Villa Farnese, A 16th Century Pentagonal Renaissance Mansion Built On The Fortress Foundations In The Town Of Caprarola, Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.