Łazienki Park
| Royal Baths | |
|---|---|
Chopin monument (top left), Monument to John III Sobieski (top right), Palace on the Isle (bottom left) and Central Promenade (bottom right). | |
| Type | Municipal |
| Location | Warsaw |
| Area | 76 ha |
| Created | 1918 |
| Status | Open all year |
| Public transit access | Łazienki Królewskie, Plac na Rozdrożu |
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Łazienki Park, or the Royal Baths Park (Polish: Park Łazienkowski, Łazienki Królewskie), is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in the Downtown district, on Ujazdów Avenue, which is part of the Royal Route linking the Royal Castle with Wilanów Palace to the south.
In the mid-16th century the Łazienki area became part of the estates of Queen Bona Sforza, who ordered the construction of a wooden manor house with an Italian garden. In 1624 King Sigismund III Vasa erected, north of the present Łazienki Park, the quadrilateral stone Ujazdów Castle.
Most of the Łazienki Park buildings were originally designed in the 17th century by Tylman van Gameren in the Baroque style for military commander Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski, including an ornate bathing pavilion that eventually gave its name to the gardens. In 1764 King Stanisław II August obtained Ujazdów and extensively remodeled the gardens. In 1918, following Poland's resumption of independence, Łazienki was officially designated a public park.
The park's flora and fauna include over 9,500 trees and populations of peafowl and red squirrels. Bordering the park's southern side is the Belweder, a historic palace and now one of the official residences of the President of Poland.