Cellar. Castle Baths. Roman Bath

Historical names: Steam room
Time of construction: 1928
Architects: Tadeusz Dachowski (?)

Description:
The most modern undertaking in the Łańcut castle of the last ordinate of Alfred Antoni Potocki in the 20th-century interwar period was the construction of the so-called Roman Baths in 1928 in part of the basement. They were accessed from the northern, single-story corridor. Another way of communication between the baths and all floors was through the elevator. This recreational complex, consisting of vaulted chambers lined with porcelain tiles or wainscot and embellished with painted decorations, was intended for broadly understood physical renewal: exercise, massage, hydro- and electrotherapy. They have a whole system of modern bathtubs and balneological and gymnastic equipment. The baths were decorated exquisitely: they are accessed by wide, sumptuous stairs. The waiting room and the bar with painted decorations on the walls and ceilings, with heavy curtains between the rooms, are discreetly illuminated by wall lamps. There are leather club armchairs and sofas, and the bar has a tall counter and stools. The ordinate invited his guests to the baths - being there became one of the attractions in Łańcut. The Roman Bath is one of two additional smaller baths entered through two metal doors located in the south wall. The last door on the eastern wall leads to the Roman Bath, or dry, hot air bath. It is a high interior on a rectangular plan - a fragment of a larger one with a barrel vault - the eastern wall has a side fragment of the vault. The interior is fully tiled, with walls and ceiling ultramarine-coloured with a  narrow convex red frieze and a pedestal made of black tiles. The floor is lined with small square black tiles and hexagonal black and white ones in the centre. There are small round holes in the southern wall for supplying hot air and two vents framed by a metal ring inside with an airflow regulator designed as an aperture in the camera. All metal elements are in gold.

Cholewianka-Kruszyńska Aldona, Łańcut. Dzieje rezydencji Potockich, Bosz, 2009, pp. 125-126 Paterak Marta, Łaźnie i elektroterapia w zamku w Łańcucie, Biuletyn GBL, No. 349, 1994, pp. 86, 88 Piotrowski Józef, Zamek w Łańcucie: zwięzły opis dziejów i zbiorów, Lviv 1933, p. 45 Silber J.S, /Inwentarz fideikomisowy/, 1932, typescript, MZŁ Archive, R/55, k.96