Colloquially "Sztaszic Palace". The classicist building was erected in the years 1820-1823 on the initiative of Stanisław Staszic according to the design of Antonio Corazzi for the Royal Society of Friends of Science. It was rebuilt in the years 1892-1893, renovated in the years 1924-1926 according to the design of Marian Lalewicz, destroyed in 1944, rebuilt in the years 1947-1950 according to the design of Piotr Biegański. The seat of, among others, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Warsaw Scientific Society. Rebuilt after the war, the Staszic Palace was transferred to the disposal of the Warsaw Scientific Society, and later - after its liquidation - the Polish Academy of Sciences. The palace is the seat of several institutes of the First Faculty of the Academy and the archive, and since 1981 also of the reactivated Warsaw Scientific Society.
Staszic Palace[a], proper name: the palace of the Royal Society of Friends of Science – a palace in Warsaw, located at the intersection of Krakowskie Przedmieście and Nowy Świat streets in the Śródmieście district.
The classicist building was erected in the years 1820–1823 on the initiative of Stanisław Staszic according to the design of Antonio Corazzi for the Royal Society of Friends of Science. It was rebuilt in the years 1892–1893, renovated in the years 1924–1926 according to the design of Marian Lalewicz, destroyed in 1944, rebuilt in the years 1947–1950 according to the design of Piotr Biegański. The seat of, among others, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Warsaw Scientific Society.
The palace was built in the years 1820–1823 in the classicist style according to the design of Antonio Corazzi for the Royal Society of Friends of Science. It was built on the site of the Dominican Observant church that had been demolished by March 1819. On May 11, 1830, the then president of the Society, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, unveiled a monument to Nicolaus Copernicus by Bertel Thorvaldsen in front of the entrance to the palace.
After the Society was dissolved as a result of the November Uprising, the building housed the Lottery Directorate until 1862. In the years 1857–1862, the Medical and Surgical Academy operated. Later, the palace housed the 1st Male Gymnasium with a boarding school. It was intended for people of Orthodox faith.
In 1890, it was decided to also place the church of St. Tatiana of Rome in the palace. The building was rebuilt in the years 1892–1895 by the Russian architect Vladimir Pokrovsky in the Byzantine-Russian style, in reference to the alleged "Russian past" of this place - the Moscow Chapel[5]. The elevation was covered with majolica brick, from which a number of carefully carved elements were made. A gilded onion-shaped dome was placed on the building, and in the four corners of the roof - turrets topped with pointed helmets. On August 22, 1897, the rebuilt building was visited by Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra. In October of the same year, construction began on the belfry, on which 10 bells were hung. After Warsaw was occupied by German troops in 1915, the palace was used to house the Deutsches Soldatenheim, a club for German soldiers and officers.
In the years 1924–1926, based on the design of Marian Lalewicz, the building was restored to its classicist appearance.
The palace was damaged during Luftwaffe air raids in September 1939. During the Warsaw Uprising, on August 9, 1944, the building was occupied by soldiers of the 2nd company of the 8th grouping, which was part of the "Krybar" grouping, and held by the Poles until the fall of Powiśle.
After the war, the destruction of the building was estimated at about 60%. The palace was rebuilt in the years 1946–1950 under the supervision of Piotr Biegański. The building was expanded towards the south and received a new façade on the side of the extended Świętokrzyska Street. The architect also changed the shape of the dome, and on the side of the courtyard he created a copy of the façade of the Mikulski tenement house designed by Antonio Corazzi, whose reconstruction was not planned.
The rebuilt Staszic Palace was transferred to the disposal of the Warsaw Scientific Society, and later - after its liquidation - to the Polish Academy of Sciences. The palace is the seat of several institutes of the First Faculty of the Academy, as well as the archives, and since 1981 also of the reactivated Warsaw Scientific Society.
Translated by Google •
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