Pałac w Gułtowach, Classical palace in Gułtowy, Poland.
The palace in Gułtowy is a two-story rectangular building with classical features including corner rustication and ornamental details throughout its design. The facades display meander patterns and a tympanum bearing the Bniński coat of arms decorated with panoply motifs.
The palace was built between 1779 and 1786 for Ignacy Bniński, starosta of Środa. An unknown architect began the work, but Ignacy Graff was soon engaged and gave the building its final form with elements of late Baroque. Damaged in 1945, it was restored between 1968 and 1974; since the 1990s it has belonged to Poznań's Adam Mickiewicz University.
The Bniński coat of arms, Łodzia with panoplies, sits on the tympanum above the central pseudo-avant-corps. Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, a relative of the Bnińskis, stayed at the palace in 1821. Since the postwar years the building served the local state farm (PGR) before passing to Poznań's university.
The palace stands in Gułtowy, Greater Poland, within a park that is regular near the building and landscape-style further out, with ponds and old trees. It now houses the Adam Mickiewicz University Creative Work Centre, so access depends on the centre's current programme rather than regular sightseeing hours.
The two-storey ballroom in the west wing holds illusionistic frescoes with architectural motifs painted by Antoni Smuglewicz in 1800–1804. The stucco decoration of the marble salon, the green salon and the bedroom is probably also by the Smuglewicz brothers. Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, a relative of the Bnińskis, stayed at the palace in 1821.
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