Kozłówka Palace

Kozłówka Palace is a Baroque residence in the village of the same name in eastern Poland, with two side wings, a columned entrance portico and a central courtyard about 330 feet (100 meters) long. Formal gardens spread around the main building, and the facade shows yellow stucco with white trim and pilasters framing the entrance.

Architect Józef Fontana built this residence between 1736 and 1742 for Michal Bielinski, a Grand Treasurer of the Polish Crown. From 1799 it became the main seat of the Zamoyski family, who lived there until 1944 when the Red Army arrived and turned the building into a museum.

The name comes from the village of Kozłówka, which existed since the 15th century, and inside you see gilded furniture and French paintings from the Second Empire era. The Zamoyski family collected these objects during their travels across Europe and filled the rooms with porcelain, crystal and tapestries that remain arranged as they were in the late 19th century.

The museum opens Tuesday through Sunday from 10 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon, and guided tours last about 50 minutes with a maximum of 25 visitors per group. There is parking in front of the entrance and a small souvenir shop on the ground floor of the main wing.

This site holds the only Socialist Realist Art Gallery in Poland, with more than 1600 sculptures, paintings and posters from 1949 to 1954. The collection fills several halls in the side wing and shows worker portraits, industrial scenes and political art that was removed from public buildings after the war.