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The European Route of Historic Gardens

Burgrave’s House in Arkadia, Monika Antczak

 Temple of Diana in Arkadia, view across the pond, Włodzimierz Pietrzyk

Greek Arc in Arkadia, Sylwia Salamądra

Gothic House in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Sentimental garden in Arkadia, aerial view, Dariusz Bógdał

Sphinx sculpture by the Temple of Diana in Arkadia, Włodzimierz Pietrzyk

Sentimental Park in Arcadia

High Priest’s Shrine in Arkadia, Xenia Modrzejewska-Mrozowska

Gothic House and the Sybil’s Grotto in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Temple of Diana in Arkadia, aerial view, Dariusz Bógdał

Aqueduct in Arkadia, Monika Antczak

Greek Arc in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Tomb on Poplar Island in Arkadia, Sylwester Cichal

Pond in Arkadia, Xenia Modrzejewska-Mrozowska

Pond with an island in Arkadia, Dariusz Piwowarski

Sheep in Arkadia, Monika Antczak

Sentimental Park in Arkadia

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General information 

The palace-garden complex in Nieborów and the sentimental garden in Arkadia are the best- preserved examples in Poland of old rural magnate residences. Its unique and perfectly preserved elements are the gardens, diversified in form and vegetation, originating from different periods, which together with the residential and farm buildings and landscape architecture create an architectural and garden layout of outstanding compositional, landscape, natural, architectural and artistic value. The most outstanding planners, architects, painters as well as builders and craftsmen worked on the construction and extension of the mansion, among them Szymon Bogumił Zug, Enrico Ittar, Pierre Norblin and many others.
<h3>Helena Radziwiłł née Przeździecka</h3>
The garden at ArBkadia is one of the first and best preserved gardens with a free composition in Poland. The original sentimental garden with a rich philosophical and literary programme, founded by Helena Radziwiłł née Przeździecka in 1778, was slowly transformed into a Romantic garden under her supervision. It was expanded and added to until her death in 1821. In subsequent periods, the garden was slightly transformed, and after World War II it underwent partial reconstruction.

Historical background

The garden in Arkadia, bounded from the west and partly from the south by the Skierniewka (formerly Łupia) Brook, has an elongated, irregular shape. The contexture of the garden's composition is a very rich philosophical and literary programme. Temples, artificial ruins, arcades, an amphitheatre, an aqueduct, a circus, huts, sculptures, columns, urns, sarcophagi, and numerous inscriptions form a variety of scenes intended to evoke certain feelings in the visitor to the garden. The compositional idea was included by Helena Radziwiłł, the creator of the garden, in a guide she compiled for visitors to Arkadia.
<h3>The large pond</h3>
Arkadia was meant to imitate a mythical Greek land, and architecture was the basic element of the spatial composition. The spatial centre of the site is a large pond with the Isle of Sacrifice, around which the most important buildings are located, including the Temple of Diana and the aqueduct. Plants were an essential accessory and together with the topography they created the scenery, co- created backdrops and frames, and created the garden interiors.
The greenery gave the site an impression of "ageing" by absorbing the buildings. This effect was achieved by introducing fast-growing species and a large number of climbing plants and flower meadows. Today, Arkadia is dominated by native tree species characteristic of riparian and oak and hornbeam communities. The stand, which includes 45 species, has over 3,000 trees, 56 of which are over 120 years old.
<h3>Gallery of pointed-arch arcades</h3>
The Gothic House is adjoined by a gallery with pointed-arch arcades, probably erected together with the building. It is an artificial ruin running from the House towards the south, down an artificial hill. Fragments of a late Gothic tomb slab with a minuscule inscription were built into the arcades.
<h3>Circus</h3>
The former circus is located in the southern part of the garden. Designed and built by Enrico Ittar in 1801 on the model of the Roman circus. Only the central obelisk and two extreme cylindrical "metas" have survived to this day, which set the scale of this foundation on the ground. On the obelisk, Princess Helena placed the inscription MUNIFICENTIAE AUGUSTI HELENA POSUIT, dedicated to the Emperor of Russia, Alexander I, to whom she owed the materials – marbles and granites used for the construction of the Circus.
<h3>Ittar’s Pillars</h3>
Historically, the garden was excited by a gate made of two rectangular blocks of pink Ingrian limestone, called after its designer Ittar's Pillars, which were topped with marble masks in the shape of acroteria (the masks have been removed and secured in the Museum, they will return to the site in the form of copies). Currently, the pillars enclose an alley that leads to a gate with utility functions.
<h3>Caretaker’s House</h3>
The building located in the northern part of the establishment was constructed after 1936 in the form of an architecturally modest cottage with a brick homestead. After the war, it was adapted for utility rooms.

