Royal Castle

Lonely Planet review

It's a simple exercise moving on from Castle Square (the natural spot from which to start exploring the Old Town) to the Royal Castle; just turn east and you're there.

This massive brick edifice, now a marvellous copy of the original that was blown up by the Nazis towards the end of the war, began life as a wooden stronghold of the dukes of Mazovia in the 14th century. Its heyday came in the mid-17th century, when it became one of Europe's most splendid royal residences, and during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski (1764-95) when its grand Baroque apartments were created. It then served the tsars, and in 1918, after Poland had regained its independence, it became the residence of the president. Today it is filled with period furniture, works of art, and an army of old ladies watching your every move.

Two floors of the castle are open to the public. Route I takes in the Court Apartments, the Parliament Chambers and the Crown Prince's Apartment, split between the ground and 1st floor, while Route II covers the Great Apartment and the King's Apartment on the 1st floor. Arguably the most impressive rooms are included in Route II, hence the price difference.

Dominating the Great Apartment is the magnificent Great Assembly Hall. It has more bling than P Diddy and has been restored to its 1781 décor of dazzling gilded stucco and golden columns. The enormous ceiling painting, The Disentanglement of Chaos, is a postwar re-creation of a work by Marcello Bacciarelli showing King Stanisław bringing order to the world. The king's face also appears in a marble medallion above the main door, flanked by the allegorical figures of Peace and Justice.

The neighbouring National Hall was conceived by the king as a national pantheon; the six huge canvases (surviving originals) depict pivotal scenes from Polish history. Surprisingly the ceiling has been left bare. A door leads off the hall into the smaller Marble Room, decorated in 16th-century style with coloured marble and trompe l'œil painting. The room houses 22 portraits of Polish kings, from Bolesław Chrobry to a large gilt-framed image of Stanisław August Poniatowski himself.

Further on from the National Hall is the lavishly decorated Throne Room. The dominant colour here is Regal Red, but there's also plenty of gold trimming, and 86 Polish eagles worked from silver wire. Connected to the Throne Room by a short corridor is the King's Apartment, the highlight of which is the Canaletto Room at the far end. An impressive array of 23 paintings by Bernardo Bellotto (1721-80), better known in Poland as Canaletto (he used the name of his more famous uncle), captures Warsaw in great detail from its heyday in the mid-1700s. The works were of immense help in reconstructing the city's historic monuments.

Overlooking Castle Sq from the 1st floor is the Crown Prince's Apartment. The lavishness of the rooms here are overshadowed by the collection of historical paintings by Jan Matejko; look for his most famous work, The Constitution of the 3rd of May 1791, which shows a triumphant King Stanisław being borne into the castle on the shoulders of a jubilant crowd.

Guided tours (022 355 5338; per group around zl85 ) of the castle are available in a number of languages; book in advance, though English- and German-speaking guides can usually be obtained at short notice.