History

The village of Białka near Radzyń Podlaski is first mentioned in historical records in the 15th century. According to those records, the village belonged to the royal estates and was first leased to the Kazanowski family and in 1540 to Mikołaj Mniszch. From the 1680s, the Radzyń estate was owned by the royal secretary, Stanisław August Szczuka. In 1741, the palace was brought a dowry by Maria Kątska (granddaughter of Stanisław August Szczuka) to Eustach Potocki, who built a magnificent late-Baroque palace in Radzyń. At least from the end of the 18th century, the manor grounds in Białka served as a suburban residence for the owners or for the administrator. The residence had a small garden. In 1802, the indebted property was put up for auction and bought by Anna Sapieżyna née Zamoyska, who in 1823 transferred the property to her daughter Anna, wife of Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski.

To avoid confiscation after the November Uprising, the Radzyń estate was sold to Antoni Szlubowski in 1834. Then, as a result of a family division in 1843, Radzyń with several farms (including Białka) was transferred to his son Stanisław Szlubowski, a successful farmer, who multiplied his fortune and who is thought to have erected the existing palace. In 1879, the grange in Białka, separated from the main estates, was inherited by his son Henryk, who settled here and enlarged the palace slightly by adding a kitchen wing and a terrace.

After Henryk's childless death in 1927, Białka was inherited by his niece, Bronisława Doria Dernałowiczowa, daughter of Konstancja Woroniecka née Szlubowska, who ran the grange until World War II. In the years 1944-46, the palace and the farm were badly damaged. Until 1949, the palace housed an orphanage, first run by the Daughters of Charity and then by the State. Since 2006, the palace has been in the hands of private owners. In 2012, the investors received the 2012 Conservation Laurel Award for carrying out a full-scale restoration of the palace and converting it into a guest-house. 

Description

The palace and park complex in Białka is located approximately 3 km north-east of Radzyń Podlaski, on the eastern side of the main road. It is a late Classicist palace, with its front elevation facing north. The building has two storeys and cellars and follows a rectangular floor plan. From the west, it is adjoined by a storied kitchen wing. Its brick walls are covered with plaster. The principal block is covered with a hip roof. The annex has a gable roof. The roofs have sheet metal cladding. On the ground floor, the interiors have an asymmetrical, two-bay layout. On the axis of the front bay, there is a hall with a representative wooden staircase.

In the garden-facing bay, there is a spacious lounge with a door leading to the terrace. In the western part, the bays are separated by a corridor leading to the annexed wing, with a staircase on the side. The front elevation is symmetrical and seven-axial, with a four-column, two-storey Ionian portico crowned with a triangular top with an oculus in the tympanum. The elevation is divided by neatly arranged Ionic pilasters, placed in the corners and on inter-window axes. The pilasters support the entablature, framed with a box cornice. The storeys are divided by a simple string course. The window openings are rectangular – on the ground floor, they are surmounted by surrounds and topped with sections of simplified entablature. On the first floor, the window openings are surmounted by overhanging surrounds. The main entrance follows simplified principles of the Palladian architecture. Similar divisions and architectural details can be seen on the five-axial garden-facing elevation, which is preceded by a terrace. The western elevation (annexed part) is three-axial and topped with a triangular gable, with an entrance on the ground floor and a balcony on the first floor.

The eastern elevation is two-axial, preceded on the first-storey level by a wide avant-corps supported by four pillars. Inside, there are preserved (partially reconstructed) elements of the old decor and furnishings (a wooden staircase, window and door woodwork, parquet floors, wood panelling, facets, plafonds, portals, two stone fireplaces). Next to the palace, there is a preserved park, with remnants of a geometric garden (end of the 18th century) in the eastern part, transformed into a landscape park between the 1840s and 1880s. The main features of the park include linden and chestnut alleys. They line the road leading to the palace and separate the ornamental garden from other gardens. At the front, there is a semi-circular driveway with flower beds. In the northern part of the park, there are the remnants of the grange buildings.

The heritage site can be viewed from the outside, private property

compiled by Bożena Stanek-Lebioda, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin, 25-11-2015

Bibliography

• Fijałkowski D., Kseniak M., Parki wiejskie Lubelszczyzny – stan ochrona i rewaloryzacja biocenotyczna, Warsaw 1982, p. 81.
• Kopciowski D., Maraśkiewicz J., Rudnik S., Wiśniewska A., Żurawicka G., Laur konserwatorski 2012, “Wiadomości Konserwatorskie Województwa Lubelskiego”, vol. 14, 2012, pp. 227-228.
• Kowalik J., Dobra ziemskie Radzyń Podlaski w posiadaniu rodu Szlubowskich, “Radzyński Rocznik Humanistyczny“, vol. 4, 2006, pp. 13-18.
• Kowalik J., Dobra ziemskie Radzyń w rękach Anny z Zamoyskich Sapieżyny [in:] Ziemiaństwo na Lubelszczyźnie III. Panie z dworów i pałaców, vol. 1, ed. Łaszkiewicz H., Lublin 2007, pp. 212-219.
• Kowalik J., Pamiętnik Bronisławy z Woronieckich Doria Dernałowicz, “Radzyński Rocznik Humanistyczny”, vol. 6, 2008, pp. 295-311.
• Niemirka B., Ród Korwin Szlubowskich z Radzynia Podlaskiego, “Radzyński Rocznik Humanistyczny”, vol. 4, 2006, pp. 7-12.