The Temple of Diana (Minerva, Solomon, Friendship, Harmony, Wisdom, Nature or Love) is the central object of the foundation, with a descent to the pond in its southern part. It was built in 1783 according to the design of Szymon Bogumił Zug. It is a classicist building, forming a combination of two types of Roman temples – the monopteros and the prostyle. Built of brick with architectural elements of stone, on a rectangular plan with a strongly north-western projection of a four-column portico and a semi-circular columned enclosure. The temple was covered by a gable roof with a cupola and a flattened lantern. Under the tympanum on the side of the pond are engraved the words of Francesco Petrarch from the sonnet In morte di Madonna Laura – DOVE PACE TRAVAI D'OGNI MIA GUERRA (Here I found peace after my every struggle).
In the interiors of the Temple of Diana are the Vestibule, the Etruscan Chamber, the Oval Bedroom and the magnificent hall called the Pantheon. The Pantheon is decorated with stucco columns and decorative cornices and a plafond showing the Morning Star by the brush of Jan Piotr Norblin. The artists of the plafond in the Etruscan Chamber, from about 1800, with a scene depicting Amor and Psyche and wall decorations with Etruscan motifs, were the collaborators with Norblin – Michał Płoński and Aleksander Orłowski. In front of the Temple there are stone steps leading to the pond. They are finished with two stone sculptures: a sphinx and a lion. An exhibition of ancient, mediaeval and modern art has been arranged inside the Temple.

Temple of Diana

The building is located adjacent to the Temple of Diana, on the eastern edge of an artificial hill. The Gothic House was built in the years 1795-1797 according to the concept of painter Aleksander Orłowski and the final design of Sz. B. Zug. At the beginning of 1814, Princess Helena Radziwiłłowa organised a symbolic "Knight's Residence" at the Gothic House dedicated to her son Michał Gedeon, the Napoleonic General. The Gothic House is a building of brick and turf ore, built on a square plan, with two storeys. This building together with the gallery is one of the first realisations of Neo-Gothic architecture in Poland.

Gothic House

The Greek Arch, associated with the Burgrave’s House, was built around 1784 according to the design of Sz. B. Zug. It is constructed of brick, with plinths and ridge cladding of partially hewn stone boulders.
Photo by Dariusz Piwowarski, 2014, MNA

Greek Arch

The Sybil's Cave (Sybil's Grotto), surrounded by the Gothic House, was built as one of the first buildings in Arkadia. It was built of erratic boulders and supported by an artificial hill, on which the Gothic House was situated. The interior of the cave, arranged on a plan similar to a circle, with a pillar in the middle, is accessible through two corridors. Above the cave, probably around 1810, a chapel was built of Gothic brick with numerous insets and ornaments of different kinds of stone.
Photo by Dariusz Piwowarski, 2014, MNA

Sibylline Cave 

Originally, the sepulchre was located on an artificially created stream of the Skierniewka Brook on Poplar Island, currently on the bank of the brook. The structure was built around 1785. Designed based on Princess Helena’s inspiration by Szymon Bogumił Zug, and it was modelled on the tomb of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Ermenonville. The sepulchre consisted of a pedestal, a shell with a recess containing a white marble sculpture of a lying woman, and covered with acroteria and topped with a white marble vase.
The construction was supported by King Stanisław August and he ordered the monument of the Sepulchre to be made in black Dębnik limestone, which he personally paid for. The monument is inscribed with inscriptions: Et in Arcadia ego and J'ai fait l'Arcadie j'y repose. After the death of Princess Helena in 1821, the Tomb was one of the first objects to be destroyed and dispersed. Fragments of the tomb found in the garden were secured, and in 2015 the Tomb was rebuilt.
Photo by Sylwester Cichal, 2015, MNA

