La Sybylle

After the second partition of Poland and the fall of the country, Princess Izabella Czartoryska, a representative of one of the most important Polish aristocratic families, started to collect national mementoes recalling the great history of her homeland and its outstanding representatives. To house the objects, the Duchess erected in Puławy in 1798-1801 a building designed by Chrystian Piotr Aigner, the court architect of the Czartoryski family. It was the first in Poland and one of the oldest museum buildings in the world. Situated in the beautiful scenery of the Puławy Park, on a steep slope of the Vistula branch, it was distinguished by its original architecture modelled on the Roman Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, neighbouring the sanctuary of the famous soothsayer Sybil of Tyburton. Surrounded by a colonnade, the Pulawy rotunda contained a main hall illuminated by a skylight in the dome and an underground hall in the form of a crypt.

In the upper room, opposite the entrance, in a niche covered with a curtain, particularly valuable objects were placed: trophies from victorious Polish wars and objects from the Crown Treasury at Wawel. Among others, there were swords sent to King Jagiełło by Grand Master of the Teutonic Order Ulrich von Jungingen before the battle of Grunwald, sabres of John III Sobieski and Stefan Batory, a fortune-telling shield of John III Sobieski, marshal's staffs, flags and military banners and other precious keepsakes. In front of the niche there was a pedestal made of pink granite serving as an altar on which the so-called royal casket was placed, made of ebony, with an inscription made of diamonds: "Polish souvenirs collected by Izabella of Flemming Czartoryska in 1800". The casket contained numerous memorabilia of Polish kings: jewels, miniature portraits, fragments of robes and attributes of outfits, as well as objects from the treasuries of magnate families. Other valuable objects were in two large cabinets with glass drawers. They exhibited elements of armour and precious objects such as: dishes, caskets, snuff boxes, fans, watches, numismatic items, antique clothes. On the cupboards there are urns with the remains of kings, leaders, scholars and writers. In the lower hall memorial shields commemorating famous Polish commanders were hung. After 1813, an obelisk dedicated to Prince Józef Poniatowski was erected here.

Renata Bartnik