Gorzanów Palace. An impressive, partially restored monument of the Kłodzko Land

Gorzanów Palace towering over the village of the same name is located near Bystrzyca Kłodzka in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is an incredible palace, almost a castle, because the medieval foundations of the knight's tower were also found here. The current Renaissance manor house was erected in the sixteenth century, and a little later, already in the Baroque era, it was expanded to today's monumental size. Now the complex is coming to life and regaining its former splendor after earlier years of neglect. The interiors of this residence are one of the most beautiful in all of Poland! However, they are reborn in pain and it is a great construction site, although you can experience a unique concert, drink coffee or spend the night in one of the palace guest rooms. See what is hidden in the Gorzanów Palace!

Gorzanów Palace - a monument open to the public

The Gorzanów Palace is open to tourists at selected times. It is worth checking them out in advance or making an appointment. Marek Haisig, the owner of the palace in Gorzanów, gives a tour of it and is happy to tell you about it. It was an extremely impressive building, with a high tower and sgraffito decorations. Already on the ground floor we are welcomed by a beautiful hall with beautiful stucco, unique on the scale of the whole country. It is the only representative hall at the bottom, the so-called Terrena Hall, which connected the park with the palace. As Marek says, this is a vaseline room. In each palace, apart from portraits of the ancestors, there were also portraits of power. Because if someone did not praise the authorities, they were suspected of conspiracy. There are Habsburgs everywhere. The hall is beautiful, but not the only one in the palace. On the next floor, you can admire other pearls, under tasteful ceilings, densely decorated with frescoes.

You will see here a real sgraffito from 1560. So authentic, made of nails. I mean, a little crooked, sometimes careless. The creators put the next layer on wet plaster and scraped the desired patterns in it. This is how a magnificent chapel opens up to us, decorated with numerous figures of Baroque angels. Each of them can weigh up to 60 kilograms. That's why there are lighter replicas on the ceiling today, and restored originals on the walls. To this day, beautifully polychrome wooden ceilings and mirror plafonds with rich stucco decoration have been preserved in the representative halls of the first and second floors of the eastern wing.

We also walked along an unimaginably beautiful corridor, all-painted, probably created after the construction of the Renaissance cloisters. It is a great invention in Italy, but in our climate it is an extremely airy fad. And we approached the tower. Here, too, the impressions are amazing. In general, this palace is probably the largest gathering of sgraffito decorations in Poland. Inside, the sixteenth-century ones have survived, and outside they required renovation in the twentieth century. And we really come to the conclusion that although it is a bit of a construction site, the interiors of this residence are one of the most beautiful in all of Poland, and the stucco works are breathtaking. I wonder if you knew about this place before. We strongly recommend taking a look here.

Events, concerts and other events in the Gorzanów Palace

The Gorzanów Palace is famous for its openness. Numerous cultural events are organized here, but also private ones. We could feel very young for a while, because the room was about to turn 18! Concerts, festivals or theater performances take place here, because a theater hall has already been built here in history and these traditions are now cultivated. This took place in the times of Johann Friedrich von Herberstein, in the years 1816-47, when there was a theater in the palace, which today is an unusual example of a baroque palace theater. Small stage plays and operas were staged here, to which even the local population was invited. Interestingly, he periodically lived here, performed and wrote his poems, and even directed performances by Carl von Holtei.

Café and guest rooms in the Gorzanów Palace and outbuilding

There is also a café inside the palace. Chopped coffee is a very interesting experience in this unique scenery. Everything here is old, authentic. Nothing pretends to be new or fashionable. As a result, it is harmonious and climatic. Interestingly, there are also guest rooms in the palace building, where you can spend a special night. We slept in the adjacent annexe, because in winter it is easier to warm it up! Although it was cold, it was also amazing. And these were the conditions that once prevailed in residences. 

Palace Park with Nymphaeum

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Directly from the palace you go out to the historic landscape park, the so-called English park. And there is a huge curiosity waiting for you. This is the Nymphaeum from 1635–40, almost the only one today in Poland, and certainly the best preserved in the original! It is a kind of garden pavilion, which was dedicated to mythical nymphs. According to reports, there were as many as 27 fountains in Gorzanów. Such A BAROQUE SPA! It's a pity that its condition is quite bad. Let's hope that the building will one day be fully renovated, because it is a real gem of the Kłodzko Land and unique on a national scale. You will also meet animals in the palace park. Our Amelia immediately fell in love with Cyril, a friendly pony. He is accompanied by a goat, and deeper in the stall there are also chickens walking. Guests are also welcomed by a curious palace dog.

History of Gorzanów Palace

The Gorzanów Palace has a basic advantage. It has never been demolished or burned, which is rare. That makes it original! Usually, the palaces date back to the 19th century, and then they are rebuilt, rebuilt after fires or war damage. As the owner recalls, in Silesia, the builders of the palaces were usually the owners of mines and smelters. They had a lot of money and it was a spy for them to be a baron or a count. They often married into an aristocratic family in poverty and later the best architects built them fashionable palaces. The story is different here. It is said that the court began to be built after 1550, but how was it more accurate?

