The Mniszechs' residence in Wiśniowiec is an example of the architects' and principals' struggle with the existing form. The presence of fortifications required an individual, well-considered approach to the transformation, especially in the 18th century, when prestige considerations made it necessary to have a large-scale establishment with a representative seat, outbuildings and garden. The above palace establishment remains one of the most important residences associated with the Marshall family of the Mniszechs - a somewhat forgotten family, but one which at the time belonged to the top political and cultural elite in the Republic.

From the Wiśniowieckis to the Mniszechs
Wiśniowiec on the Horyn River has been mentioned in sources since the 14th century. Originally, the seat of the estate's owners was occupied by a wooden manor, whose establishment is associated with Dmitry Korybut. The duke's descendants, who later adopted the surname of the Wiśniowiecki family, ruled the estate in the following centuries (a temporary change occurred in 1575-1596, during the marriage of the Volyn voivode Alexandra, née Wiśniowiecka, to Duke Jerzy Czartoryski). Around 1640, the manor house was replaced by a brick building, erected on the initiative of the Ruthenian Voivode Jeremi Michał Wiśniowiecki - the founder of the nearby Discalced Carmelite monastery.

Subsequent reconstructions took place at the beginning of the 18th century (when the body flanked by two symmetrical alcoves on the side of the escarpment was formed) and in the years 1720-1732. The result of the work carried out in the latter phase was the creation of a body whose character remains clear to this day. The modifications were initiated by the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Prince Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki, and executed by the French architect and major Jacques Daprès Blangey. The most important modification was the addition of two-storey L-shaped side wings to the main body (thanks to which the façade from the side of the courtyard was visually monumentalised). The main and side entrances were preceded by column porticoes. Significantly, the palace together with the outbuildings and regular garden were situated in the centre of the bastion complex.

The Wiśniowiec Palace was inherited by the granddaughter of Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki, Katarzyna née Zamoyska. From 1741, the magnate was married to Jan Karol Mniszch, as a result of which the palace became the property of his family. At the time of the Grand Chamberlain of Lithuania, no significant interventions were made in the architectural structure of the residence - its form fully corresponded to the fashion of the time and the large scale of the two-storey building satisfied the needs of the owners. It is worth mentioning that one of the most interesting stages in the history of Wiśniowiec was the time of Jan Karol's son, Michał Jerzy Mniszch, who made the residence his main residence. The magnate - an advocate of classicism - commissioned a number of reconstruction projects, most of which, however, did not live to see realisation. A famous episode from the times of Michał Jerzy Mniszch was the visit of King Stanisław August, who stopped in Wiśniowiec during his journey to Kaniów to meet Tsarina Catherine II in 1787.

The 18th-century residence. Interior splendour
During the time of Jan Karol Mniszech, the functional layout of the rooms was subordinated both to the current needs of living and to representative functions. The architectural form was preserved, but care was taken to change and supplement the furnishings by, among other things, importing furniture and works of art from other Mniszech residences (including Laszki Brick and Javorov). The entrance from the courtyard led to the main hallway, the walls of which were decorated with 45,000 Dutch tiles in white and blue. The most representative space in the palace was the hall, located on the axis of the building, in the southern course and connected to two symmetrical galleries. The walls were covered with oak wood with pilaster articulation, enriched with mirrors and gilded, carved ornaments. Heraldic motifs were introduced above the arcades connecting the central hall with the galleries and above the semicircular closed windows. The interior was illuminated by crystal and wooden candlesticks. Parade suites were located in the eastern and western parts of the corpus.

The staircase on the eastern side of the grand hallway led to the representative piano nobile. Upon entering the first floor, one could see a collection of portraits depicting princes Aleksander and Jakub Sobieski (with whom Jozef Wandalin Mniszech - Jan Karol's father - grew up together), as well as a painting with the scene of John III Sobieski's battle of Vienna. One of the most interesting rooms on the second floor was the library, equipped with cabinets for storing books and documents. It also displayed a collection of 66 maps showing various countries, as well as plans of cities (Warsaw, Wiśniowiec) and his own residences - including the gardens in Wiśniowiec and Łozy. During the reign of Michał Jerzy Mniszch, the decoration was supplemented by the addition of new portraits - a list from 1828 confirms the presence in the library of paintings depicting Voltaire and Monteskiusz, among others.

The Wiśniowiecki Palace was part of a broader spatial context - the garden and outbuildings with residential and domestic functions were an integral part of the residential complex. The latter included buildings housing a patisserie, a cupboard, a kitchen, two pantries and a bakery. A challenge remained the presence of the former fortifications, which limited the possibilities of developing a representative programme and meant that the garden was located on the side of the palace (rather than on its axis). Regular Italian-type plots were established closest to the residence, while more freely composed greenery and an orchard were located further away. The garden did not lack pavilions with recreational functions - one of them was the so-called Mniszchówna gazebo. The building, with a three-axis façade, with arcades separated by doubled Ionic pilasters, had a light, openwork structure. The character of the pavilion is captured not only in pre-war photographs, but also in a design and inventory drawing from around 1815, created in connection with the planned transformations that were to result in a change of style to a more austere - classicist - style.

Decline and rebirth, or the fate of the palace
The heyday of Wiśniowiec came to an end in the 19th century, after Andrzej Mniszch left the residence. The mobiles and works of art left in the palace were largely dispersed. Individual volumes were exported to Russia, and some of the books were identified in manors in Podolia and Volhynia in the second half of the 19th century. Of the later owners of the estate, it is worth mentioning Count Włodzimierz Stanisław Broel-Plater (who attempted, among other things, to save and enlarge the Wiśniowiecki book collection) and the banker and industrialist Jan Toll, who in turn exported a large number of works to Kiev, together with copies of royal letters and historical documents and manuscripts from the Radziwiłł, Zbaraski, Potocki and Krasicki family archives. Eventually, the interior decoration, along with elements of the furnishings, were mostly destroyed or dispersed during World War One. Some of the works of art can now be admired in museum collections.

Fortunately, the history of the mansion did not end with the destruction and has another chapter. Thanks to the decision to establish a museum, thorough renovation and revitalisation works were started, and at the same time elements of furnishings began to be imported - furniture obtained from destroyed palaces, paintings or copies of paintings which (according to inventories) decorated the palace in the times of the Mniszechs.