It is thought that it may incorporate the remnants of a 16th-century building. It is surrounded by a landscape park, with a preserved Baroque Italian garden.

History

Wierzbica is first mentioned in historical records in the first half of the 15th century. In the middle of the 16th century, the village was included in a larger estate of Piotr and Jan Wierzbicki, who had their seat in Wierzbica. At the beginning of the 17th century, the village was owned by Paweł Wierzbicki, Judge of Chełm, and at the end of 17th century – by Aleksander Wierzbicki. In the second half of the 18th century, the village belonged to Tomasz Stamirowski, and then to his son Antoni. In the 19th century, the property changed hands many times. Its successive owners included: Piotr Pączkowski, Seweryn Głogowski, Karol Singer, Aleksander and Rozalia née Łaniewska Lisenbarths. In 1843, the property was purchased by Henryk Uniecki, and from 1865 it was owned by his son Adam, who sold the property to August Iwański in 1882. It is thought that the existing manor house may have its roots in the second half of the XVI century (north-western part?).

It owes its present-day form to the enlargement and remodelling carried out in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some indirect evidence of this can be found in the preserved archives, however, the extent and the chronology of those works can only be confirmed by architectural research. The building was also partially remodelled in the 19th century (e.g. the portico was added then). 

The last pre-war owners of Wierzbica (from 1899) were Wacław and Władysława Kiwerscy, and after 1928 their son Gustaw, a major in the Polish Army. In 1929, the property was partially parceled out, and in 1946 it was nationalized. For man years, the mansion was used as a school. Now, it is in the hands of a private owner. 

Description

The manor complex is situated on the south-eastern edge of the village, on the southern edge of the valley of the Werbki River. It is a Baroque manor house with a Classicist portico. Its front elevation faces north-east. The manor house has one storey and a cellared western part. It was built on a floor plan of a square, with two rectangular alcoves jutting out from the façade. Next to the western alcove, there is a contemporary annex. The interiors have a tripartite and three-bay layout, with a hallway on the axis. The manor house is made of bricks covered with plaster. The hall is topped with a barrel-cross vault. In the rooms of the western part, there are groin vaults and a cradle with lunettes. The other rooms have flat ceilings. In the cellars, there is a cross-barrel vault. The main body of the building is covered with a hipped roof. Over the alcoves, there are three-span roofs clad with sheet metal. The front elevation is symmetrical and eleven-axial, with a five-axial central part and three-axial alcoves on the sides. The main entrance is preceded by a two-column Tuscan portico crowned with a triangular, low pediment. The front and eastern elevations are divided by frames and lesenes.

Their truncated corners are decorated with panels. The whole is topped with a profiled cornice. The original décor and furnishings have long disappeared from the interiors. The landscape park incorporates the remnants of a Baroque Italian garden – the garden parterre behind the manor house is surrounded on three sides by centuries-old linden alleys (recently, they have suffered considerable damage because of storms). At the front, there is a hornbeam access alley and traces of a lawn and a picturesque clearing with a view onto the river (formerly with a pond system). To the west of the manor house, there is a landscape park with a naturalistic ash grove established in the 19th century.

The heritage site can be viewed from outside

compiled by Bożena Stanek-Lebioda, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin,23 March 2016

Bibliography

• Dwory i pałace Lubelszczyzny w badaniach archeologicznych, multi-author compilation edited by E. Banasiewicz-Szykuły, Lublin 2011, pp. 92-93.
• Gwiazdowski T., Architektura dworu polskiego w epoce oświecenia i romantyzmu 1760-1850, “Kwartalnik Architektury i Urbanistyki”, 1983, issue 1, p. 30.
• Katalog Zabytków Sztuki w Polsce, vol. VIII: Województwo lubelskie, issue 8: Powiat krasnostawski, Warsaw 1964, pp. 72-73.
• Niedźwiedź J., Leksykon historyczny miejscowości dawnego województwa zamojskiego, Zamość 2003, pp. 578-579.
• Rolska-Boruch I., Siedziby szlacheckie i magnackie na ziemiach zwanych Lubelszczyzną 1500-1700, Lublin 1999, pp. 299-300.
• Rolska-Boruch I., “Domy pańskie” na Lubelszczyźnie od późnego gotyku do wczesnego baroku, Lublin 2003, pp. 82, 196.