The oldest castle building in Gorzanów in the Kłodzko Land (which today lies in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, but historically did not belong to Lower Silesia) probably stood between the palace and the church. This castle was demolished around 1460. These goods may have belonged to the Molstein (Molsteyn) family mentioned as early as 1347 and belonging to the Kłodzko patriciate. Later names appear: von Stercz, von der Bele, von Pannwitz, von Muschin and von Ratschin. The von Ratschin family lost their lands in 1623, during the Thirty Years' War, for supporting Protestantism. They lost the inherited goods in full, and the hereditary goods in half. Thus they went to the imperial chamber estates and to Johann Arbogast, Baron von Anneberg, Baron and Butler of Archduke Charles, Bishop of Wrocław. From 1633, he was the commander of the Kłodzko fortress, and from 1636 he was the Count of the Reich. After his death, the estate in Gorzanów was taken over by his older son Carl Heinrich in 1646, who then sold it in 1650 to his sister Maria Maximilian, married to Johann Friedrich Count von Herberstein. It was to him that Maria Maximiliana gave the castle property in Gorzanów in 1659 and this is how the von Herberstein era began here.

Count Johann Friedrich created majorates from the goods of Kłodzko in 1669, and his seat was established by Gorzanów, or Grafenort. After his death, the major was taken over by his older son Johann Friedrich the Younger, and after him by Johann Anton, the only son of Johann Friedrich the Younger, who died childless in 1720. In 1721, the property of Gorzów was taken over by the uncle of the deceased Johann Anton, Franz Leopold von Herberstein from Austria. They passed into the hands of the Styrian line of the family - Johann Gundacker, Johann Gundacker the Younger, and after 1810 Johann Heronymus, who passed them on to his son Johann Heinrich. At the beginning of the 20th century, Grafenort was managed by Sigmund von Herberstein, and in 1909-30 by Maximilian von Herberstein. In 1930, Grafenort was dissolved and the goods were sold to the city of Bystrzyca.

The Renaissance manor house, i.e. the main body of the current palace, was probably erected after 1554 on the initiative of Heinrich von Ratschin, although relics of a medieval tower, perhaps even 100 years older, were discovered in its basements. The Renaissance tower had a one-treaty layout with a centrally located tower with a staircase. Probably in the 1920s, In the 17th century, Baron Anneberg created a twenty-foot palace complex here. To the south of the main one, he added a second courtyard surrounded on three sides by buildings, and on the west by a curtain wall with a passage gate. 

When the palace became the ancestral nest of the Herberstein family, this Renaissance foundation was baroqueised. This was done in 1653-57 by Count Johann Friedrich von Herberstein. At that time, the body of both the body and the interior of the palace in the early Baroque style were modernized. A new portal was created above the main entrance. Terraces were installed over the west and north wings and a new helmet was erected on the tower. At the height of the third floor, the terraces were separated by a decorative screen wall, the representative floor was preserved on the second floor in accordance with local tradition. In the former hall there was a terrena hall with beautiful stucco and painting decorations. The exit from it led to the terrace, from where the stairs led to the garden. In the northern wing of the palace there is a chapel dedicated to St. George with a net vault and rich stucco decoration. This is how the most magnificent palace and park residence in the Kłodzko Land was created, additionally with a court theatre.

In the years 1900-06, conservation works were carried out here and, among others, the water and sewage system was modernized. The sgraffito decoration of the palace facade was preserved and enriched, which can be admired to this day. The gables were decorated in plaster. 

Falling into ruin and reconstruction of the palace in Gorzanów

After World War II, displaced people from the vicinity of Stanisławów were accommodated in the building. The palace and park complex, preserved almost unchanged, was then devastated and stolen. In the 1990s, the municipality sold them to an Austrian citizen, but this did not save a very damaged monument. The roofs began to collapse, the ceilings were partially cut, and partially moistened and finally collapsed. Another owner did not secure the property and immediately after the purchase put it up for sale. Currently, the owner is Mr. Marek Haisig, who, as the Gorzanów Palace Foundation, saves this heritage through a thorough reconstruction. Roofs and historic ceilings were secured. The polychrome is highlighted and the chapel has been renovated. Hopefully, this extremely valuable monument of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship will be saved.

Other attractions of the Kłodzko Land

In the area, it is also definitely worth visiting the royal Bystrzyca Kłodzka, called the Polish Carcassonne. For views, we recommend the tower on Jagodna fromthe Crown of the Polish Mountains. The climatic is Międzygórze, which is a Tyrolean-style village with the Wilczek waterfall. The old Lądek-Zdrój health resort with a wonderful pump room - Wojciech Zdrój - is very nice, although a bit sluggish. A much younger health resort is Długopole-Zdrój. And if you like gems like the Gorzanów Palace, you won't be disappointed with the Roe deer Castle in the area. And of course, the capital of the region is recommended - Kłodzko!

Our video

We visited the palace on the occasion of our visit to Bystrzyca Kłodzka. We invite you to watch the film about the region.

Practical information

Pałac Gorzanów
Podzamcze, Gorzanów
Tel. 517-091-278

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What's worth seeing in the area?

You don't have to travel far to find more interesting places. Within a radius of 100 kilometers, there are many attractions waiting for you that will certainly enrich your stay Your trip with additional memories.

• Kłodzko Fortress, distance: 10  km
• Bear Cave in Kletno, distance: 19.7  km
• Szczeliniec Wielki, distance: 25.5  km
• Grodno Castle in Zagórze Śląskie, distance: 47  km
• Church of Peace in Świdnica, distance: 56  km
• Książ Castle, distance: 59.7  km
• Palace in Kopice, distance: 66.2  km
• Moszna Castle, distance: 81  km
• Wrocław Zoo with Afrkarium, distance: 89.5  km
• Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław, distance: 89.7  km