Gorecki Palace in Vilnius, photo dr hab. Anna Sylwia Czyż, prof. ucz., 2016, all rights reserved
Źródło: Repozytorium Instytutu Polonika
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gorecki Palace in Vilnius
Gorecki Palace in Vilnius, photo dr hab. Anna Sylwia Czyż, prof. ucz., 2016, all rights reserved
Źródło: Repozytorium Instytutu Polonika
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gorecki Palace in Vilnius
Gorecki Palace in Vilnius, photo dr hab. Anna Sylwia Czyż, prof. ucz., 2016, all rights reserved
Źródło: Repozytorium Instytutu Polonika
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gorecki Palace in Vilnius
Gorecki Palace in Vilnius, photo dr hab. Anna Sylwia Czyż, prof. ucz., 2016, all rights reserved
Źródło: Repozytorium Instytutu Polonika
Fotografia przedstawiająca Gorecki Palace in Vilnius
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ID: POL-001460-P

Gorecki Palace in Vilnius

ID: POL-001460-P

Gorecki Palace in Vilnius

The palace is located at the junction of Dominikańska and Szklana II Streets (Dominikonų g., Gaono g.), opposite the residence of the Brzostowski family, in the vicinity of the Holy Trinity and Holy Spirit Churches. On the same thoroughfare (Świętojańska-Dominikańska-Trocka), the Radziwiłłs, Pacs, Wojnas and Sapiehs had their palaces.

In the 16th century, on the site of the future palace of the Goreckis, there stood a two-storey brick building, called Wincentowska, which was under the jurisdiction of the city. In 1603, the building belonged to Teodor Lacki (d. 1616), a hussar captain and Lithuanian field writer, who also practised alchemy. The triangular-shaped plot of land was occupied by a two-storey basement building on a north-south axis. Lacki added to it along Szklana Street the second east wing, which had an arcade in the ground floor from the courtyard. Both parts were single-aisle.

In 1636, the real estate was owned by Teodor Lacki's son, Jan Alfons (d. 1646), castellan (1634) and later starosta of Samogitia (1643), benefactor of the Dominicans, founder of the church for this order in Vysoký Dvůr, where he was buried in the presence of Władysław IV.

In 1649, the next possessor, Samuel Jan Lacki (born c. 1620), sold the residence to the Jesuits. The tenement was rented by the monks, and the income was used primarily for the benefit of the nearby Vilnius Academy. The mostly one-room flats with kitchens and storerooms also organised in the cellars were kept by craftsmen. In 1748, the building was destroyed in the great fire of the city. Already at that time, the complex of buildings located on an unshaped plot of land was organised around two courtyards. The first, on the side of Dominikańska Street, resembled a triangle in plan, and was larger and enclosed. The second one opened onto Szklana II Street.

From 1775, the building belonged to Valentin Gorecki (ca. 1740 - before 1819), a wealthy and active actor of the Lida district, the local treasurer (from 1778), court administrator (1791), and finally a member of the Sejm (1784) and an officer of the Vilnius Voivodeship (1790/91), a devoted participant of the Kościuszko Uprising. Walenty Gorecki, a member of the freemasons' lodges The Good Shepherd, and later Excellent Unity, also dabbled in poetry, and after the Kościuszko Uprising, with his wife Anna, née Reutt (d. 1829), continued to live in Vilnius, working as a lawyer.

On his instructions, the building was extensively rebuilt between 1775 and 1790, probably by Martin Knackfus. The main body and wings were added one storey, and the second courtyard was closed off by erecting an outbuilding, not connected with the palace, along Second Glass Street. The Classicist façade with a risalit accentuated with a pseudo-portico, decorated with sculptural medallions with profile busts, which is one of the most characteristic façades of the palace in Vilnius, was created at that time. The pseudo-portico with pilasters in the great order, with Ionic capitals, embraces the gate, so it was not placed on the axis. However, such shaping is adapted to the rising terrain of Dominikanska Street. By blocking the side axis with blind windows, the view from the street entrance is accentuated and the façade itself becomes more monumental and symmetrical.

The Goreckis did not enjoy the palace for long. In March 1807, they sold it to the "famous Mejer bakers and citizens of the city of Vilnius". After 1835, it passed into the hands of their relatives: Karol Anczyc and Fryderyk Mejer. In 1909-1911 the palace was reconstructed. At that time, wide window displays were made in the ground floor of the façade, adapting the lower rooms to the commercial standards of the time. At the same time, i.e. in 1910, the editorial office of the magazine "Goniec Codzienny" was installed in the body of the former palace. Nowadays, it houses private flats, a restaurant and various institutions, including the museum: Anastasijos ir Antano Tamošaičių galerijos "Židinys". The entrance to the ethnographic museum leads through a circular extension that originally housed a water intake. It was extracted from the Wingra spring, located in the Trakai suburb. The water was brought to Vilnius through special pipes, and the intake still existed in the house of Teodor Lacki, on the site of which the Gorecki Palace was built.

Elaborated. Anna Sylwia Czyż

Time of origin:
16th-17th centuries, 1775-1790s
Creator:
Marcin Knackfus (architekt; Polska, Litwa)(preview)
Bibliography:
  • A.R. Čaplinskas, Vilniaus gatvių istorija. Didžioji gatvė, Vilnius 2002, 178-180.
  • A.S. Czyż, Pałace Wilna XVII-XVIII wieku, Warszawa 2021, 213-220.
Keywords:
Publikacja:
01.08.2024
Ostatnia aktualizacja:
01.08.2024
Author:
dr hab. Anna Sylwia Czyż, prof. ucz.
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