About This Location
This is a mobile audio guide. The map in the app helps with navigation between stops. Audio starts playing automatically when the next spot is reached, using GPS. Use headphones if that feels more comfortable. Now, it is time to explore the place itself. The Royal Castle in Warsaw has been a symbol of power for centuries. It began as a fortified residence of the Dukes of Mazovia. When Warsaw became the main seat of the Polish rulers, the castle grew into a royal home and a center of government. King Sigismund III Vasa, who moved the capital from Kraków to Warsaw in the late 16th century, gave the castle its new role and much of its early modern shape. This was not only a palace. It was also the stage for some of Poland’s most important political moments. The Sejm met here, and in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May was adopted in the castle’s Senatorial Hall - one of the first modern constitutions in Europe. Under King Stanisław August Poniatowski in the 18th century, the interiors became famous for art, theater, and ideas. Some of the rooms still echo that world of court ceremony and Enlightenment debate. The building seen today carries a dramatic wartime story. The castle was heavily damaged in 1939, stripped of artworks and decorations, and then deliberately destroyed by the German occupiers after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. For years, the site stood in ruins. Reconstruction finally began on a large scale in 1971, supported by public donations from Poland and abroad. By the 1980s, the castle returned as a museum and a national landmark, with recreated halls, restored details, and collections that include paintings by Rembrandt. Before moving on, take a moment to notice the castle’s long façade, the clock tower, and the wide Castle Square. Nearby stands Sigismund’s Column, raised in the 17th century, one of Warsaw’s most recognizable monuments. This is a place where Warsaw’s royal splendor, political history, destruction, and recovery all meet in one view.