Excursion to the Arboretum and Kórnik Castle

The castle in Kórnik is one of the most beautiful historical residences in Greater Poland. For many years it was the property of the Górka and Działyński families, and today it houses the Museum and the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

The castle dates back to the late Middle Ages and was completed in the 1430s. It was originally built on a marshy island surrounded by a moat, with access protected by a drawbridge and a sliding gate.

The present form of the castle dates back to the middle of the 19th century, when its owner, Count Tytus Działyński, decided to rebuild it in the Gothic Revival style.

Count Tytus Działyński, a prominent political activist and patron of the arts, also initiated the collection of old prints and manuscripts (e.g. by Chopin, Mickiewicz, Bonaparte), which over the years became the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The castle garden, originally designed in the French style, was transformed into a park in the Romantic style. At present it is an arboretum of the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences - the oldest and largest in Poland and one of the fourth largest in Europe, covering about 40 hectares and containing more than 3300 taxa of trees and shrubs.

Kórnik Castle, like any decent old residence, has its own ghost - the famous White Lady, in fact Teofila Działyńska, whose portrait by Antoine Pesne can be admired in the dining room.

Wiosenny widok na Zamek w Kórniku Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik Kórnik

 


© Institute of Molecular Physics Polish Academy of Sciences ❖ Design by Dawid Konieczny