Wilanów Królewski (; ) is a neighbourhood, and a City Information System area, in Warsaw, Poland, within the Wilanów district. Its northeast portion is a residential area with low-rise single-family housing. The neighbourhood features the Wilanów Palace, a Baroque royal residence, built in 1696, for John III Sobieski, the king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Currently it houses the King John III Museum in Wilanów, and includes a large Italian garden, with an area of 24 ha, known as the Wilanów Garden. The area also includes the St. Anne Collegiate Church, a Renaissance Revival Roman Catholic parish church dating to 1870, and the Poster Museum, a branch of the Warsaw National Museum, dedicated to the history of the poster design. Northeastern portion of the neighbourhood features the Morysin landscape park and nature reserve, majority of which is covered by a riparian forest. It also includes the Wilanów Lake and Wilanówka river. Together with the areas of Wilanów Niski and Wilanów Wysoki, Wilanów Królewski forms the neighbourhood of Old Wilanów.
Relicts of a human settlement were discovered in the area, dating to the turn of the 12th to the 13th century. The oldest records of Wilanów, known until the 16th century as Milanów, date to the 13th century. In the 14th century, a Roman Catholic church eas built in the village. In 1338, the settlement became a property of duke Trojeden I, the ruler of the Duchy of Czersk, and was later given to knight Stanisław of Strzelczyków in the second half of the century. In 1677, the village was acquired by John III Sobieski, the king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, who, between 1681 and 1696, built there his residence, in the form of the Wilanów Palace, designed by Augustyn Wincenty Locci in the Baroque style. The estate was later owned by Czartoryski, Lubomirski, Potocki, and Branicki families. Between 1772 and 1775, the St. Anne Church was built next to the palace, replacing the former Roman Catholic temple in the village. It was later rebuilt between 1857 and 1870 in the Renaissance Revival style. In 1805, the King John III Museum in Wilanów was founded in the palace complex, becoming the second public museum in Poland. In the 19th century, a large park complex known as Morysin, was developed to the east of the Wilanów Palace, in a riparian forest. In 1867, Wilanów became the seat of the eponymous municipality, which also included the surrounding settlements. In 1892, the Warszawa Wilanów railway station was opened in the village, as part of the Wilanów Railway, which operated until 1971. In 1945, the Wilanów Palace, together with its landed estate, were nationalised by the Polish government. Wilanów was incorporated into Warsaw in 1951. In 1962, the Poster Museum was founded in Wilanów, becoming the first museum in the world, dedicated to the poster design.
Toponomy The name Wilanów Królewski translates directly from Polish as Royal Wilanów, referring to the Wilanów Palace, a Baroque residence, built in 1696 for John III Sobieski, the king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The name Wilanów itself was coined in the 16th century, as a Polonised borrowing of a Latin name Villa Nova, meaning "new village", which was used to refer to one of the residences in the area. Previously, the settlement was known as Milanów and Milanowo, with records of the name dating to the 13th century.
History
The oldest archeological evidence of human settlements in the area date to between 150 and 50 BCE. The oldest known records of the settlement of Milanów (also known as Milanowo), located in the northern portion of the modern Wilanów district, date back to the 13th century. At the time, the settlement was owned by the Benedictine abbey in Płock, which founded there the Roman Catholic Parish of Saint Nicholas. In the 14th century, it founded a constitution of a wooden temple, named the St. Leonard Church.Eugeniusz Szwankowski: Warszawa. Rozwój urbanistyczny i architektoniczny. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwa Techniczne, 1952, p. 79. (in Polish)Kazimierz Pacuski: "Początki benedyktyńskiego opactwa św. Wojciecha na grodzie płockim", [in:] Notatki Płockie, no. 40/4-165, 1995, p. 6. (in Polish) In 1338, the village became the property of duke Trojden I, the ruler of the Duchy of Czersk. In the second half of the 14th century, the village was given to knight Stanisław of Strzelczyków, for his service to the duke. He belonged to the heraldic clan of Jastrzębiec, and adopted the surname Milanowski. In the second half of the 15th century, the parish was named after both Saint Nicolas and Saint Anne, who, according to the Christian tradition, was the mother of Mary of Nazareth, and maternal grandmother of Jesus Christ. By the end of the century, it also included the nearby settlements of Kępa Zawadowska, Okrzeszyn, Narty, Powsinek, and Zawady. In the 16th century, the church was replaced by a new Gothic wooden building, and a bell tower, after the previous burned down. In the 17th century Milanów was sold to nobleman and politician Bogusław Leszczyński. The settlement was also renamed to Wilanów, after a local residence known as Villa Nova, meaning "new village" in Latin.Wojciech Fijałkowski: Szlakiem warszawskich rezydencji i siedzib królewskich. Warsaw: Wydawnictwa PTTK Kraj, 1990, p. 48. ISBN 83-7005-191-X. (in Polish)Kazimierz Rymut: Nazwy miast Polski. Wrocław: Ossoliński National Institute, 1987, p. 263. ISBN 83-04-02436-5. (in Polish) After the death of Leszczyński, Wilanów changed its ownership numerous times.
