Information about the facility:
The palace and park complex in Podhorce is one of the most magnificent residences of the Polish aristocracy in the eastern lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, with a landscape park in French and English style, which, due to its present condition, has been included on the New York World Monuments Fund list as one of the most valuable monuments in the world threatened with destruction. The historical fabric of the park space and the compositional layout have been almost completely obliterated.

Podhorce is located about 100 km east of Lviv, on the border of the picturesque Voronezh range and the valleys of the upper Styr and Bug rivers. The estate was built to a design by Andrea dell'Aqua, in the type of a palazzo in fortezza. It comprises: the palace, the Church of St. Joseph and the Elevation of the Holy Cross and, once situated between the palace and the church, the extraordinary palace gardens, consisting of a terrace section, a landscape section and a regular garden.

The palace was built in the second half of the 1730s for Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski and belonged to the family for three generations. It was extended after the Tartar invasions of 1648 and 1651 by his son Aleksander, who bequeathed the Podhoretsk estate to the Sobieski family. In the second half of the 18th century, for nearly three decades Podhorce was the seat of Hetman Wacław Rzewuski, who gradually extended the estate. In 1865 the palace became the possession of the Sanguszkos. During the times of the Rzewuskis and Sanguszkos, a sizeable collection of paintings and militaria was created here (including several dozen hussar armours). The Podhoretsk collection was taken away by its owners during the First World War. The most valuable part of the collection was once again evacuated in 1939 and, after numerous adventures, found itself in Brazil, together with the last owner of Podhorzec, Prince Roman Sanguszko. The Second World War was followed by a gradual devastation of this unique monument. The Soviet authorities placed a hospital in the palace, and in 1956 a large fire destroyed the interiors and brought the whole building to ruin. The former palace collections are now scattered in several institutions, mainly in the Lviv National Art Gallery, the Museum in Tarnów and the Wawel Royal Castle. The palace and park complex in Podhorce itself is a branch of the Boris Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery.

Completed works:

2022
The task consisted in a thorough reconnaissance of the castle foundation in Podhorce, research of the church, the chapel and the sculptures and details in the castle.

In the course of the research, salvage and conservation work was carried out on the most demanding elements. The research included the most valuable historic elements still preserved in the castle interior, in its surroundings, as well as on and in the church. These included the castle chapel with the remains of its rich decoration, the stone portals, the fireplaces inside the castle, the chapels and columns surrounding the castle and church, the sculptures and architectural detail on the church façade and the frescoes inside the church.

Thanks to conservation research, it was possible to develop conservation projects for the individual monuments. Thanks to these activities and an agreement with the administrator of the site (the Lviv National Art Gallery), it was also possible to use the developed proposals and assumptions to obtain the relevant permits according to local law.

2023
The task, carried out in a two-year mode, consists in the preparation of documentation for the park establishment in Podhorce, which covers approximately 20.0 hectares of land with the castle and church. The following is planned for 2023: preparation of a map for inventory and design purposes, carrying out archive searches in Ukraine and Poland, detailed inventory of trees and shrubs, conducting dendrological and dendrochronological analyses, developing guidelines for the care of individual trees and shrub groups. These studies will be the starting material for the design concept for the restoration of the former park and urban layout (planned for 2024), including, among other things, species selections for the restoration of the former avenues and the layout of the garden plots - the basis for future restoration work.

Funding: Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage "Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad".

More about the project: https://polonika.pl

https://polonika.pl

• Stowarzyszenie na rzecz ochorny dziedzictwa kulturowego "Kon-takt", realizacja w roku 2022
• Fundacja Krajobrazy, realizacja w latach 2023-2024