The south façade across the pond, reflected in the water
The palace across the pond in autumn
The burnt-out south façade after the Germans set the palace on fire
The gutted palace across the pond after the war
Art historian Marek Kwiatkowski, the palace's curator since 1960, in front of the rebuilt palace
The south façade seen from the terrace in front of it, with the fountain
The south façade across the pond today
The Palace on the Isle in Royal Łazienki Park began as a bathhouse built for Prince Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski to a design by Tylman Gamerski in the 1680s. Between 1764 and 1795 Domenico Merlini rebuilt it for King Stanisław August Poniatowski into a classicist summer residence standing in the lake. After the Warsaw Uprising the Germans set its interiors on fire and drilled holes in the walls for explosives, but never blew it up. It was rebuilt under Jan Dąbrowski: the ground-floor rooms reopened in 1960 and the first floor in 1965.