History

The Classicist palace was originally erected in the years 1801-1811 for count Gottlob Siegiesmund von Zeidlitz-Leipe, east of the former manor house which, along with the Mirosławice manor, remained in the hands of the Bankwitz branch of the von Zeidlitz-Leipe noble family from the year 1770. At that time, the von Zeidlitz-Leipe family home was located in Krasków. The palace was erected on a prominent spot, maintaining visual links with the nearby Ślęża river and the landscape park which was established during the same period, the task of designing the park being entrusted to I.G. Schwarzer, a landscape designer.

The original design for the palace, created by the royal building inspector Wilhelm Bode, was subsequently modified by the master brickmason Anton Raschke. The side pavilions and galleries were erected according to the design by the architect G. Winckler; later on, in the years 1911-13, the pavilions were extended upwards, receiving an additional mezzanine level. In the years 1972-73, the building was restored and partially modified, with the interior layout of the eastern pavilion, where a single, large hall had existed before the works commenced, being substantially altered as a result. In 1999, the new owner of the palace began renovation and adaptation works.

Description

The palace is located on a small hill rising alongside the Czarna Woda stream, surrounded by a landscape park to the south and featuring a view corridor towards the Ślęża river. A granary erected in the early 19th century using the vestiges of an earlier manor house as a starting point forms part of a grange located north-west of the palace.

The palace itself is a masonry structure consisting of a few distinct sections, its façade facing north. The walls of the palace are covered with plaster. The palace consists of a two-storey corps de logis designed on a rectangular floor plan as well as two rectangular pavilions positioned west and east of the palace respectively; the pavilions are single-storey structures with a mezzanine level added in years 1911-1913, linked to the main body of the palace by means of single-axis connecting sections. Both the corps de logis and the pavilions are covered with hip roofs clad with ceramic roof tiles. A decorative belvedere rises above the main body of the palace. The front façade features a recessed Doric portico and a pair of niches above which spread two large panels adorned with sculpted images of griffins facing one another. The inscription on the architrave reads, „FORTUNATUS, QUI COLLIT DEOS AGRESTES”. The southern façade of the palace is preceded by a terrace and features a pair of panels adorned with scenes from the period of antiquity in bas-relief, the scenes in question being the appointment of Quintus Fabius Maximus as a dictator and the Dance of the Bacchantes. The ground floor level of the façades is adorned with decorative rustication and framed with cornice strips. The connecting galleries open towards the north, their pillars featuring fluted shafts. The side façade of the eastern pavilion features a three-axial Doric portico with an archivolt, preceded by a flight of steps.

The main body follows a three-bay layout, with a two-bay layout used for the galleries and pavilions. A rectangular entrance hall is positioned on the axis of the corps de logis of the palace; behind the entrance hall lies an oval vestibule connected to a winding staircase. The first-floor vestibule features a coffered cupola ceiling, with rosettes positioned inside individual coffers. The western pavilion features a large, oval hall, while its eastern counterpart contains a room with a Renaissance fireplace surround and Baroque Revival panelling (1913).

The building is not accessible to visitors (private property).

compiled by Beata Sebzda, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Wrocław, 27-11-2014.

Bibliography

• Degen K., Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Landkreis Breslau, Frankfurt am Main 1965, pp. 12, 16, 248-250.
• Dunckler A., Die landliche Wohnsitze, Schlösser und Residenzen der Ritterschaftlichen Grundbesitzer in der Preussichen Monarchie, Berlin, Bd. XI, 1865, p. 603.
• Katalog zabytków sztuki w Polsce. Seria Nowa, vol. IV, issue 2, Województwo wrocławskie, Sobótka, Kąty Wrocławskie i okolice, J. Pokora and M. Zlat (eds.), Warsaw 1991, pp. 63-65.
• Pilch J., Leksykon zabytków architektury Dolnego Śląska. Warsaw 2005, pp. 233-234.
• Weber R., Schlesische Schlösser, Dresden 1909-1911, Bd. III, p. 27, table 73.
• Zabytki sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, Warsaw 2006, p. 572.