View of the Orangery

Post card issued around the year 1930 with a view of the classical revival building of the castle Orangery and a portion of the castle with the so-called Chicken Foot at the end of the western façade. This three-level tower, a copy of the Wawel castle tower, was was erected in 1903 during the great reconstruction of the castle done under the third ordinary, count Roman Potocki and his wife Elżbieta in 1889-1912. The Orangery, neighbouring it, was built in 1799-1802 according to a design by Christian Piotr Aigner, and was decorated in moulding by Fryderyk Bauman. It is first mentioned, specifically with respect to information concerning its construction plans, in private correspondence of the then-contemporary owner of the property, with duchess Izabella Lubomirska nee Czartoryska with son-in-law Stanisław Kostka Potocki. The graphical designs for the Orangery, as signed by Aigner, were most likely prepared between 1798 and 1799. Its construction was a component of a broad undertaking to transform the defensive structure into a palace residence surrounded by newly-created gardens. Architecturally speaking, however, the building diverges somewhat from the project selected by Lubomirska (the project lacks a western portal, there are differences in the arrangement of the northern and southern façades, as well as differences in window shapes). Hence, the concept of the already approved project must have been changed in course of the construction work. A component that distinguishes the Orangery of Łańcut is the presence of two architectural orders: the Ionic order (portal) and the Corinthian order (pilasters). In line with its purpose, the building was used to grow exotic plants. The actual orangery room took up a ground floor across a height of two levels, with an entrance along the axis of both façades as well as hallways and storerooms with entrances along the side axes of the northern façade. From the hall of the eastern part of the building, a stairway led to an upper floor that was half as high as the ground floor. In the upper floor there were four rooms and separate changing rooms. During the expansion of the castle between the 19th and the 20th centuries, the Orangery was linked on the eastern side with the first floor of the castle with an arcade passage. Until that time, several refurbishment work courses were completed. The photograph was made from the side of the stone footbridge constructed in the beginning of the 20th century, at the location of the old fig house. Joanna Kluz