As we look at the picturesque ruins of Krzytopór Castle, it’s hard to believe that this magnificent building, which was Europe’s biggest residence before the creation of Versailles, functioned in its full glory for just eleven years! It was the magnum opus of the Sandomierz chamberlain and later the voivode Krzysztof Ossoliski, coat of arms Topór (d. 1645), who, after gaining fortune through military deliveries, created a residence more splendid than any oth (d. 1650). The owner’s passion for Italian architecture inspired this project, and its archetype is widely regarded as the Villa Farnese, the pentagon-shaped summer residence of Cardinal Allesandro Farnese.
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The construction work began in 1620 and was continued under the supervision of the architect Lauretius de Sente until 1644. According to some historians, de Sente was also in charge of the palace’s architectural design, but the lack of other similar concepts in his biography leads to the conclusion that he was only entrusted with the supervisory work, while the concepts and plans were created by someone else. It is possible that the founder was the creator or at least a co-designer of the project – Ossoliski had appropriate education and had some literary and artistic talents. Italian architects Matea Castello of Melide and Agostin Locci the Elder may also have helped him.
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Krzysztof Ossoliski was born on April 28, 1587, in Bukowsko, Podkarpacie. He was the son of Jadwiga Sienieska and Jan Zbigniew Ossoliski, the royal secretary. He began his studies at the Jesuit college in Lublin at the age of nine, and in 1604 he moved to the German university in Wurzburg. He continued his studies in the universities of Bologna, Padua, and Paris, where he remained until 1612. As he returned to his homeland, he took part in military operations against the Tatars and Turks. Later, he served as a deputy several times, took part in the election of Polish King Wadysaw IV Vasa, and unsuccessfully competed for the post of marshal of the Sejm.
In 1615, he married Zofia Cikowska, daughter of Stanisaw Cikowski coat of arms Radwan, chamberlain of Kraków. Krzysztof married Zofia Krasiska, the widow of Mikoaj Spytek Ligza of Pókozic coat of arms, after her death in 1638. His third wife was Zofia Elbieta, the daughter of Sandomierz voivode Mikoaj Firlej, whom he married in 1642. All of these marriages and subsequent dowries brought significant income to the Ossoliski family treasury and helped to develop its economic power.
The owner of Krzytopór was well-known for his many artistic interests. He was also a ferocious Reformation adversary – on his initiative, the Arians were expelled from the local towns of Skrzelów, Raków, and Iwaniska. On February 24, 1645, Kazimierz Ossoliski died.
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Construction work began with levelling the terrain and laying solid foundations – some of this labor was done by Turkish and Tatar prisoners of war, according to legend. The castle walls were made of quartzite sandstone and dolomite, while the bricks used for finishing were made from nearby clay deposits. According to the inscription on the walls, the investment was completed in 1644. Nevertheless, it appears that some work on the façade, interior decoration, and garden design took considerably longer, thus the creator most likely did not survive to see the full boom of his work – he died in February 1645. He presented Krzytopór to his only son Krzysztof Baldwin (d. 1649) as a gift a year earlier on the occasion of his wedding with Teresa Taro (d. 1648). Krzysztof Baldwin didn’t stay long, since he was murdered by the Tatars at the battle of Zborów just four years after his father died. His corpse was never discovered.
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The castle was bequeathed to him by his uncle, Grand Crown Chancellor Jerzy Ossoliski, who died of a stroke in 1650. After him, his daughter Urszula Brygida and her husband Samuel Jerzy Kalinowski (d. 1652), son of Lithuanian princess Helena Korecka, took over the estate. But, the curse that hung over the palace owners was felt again, and Kalinowski died fighting with the Cossacks in the Battle of Batoh only two years later. In October 1655, while Krzytopór was most likely in the hands of the Winiowiecki family, Swedish forces led by General Robert Douglas (d. 1662) entered the castle.
Here, the Swedes set up a cozy quarters where 400 reiters and the regional governor Johann von Essen (d. 1661) were stationed. Two years later, King Carl Gustav paid a visit to Ujazd and stood in awe of the city’s monumental walls while he waited for a meeting with Prince of Transylvania Rákóczi György. At this location, His Royal Highness learned that Rákóczi, the prince of Transylvania, was on his way to the palace to kiss the king’s hand.
The residence also left a lasting impression on Erik Dahlberg, the quartermaster of the Swedish army and a brilliant artist, who sketched Krzytopór and added the caption Elegantissima iet bene munita arx, which translates as The most beautiful and well-defended stronghold.
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Before they departed Krzytopor in the autumn of 1657, the Swedes looted it of its priceless furnishings, decorations, and extensive book collection. Despite what many would consider significant devastation, the building was nonetheless occupied, first by the Winiowiecki family and then, in 1720, by the Morsztyn family of Leliwa coat of arms. The enormous palace slowly started to fall apart since none of the subsequent owners of Ujazd had the money or the will to renovate it. John Micha Pac (d. 1787), the Gozdawa coat of arms, restored the southern portion of the residence in the middle of the eighteenth century, which he used as a place to live. Once the uprising fell, he quickly fled for France, leaving the building devastated and burned out as a result of battles with the Russians. He even made parts of the castle’s chambers accessible to the members of the Bar Confederation.