Tomb on Poplar Island

The building is located in the vicinity of the Temple of Diana. It was erected around 1795 on a rectangular plan, made of brick with the addition of stone, ore (turf ore) and gravel, partially plastered. It is a one-storey building with a square tower, elevated and finished with a crenellation, designed by the architect Franciszek Lanci. Lapidary elements are built into the walls.
Adjacent to the House there is a wall connecting it with the Greek Arch, in which there is an arcaded opening with a fragment of a 17th-century archivolt with two Renaissance rosettes from the Chapel of St. Victoria from the collegiate church in Łowicz – the work of Jan Michałowicz from Urzędów.
Photo by Monika Antczak, 2012, MNA

Burgrave’s House

The High Priest’s House (High Priest's Tabernacle, Bath) was built around 1783, probably according to the design of Sz. B. Zug in the form of an artificial ruin – a symbol of transience – and then extended in the 19th century. It was erected on an irregular plan, made of brick, turf ore and ancient, Gothic and Renaissance lapidary elements, including those made by Jan Michałowicz of Urzędów, two-storey, covered with pulpit roofs.
From the south, it has a terrace added at the first floor level, surrounded by columns, and in the north-west corner there is a tower equipped with a viewing platform. To the west of the High Priest’s House runs the reconstructed Wall with Herms (1783), made of brick and stone. In the southern section of the wall, there are copies of the herms from the Chapel of St. Victoria at the Collegiate Church in Łowicz.

High Priest's House

The aqueduct, situated to the west of the Temple of Diana and connecting the banks of a branch of the Skierniewka Brook, was rebuilt in the 1950-52 period according to the project of G. Ciołek, following the example of an earlier object constructed in 1784 according to the plan signed by Sz. B. Zug and pulled down in 1864. Additions to this building were designed in 1800 by Enrico Ittar, an Italian architect invited to Poland by the Radziwiłłs. The aqueduct is modelled on the architecture of ancient Roman waterworks. Lapidary fragments were built into its walls.
Photo by Monika Antczak, 2012, MNA

Aqueduct

Description

<ul>
<li>1774 In 1774, the Nieborów estate became the property of Michał Hieronim Radziwiłł, swordsman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and his wife Helena née Przeździecka. In 1780, the village of Łupia (later Arkadia) was incorporated into the Nieborów estate. The new owners added new elements to the Nieborów garden and transformed its eastern part into a landscape layout in keeping with the spirit of the age. In</li>
<li>1778 Helena Radziwiłłowa established the Sentimental Garden in Arkadia. Work on its decoration continued until her death in 1821.</li>
<li>1945 The Nieborów estate remained the Radziwiłłs' property until January 1945, when a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw was established on the grounds of the palace and garden complex in Nieborów and the Arkadia garden. The Museum also received part of the farmland, including meadows and pastures, surrounding the Nieborów residence from the east and south.</li>
<li>1950 The entire layout has been the subject of ongoing conservation care since the 1950s. In the post war years extensive conservation work was carried out here under the direction of Professor Gerard Ciołek, later carried out by the State Enterprise for the Maintenance of Monuments. The individual elements of the layout have been well preserved thanks to the constant and meticulous restoration work carried out by the team of the National Museum in Warsaw and its branch, the Museum in Nieborów and Arkadia. The condition of individual buildings and architectural structures and gardens, although requiring further systematic conservation intervention, is satisfactory.</li>
</ul>

