The first known source records confirming the existence of a bishop's manor house in Prądnik, apart from a farm, come from 1421 and 1468[2]. The manor house was supposed to be located near the fork of the Prądnik (Białuchy) riverbed into two branches - natural and artificial (młynówka). So far, no relics of the medieval manor have been discovered, so its exact location remains unknown. Its function was taken over by an imposing Renaissance palace "built at great cost for good rest and relaxation" by Chancellor Samuel Maciejowski - Bishop of Krakow in the years 1545-1550[2]. The decision to erect a new episcopal residence near Kraków could have been made at the end of 1545, construction probably began in 1546, and it was certainly completed before mid-1548[2]. It was an entirely brick building, with three floors - two above-ground and one basement. It consisted of a four-sided compact body with a rectangular plan and a front loggia adjacent to one of its shorter sides[2]. The significant size of the building is noteworthy - its body measured 30 by 37 meters, and the whole, including the loggia, was 34 by 42 meters[2]. All the interiors of the lowest storey had vaults (partly preserved to this day); two vaulted entrances led to it from the outside, located on two sides on the main axis of the building. In architectural and functional terms, it represented the type of an Italian villa. The Renaissance episcopal seat in Prądnik had a defensive character from the very beginning. The polygonal defensive perimeter consisted of curtain walls with circular, inward towers (bastions) in the corners[2]. In 1549, staying in Prądnik on a visit to Bishop Maciejowski, Augustinius Rotundas wrote in a letter to Cardinal Hozjusz ... I am under the spell of mysterious buildings and their surroundings ... The Renaissance villa was teeming with life, it was a meeting place for many outstanding people of the era: diplomats, poets thinkers.
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