User:RadzynMojeMiasto/Orangery in Radzyń Podlaski

The Orangery (Orangehouse) (Oranżeria, ) - the building designed by Jakub Fontana, erected around 1760-1763  belongs to the palace and park complex in Radzyń Podlaski, Poland. The Orangery is an excellent example of Rococo architecture. One of the most important elements of this building is a sculpture made by Jan Chryzostom Redler, depicting Apollo's chariot. Currently, the building serves as a conference and concert hall. It is also a place of important social events for the residents of Radzyń Podlaski. The Orangery is also the seat of the Radzyń Cultural Centre.

18th century
The orangery was constructed in the final phase of transforming the old palace into a grand noble residence and has been an integral part of the palace and park complex since its inception. This transformation was commissioned by Eustachy Potocki and his wife, Marianna from the Kątski family.

The orangery was used for cultivating exotic plants and storing plants that could not survive the winter in temperate climates. It also functioned as a winter garden. In the "Opis Parafiów" of 1783, it was mentioned: "A splendid garden with gardener's outbuildings, a brick orangery with a greenhouse, in which many fruit trees, flowers, and other things pleasing to the human eye can be found."

19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Radzyń estate was sold by the Potocki family to Princess Anna Sapieżyna. Her daughter, Anna Zofia, brought it as a dowry to Adam Jerzy Czartoryski in 1817. After the fall of the November Uprising and the confiscation of the Czartoryski estates, the residence, which had been put up for auction, was purchased by Antoni Korwin Szlubowski. The palace remained in the hands of his family until 1920.

First half of the 20th century
After the establishment of the independent Polish State, on May 29, 1920, Bronisław Szlubowski - Antoni's grandson - transferred the palace and park complex, including the Orangery and 19 hectares of land, to the State Treasury for military purposes. During this period, the Orangery's condition clearly deteriorated, and its interior contained a warehouse for gardening tools.

In August 1939, a group of residents from Radzyń, affiliated with the Society of Stage and Music Enthusiasts (Towarzystwo Miłośników Sceny i Muzyki), petitioned the city authorities for the orangery building with the intention of establishing a theatre. However, their plans were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. Between 1939 and 1943, the orangery was renovated and adapted into a German House with a concert hall featuring an integrated music gallery. After the German troops withdrew from Radzyń in July 1944, the furnishings of the German House were stolen by the town's residents. The final devastation of the building was carried out by Red Army soldiers after they entered and took control of the city in the same year.

Second half of the 20th century
After the war, in 1946, efforts were made to renovate the historic Orangery. The building housed the House of Culture and Art (Dom Kultury i Sztuki), and together with it a theatre, concert hall, library, reading room, canteen and apartments for the manager and administrative supervision. Since then, the Orangery has permanently become the main place of cultural and social meetings for the residents of Radzyń.

For a certain period, until 1968, the Orangery also housed the "Radzynianka" restaurant.

After the war, the "Jelonek Cinema" operated in the orangery building, while the other part of the building housed the "Radzynianka" restaurant, run by the General Consumer Cooperative, until 1968.

Powiatowy dom kultury i Radzyński Dom Kultury

Kino Jelonek i Kino Oranżeria

Restauracja Radzynianka

Klub ursa

Galeria "Oranżeria"

Dni Karola Lipińskiego

Przegląd piosenki - Oranżeria, Rockowisko,

Warsztaty teatralne

In the past, the Orangery served many functions, currently Radzyń Cultural Centre is located there. It was possible to grow many exotic plants in that place, mainly lemons and oranges, it also served as a winter garden. It would be a place for upper class gatherings, and even theatre performances. For almost 200 years, the Palace and Orangery belonged to the magnates and noblemen of Radzyń. After its owner became the State Treasury, the Orangery fell into terrible decline and was used as a warehouse for gardening tools. A group of Radzyń residents wanted to organize a theatre in the Orangery, but their plans were thwarted by World War II, during which the Germans took over and renovated the building, and then established a German House in it, i.e. a club and restaurant for German soldiers. After the war, the "Jelonek Cinema" is organised in the Orangery building, which then functioned as "Kino Oranżeria". Until 1968, in the second part of the Orangery building, the "Radzynianka" restaurant was housed.

Appearance
Fontana was inspired by the project of Jacques-François Blondel // Bourbon palace in France, the Orangery resembles the Orangery in the park near Gross Sedlitz in Germany near Dresden.

At the intersection of the main axis of the park with the street leading from the main road (current Międzyrzecka Street), an Orangery was built, delighting with the craftsmanship of late-baroque architecture. Its plan was built on the basis of the letter T. The side avant-corps of the Orangery facade are decorated with vases and putti. On both sides of the avant-corps there are four porte-fenetre windows symmetrically placed, all closed with a section of arch and topped with delicate rocaille motifs. The windows are high and wide. Their purpose was to provide the plants grown in the Orangery with as much light and warmth as possible, which is why they were always placed on the south side. Clearly visible columns and ionic pilasters support the entablature, which bears carvings depicting Apollo's Chariot. Above the side avant-corps there are two sculptural groups with putti placing vases surrounded by flower garlands. The side walls of the façade are two single-axial pseudo-risals. The main entrance is located in the central avant-corps. From the north, a building serving as a back-up facility for the so-called Gardener's Cottage is adjoing the Orangery. Stairs leading to the gallery of the main part are housed In the extension. The basement is barrel-vaulted, made of brick and plastered. From the west there is a separate single-span vestibule. In the transverse section, there is a two-bay layout with a corridor, the interiors have been completely transformed.

Sculptures
The basic function of the Orangery is related to the content of the sculptures, depicting the harness of Apollo - an ancient Greek god associated with the life-giving sun, and two sculptural groups of putti on the parapets of the pseudo-risalits. Above the central vault, among the clouds, there is an extensive group of Apollo, personifying the passing of the day, wearing a cloak flowing, behind his back coat, sitting on a chariot (currently the right wheel is broken), drawn by three horses, originally holding the reins. At the edges of the composition there are putti personifying Night and Day (or Twilight and Morning). Above the extreme avant-corps, on the sections of the attic, there are two compositionally similar figural groups with a trio of putti and a vase. The western one has a vase in the centre of the composition, held by a standing putto, on a small cornified pedestal decorated with a flower branch, with concave walls that flow into volutes. On the edges, next to Rocaille cartouches, there is a pair of putti: on the left it is most likely a girl with an incorrectly reconstructed boy's head, in a strong stance, holding a flower branch in her right hand and holding a cartouche with her left; the right putto (boy) is holding grape branches with both hands. The eastern group has a tilted vase in the centre, decorated with a flower branch, similar to the previously described pedestal, with a kneeling putto attached to it. At the edges, next to the Rocaille cartouches, there is a pair of puttos that push with their legs, pulling on ropes originally attached to a no longer preserved element, probably to the top of the vase or a carved orange tree growing out of the vase. In the handles of the left putt, the line has not been preserved, but it is partially visible in the right boy's. The putto above the western avant-corps can be interpreted as the seasons: spring (leftmost), summer (middle) and autumn (rightmost). The putti above the eastern avant-corps can be interpreted as a group personification of Garden Works. Redler's sculptures decorating the Potocki residence in Radzyń are unique on a European scale and the most valuable element of the palace and park complex.