Gucin Gaj
In the 19th century, Gucin Gaj was a residential and park complex in what is now Warsaw 's Ursynów district . The future of the overgrown plant is unclear. A part has been under monument protection since November 2007 (No. A-790).
history
Around 1817, the owner of the Wilanów estate , the magnate and minister Stanisław Kostka Potocki , had a garden with a small summer residence built below and next to the St. Catherine's Church near Służew , located on the Warsaw Vistula embankment . The wooden residential building and the associated, partly brick farm buildings no longer exist today. The main building was based on a mansion that was built on this site in the 18th century and was known as the “Dom Wojewodziny” (German: House of the Voivodin , meaning the wife of a voivod ). The residence was one of a series of similar objects that had been built by Potocki in various parts of the Wilanów rule before the turn of the century - including Natolin , Ursynów and Morysin . The minister used these residences to relax. He spent a lot of time in Gucin in the years before his death; Here he wrote pamphlets in the summer and received friends and relatives. The residence was named after a grandson of Potocki, August Potocki (1806–1867, called “Gucio”) (like Morysin after another grandson, Maurycy Potocki, 1812–1879). In addition to the buildings there was an orchard and parking areas with walking paths below, along and on the embankment.
Park "Gaj"
After Potocki's death, his widow ( Aleksandra, née Lubomirska ) had Chrystian Piotr Aigner create a romantic garden in Gucin in 1821 , which was dedicated to the memory of her deceased husband. At the same time, the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the constitution of May 3, 1791 should be commemorated here. The center of the park was a grove (Polish: Gaj ), which was created around the already existing pond. Following the idea of ancient holy groves , trees were planted here by many contemporary personalities such as Adam Czartoryski , Tadeusz Mostowski , Samuel Linde , Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz , Stanisław Staszic and Zygmunt Vogel . In addition, the Potocka had several obelisks and memorial stones with inscriptions set up next to a sarcophagus .
catacombs
Presumably as early as the turn of the century, a brick tunnel system around 60 meters long had been built in the embankment. These tunnels were called "catacombs". The barrel-vaulted corridors had side recesses and niches. Access was via a pavilion that no longer exists. The complex was probably built for romantic purposes and at the beginning of the 19th century served as a meeting place for a Masonic lodge . The catacombs were also known as "Groby masonów" (German: Freemason graves ). It is conceivable that Freemasons who did not want a church burial found their burial place here - the niches could have been places for placing coffins or urns. Later (around the middle of the 19th century) the tunnels were used as a deposit. After parts collapsed, cavities were filled. Today there is only a part that is inhabited by bats in winter . In 1995 the remaining parts of the corridor were examined by Przemysław Boguszewski and Krzysztof Rytel.
pond
The pond existed before the residence was built. The basin was dug under Augustyn Wincenty Locci and with the help of monks. It was used to store and supply water to the Wilanów gardens and was fed from springs in the embankment and the Służewiec brook.
sarcophagus
On a small hill, surrounded by a clearing, Potocki's widow had a marble monument in the form of the ancient sarcophagus built by Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus in 1824 . Today the sarcophagus is in the park of the Wilanów Palace. A memorial plaque for the Battle of Raszyn was added to it and has been a listed building since 1965/1973 (No. B 250).
Decline
The Potocki family kept the complex until 1856. As a result, they ran several tenants who hardly looked after the properties and the park. Residents of the area partly felled trees and dismantled parts of the building. In 1895 the Potockis transferred it - as part of the transition from Wilanów - to Ksawery Branicki. Before the Second World War , the property was parceled out under his son, Adam Branicki . He sold the part of the park located above the embankment and a strip along the embankment floor to the parish of St. Catherine's Church. The grove and the rest of the lower parts were bought by Bolesław Habich, who paid the purchase price from 1938 to 1941. During the war, all the trees in the upper part of the park and some of those in the grove were cut down. The farm buildings had already burned down in 1939. The palace collapsed in 1950 and was demolished. The sarcophagus and an obelisk with an urn on top , which had been preserved and dedicated to the memory of Ignacy Potocki , the brother of Stanisław Kostka Potocki , were brought to the palace park in Wilanów in 1963. The monuments came from the sculptors Władysław Czerwiński, Jan Hagen and Ruff, who worked for the Potockis. Some trees of the former grove still exist and are under nature protection.
The half of the park acquired by Habich was transferred to municipal property by decree after the war. The pond and grounds were transferred to the state-owned company Centrala Rybna (German: Fisch-Zentrale ), which raised fish and crabs here. In 1988 the company was liquidated and Aquamex SA took over the operation and the site as its successor . In the 1990s, the property again fell to the municipality. A sale to Dutch investors who wanted to open a supermarket here failed because the heirs of the previous owner had meanwhile initiated restitution proceedings.
Smolensk Monument
In 2011, the Mayor of Ursynów announced that there were considerations to build a memorial for the victims of the plane crash near Smolensk in the area of the former Gucin Park . This memorial is intended to take up elements of the former park. An obelisk should be a central component. The idea was supported by the landowner (church). The parties SLD and PiS were also fundamentally open to the plans. Concerns came from Warsaw's President Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz ( Platforma Obywatelska ) and the monument protection authority. A decision is still pending.
Individual evidence
- ↑ according to Adam Miłobędzki, Zarys dziejów architektury w Polsce , Publisher: Wiedza Powszechna, 1968 (in Polish, accessed October 6, 2012)
- ↑ according to Stefan Gawlikowski, Spacerkiem po Warszawie-inny widok na Pałac Wilanowski ( Memento of June 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) of February 25, 2009 (in Polish, accessed October 6, 2012)
- ↑ a b c according to Nikodem Butrymowicz, Zbigniew Rekuć, Potencjalne obiekty do zwiedzania na obszarze Polski Północnej ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Podziemia.pl (in Polish, accessed October 4, 2012)
- ^ Stanisław Kostka Potocki was himself the grand master of a Masonic lodge
- ↑ according to Peter Martyn, Piotr Paszkiewicz and Francis Ames-Lewis, Art, ritual, religion. Proceedings of the Fifth Joint Conference of Art Historians from Britain and Poland, Warsaw, 7th-9th June 2000 , Warsaw, Instytut Sztuki / Polska Akademia Nauk (ed.), ISBN 8389101157 , Warsaw 2003, p. 202
- ↑ according to Wojciech Fijałkowski, Wilanów. Palace and Gardens , Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza (RSW), Warsaw 1978, p. 34
- ↑ according to Rafał Gdak, Burmistrz Ursynowa wybuduje mauzoleum ofiar katastrofy smoleńskiej? at Wiadowmości24.pl on July 5, 2011 (in Polish, accessed October 4, 2012)
- ↑ according to Iwona Szpala, Smoleńskie mauzoleum na Ursynowie? Urny, sarkofagi ... from Gazeta.pl Warszawa on July 5, 2011 (in Polish, accessed October 4, 2012)
Web links
- 60 lat temu w Warszawie: Gucin Gaj (in Polish)
- WarszawaWikia
Coordinates: 52 ° 10 ′ 14.7 ″ N , 21 ° 2 ′ 50 ″ E