Chronology

The palace and garden complex in Nieborów and the sentimental garden in Arkadia are relatively well recognised objects. Over the years, much research work and numerous studies have been carried out here, and many publications and papers have been written about the layout and its elements.
<h3>Academic conferences and thematic meetings</h3>
Extremely important for the deepening of knowledge about the gardens was the research work of Maria Soborska and Professor Gerard Ciołek, and Museum curators Jan Wegner and Włodzimierz Piwkowski. The Museum organises academic conferences and thematic meetings and publishes its own publications. In addition to the permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions, the Museum currently holds about 200 educational events per year, attended by an average of 3,500 people. The permanent educational offer of the Museum in Nieborów and Arkadia includes: 11 thematic paths for preschoolers, about 30 for primary school pupils and 13 educational classes for secondary schools.
<h3>Ecology and horticulture</h3>
There is a great deal of interest in ecology and horticulture classes tailored to the age group, such as: Secrets of Princess Helena's Garden, Unusual Properties of Ordinary Plants, A Fascinating Journey into the World of Trees, The Landed Property – A Family Multi-branch Enterprise, The Work of the Gardener – A Gardener's Guide from Years Past. In addition to the lessons, the schedule of events includes the Night of Museums in May and the European Heritage Days in September, as well as the open-air opera performances held every September.
<h3>Cultural and educational events</h3>
Apart from the permanent educational offer, the Museum organises occasional cultural and educational events accompanying important museum events, such as the 70th anniversary of the Museum or exhibitions and events dedicated to the history of the former owners of the estate (e.g. 200th anniversary of Helena Radziwiłłowa's death commemorated by naming a new rose species after her), to the creators of the present day Museum (e.g. "The Garden as a complex organism. On the works carried out in the Nieborów Garden by Prof. Gerard Ciołek and his team") as well as the achievements and fate of Nieborów's gardeners (e.g.: the event accompanying the publication of "The Gardener's Report by Józef Borecki" as part of the Museum's series of popular science books.

Museum

The palace and garden complex in Nieborów and the former summer residence of the Radziwiłłs in Arkadia are under legal conservation protection by being entered in the register of monuments.
By virtue of the decree of the President of the Republic of Poland, the "Nieborów and Arkadia – palace - garden complex and sentimental-romantic garden" was also declared a Monument of History (Decree of the President of the Republic of Poland of 22.11.2017; Journal of Laws of 2017, item 2274).

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Palace garden in Nieborów, aerial view of the palace and the forecourt, Sylwester Cichal,

Palace garden in Nieborów, aerial view of the linden alley and the regular garden, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, boxwood mazes, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, Monika Antczak

Palace garden in Nieborów, aerial view of the linden alley, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, the linden alley, Dariusz Piwowarski

Hornbeam espalier in the garden in Nieborów, Monika Bajkowska

Palace and garden complex in Nieborów, Dariusz Bógdał

Palace garden in Nieborów, view of the palace from the linden alley, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, ornamental parterres, Sylwester Cichal

Palace garden in Nieborów, ornamental parterres and boxwood mazes, Sylwester Cichal

Old orangery in Nieborów, aerial view, Dariusz Bógdał

Old orangery in Nieborów, Dariusz Piwowarski

Garden cabinets in the regular garden in Nieborów, Katarzyna Piotrowska

Kitchen garden in Nieborów, Katarzyna Piotrowska

Vineyard in the kitchen garden in Nieborów, Agnieszka Chmielewska

Linden alley in Nieborów, Monika Antczak

Garden cabinet with the eagle column, garden in Nieborów, Dariusz Piwowarski

Garden canal in Nieborów, Monika Antczak

Alley by the canal in Nieborów, Monika Antczak,

Canal in the garden in Nieborów, Monika Bajkowsk

Plane trees in the palace garden in Nieborów, Xenia Modrzejewska-Mrozowska

Old orchard in Nieborów, Katarzyna Żak-Zatorska

Orchard in winter, Nieborów, Sylwester Borusiak vel Boruta

Exhibition: conservation works in the Nieborów palace garden, Sylwester Cichal

Nieborów palace garden

Palace Garden in Nieborów

Soutomaior Castle

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Pazo de Mariñán

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LABPACT-SERP / Universitat de Barcelona

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Universidad de Girona Campus Patrimoni Cultural i Natural Parc Científic i Tecnològic 