In 1677, John III Sobieski, the king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, decided to turn Wilanów into his residence. However, as per law, the ruling monarch was not allow to purchase land, he acquired it via his friend, politician Marek Matczyński. It was bought on On 23 April 1677, together with nearby Powsinek, from chamberlain Stanisław Krzycki.Wojciech Fijałkowski: Królewski Wilanów. Warsaw: Towarzystwo Opieki nad Zabytkami, 1997. ISBN 83-906629-4-9. (in Polish) Between 1681 and 1696, the Wilanów Palace was constructed as a royal residence, in place of a former manor house. It was designed by Augustyn Wincenty Locci in the Baroque style, and featured a large garden complex, now known as the Wilanów Garden. During this time, the church was moved from the garden grounds to a new wooden building at the foregrounds of the palace. Following Sobieski's death, the estate were inherited by his sons, Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski and Konstanty Władysław Sobieski, and sold in 1720 to noblewoman and landowner Elżbieta Helena Sieniawska.Wojciech Fijałkowski: Wilanów. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1973, p. 42. (in Polish)Wojciech Fijałkowski: Szlakiem warszawskich rezydencji i siedzib królewskich. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Polskiego Towarzystwa Turystyczno-Krajoznawczego Kraj, 1990, p. 54. ISBN 83-7005-191-X. (in Polish) The palace was expanded with west and east wings between 1723 and 1729, with a project designed by Giovanni Spazzio.Wojciech Fijałkowski: Wilanów. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1973, p. 43, 48. (in Polish) In 1729, it was inherited by Maria Zofia Czartoryska, who leased it to king Augustus II the Strong.Wojciech Fijałkowski: Wilanów. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1973, p. 53. (in Polish) In 1782, the estate was inherited by Elżbieta Izabela Lubomirska, who added new structures to the palace yard, and expanded its collection of art. After her death in 1816, the ownership passed down to Stanisław Kostka Potocki. In 1892, the estate was inherited by Ksawery Branicki, and remained in the possession of his family until 1945, when the palace complex, and surrounding it landed estate were nationalised by the Polish government. Its last owner was Adam Branicki.
Between 1772 and 1775, the wooden church next to the palace was replaced by a new brick building, known as the St. Anne Church. It was designed by Jan Kotelnicki, and funded by August Aleksander Czartoryski, a nobleman, politician, military officer and owner of the estate. A cemetery was also developed next to the it.
In the 17th century, most likely in 1681, the Sadurka stream was redirected to the area of Wilanów, ending in the Wilanów Lake. Its path was designed by Augustyn Wincenty Locci, to feed the water network of the palace complex and surrounding it ponds. Currently, the Służewiec Stream flows in its place. In the late 17th- or the early 18th century, the Sobieski Canal was dug out, connecting the Wilanów Lake with Wilanówka river.Zdzisław Biernacki: "IV. Geomorfologia i wody powierzchniowe", [in:] Wisła w Warszawie. Warsaw: Warsaw Management Office, Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa, 2000, p. 22–70. ISBN 83-907333-7-4. (in Polish)
At the beginning of the 19th century a park complex, known as Morysin, was developed in the northern half of the Island Woods, a small riparian forest, surrounded by the Wilanów Lake, Sobieski Canal, and Wilanówka River. It was founded by landowner Aleksandra Potocka, and named after her grandson, Maurycy Eustachy Potocki, known diminutively as Moryś. Previously, until the 18th century, the forest was used as the royal hunting grounds.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 508. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)Wojciech Fijałkowski: Wilanów. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo naukowe, 1973, p. 234. (in Polish) The park complex included a neoclassical palace residence, designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner, and built in 1811, which ruins survive to the present day. In 1846, a brick Gothic Revival gate and tower was built, at the end of a road leading from Morysin to the Wilanów Palace.Aleksandra Wiatak: "Morysin – zaniedbana część Wilanowa", [in:] Ochrona zabytkow, no. 2/1999. (in Polish)Wojciech Fijałkowski: Wilanów. Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo naukowe, 1973. (in Polish)
In 1805, Stanisław Kostka Potocki founded a museum, hosted in a portion of the Wilanów Palace, now known as the King John III Museum in Wilanów. It was dedicated to the collection of European and Middle Eastern art displayed at the palace, as well as the biography of king John III Sobieski, and the history of the Polish nation. It was the second public museum opened in Poland.Krzysztof Pomian: "Wincklemann polski" [in:] 200 lat muzealnictwa warszawskiego. Warsaw: Arx Regia. Ośrodek Wydawniczy Zamku Królewskiego w Warszawie, 2006, p. 17. ISBN 978-83-7022-160-7. (in Polish) In 1836, a Gothic Revival mausoleum was also built next to the palace, as a symbolic grave of Stanisław Kostka Potocki and Aleksandra Potocka. It was designed by Enrico Marconi.Juliusz A. Chrościcki, Andrzej Rottermund: Atlas architektury Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Arkady, 1977, p. 188. (in Polish)
In 1816, a new cemetery as founded to the northwest of the St. Anne Church, at the current intersection of Przyczółkowa Street and Wilanowska Avenue. A mausoleum chapel, designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner, was built in its centre between 1823 and 1826.Jarosław Zieliński: "Chrystian Piotr Aigner", Stolica, p. 29, March–April 2021. (in Polish)Karol Mórawski: Warszawskie cmentarze. Przewodnik historyczny. Warsaw: PTTK Kraj, 1991, pp. 98–101. ISBN 83-7005-333-5. (in Polish) The cemetery was later expanded in around 1860, 1888, and at the turn of the 21st century. It was used as a burial ground for Polish soldiers fallen in the January Uprising between 1863 and 1864, the invasion of Poland in 1939, and the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońska (editor): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1994, p. 115. ISBN 83-01-08836-2. (in Polish)