Day Trip from Warsaw
As we drove along the small country roads, we were surrounded by corn and wheat fields and familiar-looking threshing and harvesting equipment.
This
could have been a scene from my homeland in Nebraska,
but instead we were about 100 kilometers north of Warsaw in the middle of Poland. Yes, Dorothy, you’re not in
Nebraska anymore.
After
visiting the medieval Castle of the Dukes of Mazovia (Zamek Książąt Mazowieckich) in Ciechanów,
we continued on our Polish adventure to find the “Little Castle in Opinogóra.” Opinogóra, a tiny village of 630 residents,
is located 8 km north of Ciechanów and doesn’t look like it’s seen many
English-speaking tourists.
However,
we easily found the neo-Gothic building we were looking for because of its tall
and distinct weathervane. The “castle” originally was built between 1828-1843
for Zygmunt
Krasiński (1812-1859), who is considered one of the three great Polish
romantic poets. The building is called a castle because of its slender tower
and brick walls which gives an appearance of a castle.
According
to the information sheet we were given, Krasiński’s father, General Wincenty
Krasiński, a commander of the Light Horse Guards of Emperor Napoleon, had the
castle built because he wanted his son to return to Poland from political exile
in Switzerland and get married. In 1811, Napoleon granted the Opinogóra estate
together with the title of Count as a reward for the general’s loyalty. After
the defeat of Napoleon, strangely enough, General Krasiński became a loyal
subject of Tsar Alexander I, who acknowledged Krasiński’s title and the right
to the estate.
Inside
the castle, there is a small exhibit featuring memorabilia and paintings of the
Krasiński family. Take note of the Turkish looking carpet as soon as you walk
in.
The
castle, which was destroyed during World War I, stayed in the Krasiński family
until 1940 when the last Count died and later became a state farm in Soviet-occupied
Poland. In the 1950s, rebuilding of the castle finally began thanks to the
Society of Friends of the Ciechanowska Land project. The project was completed
in 1961 and a newly reconstructed mansion behind the castle was opened as the
Museum of Romanticism with exhibits featuring Polish Romanticism and the
Napoleonic era. On the second Sunday of every month, the museum hosts a concert
and poetry reading.
One of the museum's paintings featuring one the many battles against the Tatars. |
A monument dedicated to Zygmunt Krasiński. |
We
would not have visited Opinogóra had we not already been in the area. We took a
quick stroll through the grounds and visited the museum in less than 45
minutes. I thought the castle was pretty to look at from the outside and would
be lovely for wedding photos.
My
husband and I typically shrugged our shoulders and said, “Hey, it’s an
adventure, right?” You never know what you will discover until you get out
there. That’s part of the fun. We plan to see as much of Poland as we can while we are living here.
Stay
tuned for more Polish adventures.
Location:
Opinogóra
Castle and Museum of Romanticism (Muzeum
Romantyzmu)
Zygmunta
Krasińskiego 9
Opinogóra,
Poland
Phone:
+48 23 671 7025
Website: http://www.muzeumromantyzmu.pl/
Admission:
10 PLN
Hours:
May-Sept. 10 a.m.-18:00; Oct.-April 8 a.m.-16:00
6 comments:
i am going to enjoy every one of your polish adventures!
Thanks, Joyce! I'm happy to share! Tourism in Poland is up this year, and I will try and promote it some more. :-)
I'm unlikely to ever get to visit Poland so look forward to your posts.
@Annie, thank you! And I'll continue to enjoy your posts from Turkey. :-)
I am sure you will find lots of gems in Poland. Looking forward to it :))
@Ilke, Thanks! I do have an exploratory sixth sense. :-)
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