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As a result, towards the end of the century, Krzytopor was nothing more than a stunning, magnificent ruin. The Ujazd estate was purchased by the Bishop of Kraków, Kajetan Ignacy Sotyk (d. 1788), and left to his relative Stanisaw Sotyk (d. 1833), a Crown Chamberlain, after Micha Pac left for Marainville in France (where he purchased a castle and stayed). Krzytopór was given to Konstancja née Sotyk empicka (d. 1836), the wife of Ludwik Stanisaw empicki, by Stanisaw Sotyk in 1810 as a present (d. 1871). Although being quite affluent, the Empicki family chose not to carry out any construction work here because they saw the ruins as a romantic attraction.
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The Orsetti family, who purchased the castle in 1858 and owned it until 1944 while residing in the nearby manor house, were the final owners of the building prior to World War II. At that period, there were several occasions when the ruin served as a site of defense or shelter during battles conducted nearby. Once the January Uprising (1863) began, one hundred Protestants sought refuge there against the Russians. The residents of the mansion sought sanctuary amid the battle-related ruins while World War I was still going on.
While waiting for the conclusion of the front battles, the residents of the village attempted to survive the Soviet offensive while the Patriotic Army’s “Jdrusie” regiment tested weaponry in the castle’s basement. The ruins were utilized by the Red Army as food storage facilities in late 1944 as part of a massive logistical support effort before to a major offensive against Germany. Krzytopór was nationalized after the war. Later, a number of proposals and projects for its development were put up, including a complete reconstruction and more modest concepts that emphasized the long-term preservation of the ruins and their adaptation for tourism. Although the (at least partial) reconstruction of this lovely monument is still an open question, we know now that the second option was chosen.
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An attack by Polish vigilantes on the automobile of Opatów Landrat Otto Ritter in the nearby Haliszka village in April 1944 resulted in the murder of the Nazi’s expectant wife. 55 people who had been arrested in Osrowiec were shot against the castle walls by German military police on May 25 as retaliation. After learning of the execution, the victims’ relatives traveled to Ujazd and secretly exhumed the bodies of the murdered Poles at night. Now, a modest tomb stands where centuries before magnificent French-style gardens had sprawled, commemorating this tragic tragedy. It contains the remains of 19 people, the identities of whom are unknown.
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The pentagonal castle is an example of a wealthy residence that combines sophisticated presentable features with a defensive function, a style of residence that is uncommon in Poland and is known as palazzo in fortezza. As I said before, it was the largest building of its sort in Europe at the time of completion. Its design was inspired by the Farnese cantonal residence constructed in Caprara, Italy. Around 1.3 hectares were covered by a palace, outbuildings, and bastion-style defenses. The total area of the premises was 70,000 cubic meters.
The layout and spatial arrangement of the palace building, according to tradition, was to have four towers, twelve halls, fifty-two chambers, and 365 windows – analogous to the number of seasons, months, weeks, and days in the calendar year. However, research did not support such a rule, as there were undoubtedly more than 365 windows in the palace building.
The Cross (Krzy) symbolizing the counter-reformation ideas of Ossoliski and the Axe (Topór) coat of arms are the two massive bas-reliefs that make up the castle gate’s principal decoration. The gate tower is topped by a four-story structure with clock face remnants on either side. It illuminated the entrance to the castle, elevating the residence’s status and setting it apart from other aristocratic houses.
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The entrance gate, the elliptical courtyard, and the central bastion with the octagonal tower known as Wysoki Rondel together make up the castle’s compositional axis. The axis divides the symmetrical body of the palace wing, which is a representation of early Roman architecture. This building’s facade is decorated with recurrent images of a triangular arch with recesses that once held portraits of Krzysztof Ossoliski’s ancestors and representatives of families connected to him.
The tall wing, which was constructed at the location of a local spring known as Krzytopoanka and crowned with an octagonal tower, completed the three-story castle. It was accessible by a sizable vaulted tunnel from the elliptical courtyard, which was above two representative halls: the dining room on the second level and the ballroom above it.
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Two-story, one-bay side wings (outbuildings) are next to the palace on both sides, creating a complex pentagonal layout with three trapezoidal courtyards—two small and one big. Its ends are capped by four quadrilateral towers that are one storey higher than the side wings, perfectly emphasizing the regularity of the entire composition.
The outbuildings’ upper levels housed utility rooms and servants’ quarters, while their cellars held the stables, which, in accordance with local custom, were furnished with marble mangers and crystal mirrors in ornate frames to illuminate the interiors’ darkness. The Ossoliski residence’s intricate spatial layout was complemented by the interior design, which was formerly lavish but has only been preserved in fragments. The castle elevations were accented with windows that opened in a variety of shapes and sizes.
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The earthwork erected on a pentagonal layout served as the fortification line. Szary Mnich (the gray Munch), Smok (the tooth), Korona (the Croone), Oto dla Ciebie (follow me), and Wysoki Rondel (the high Rondel) were the five bastions that connected it. Apart for Wysoki Rondel, which has casemates with two levels of gun windows, the bastions are all filled with soil. The whole foreground could be effectively shot from the brick parapets with overwatch positions on top of the embankment, which had rampart paths. A dry moat around the 600 meter long rows of stone and earthen fortifications. An arched single-span stone bridge and a wooden drawbridge connected via communication with the outside provided the bridge.
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