west the interior is illuminated by round windows.

The manor constitutes private property.

compiled by Barbara Potera, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Rzeszow, 18-08-2014.

Bibliography

• Bosak B. i A., Renesansowy dwór obronny w Łękach Górnych, Krosno 2014
• Libicki P., Dwory i pałace wiejskie w Małopolsce i na Podkarpaciu, Poznań 2012, s. 471
• Polakowski S. Pozostałości założeń dworskich województwa podkarpackiego, Krosno 2012, s. 43
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury i budownictwa, tzw. zielona, autor: T. Żurawska, 1961, archiwum UOZ Rzeszów
• Karta ewidencyjna zabytku architektury i budownictwa, tzw. biała, autor: BDZ, archiwum UOZ Rzeszów