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Exhibition “Oriental Paradise. Turkish Influence in the Polish Gardens” | 18 September–17 December 2023

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Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów invites to a temporary exhibition about Turkish motifs in the garden art of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. We present plant models and presentations of several tents and garden pavilions inspired by the Orient.

Gardens were one of the most important areas of cultural exchange between the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. Centuries-old political, diplomatic and commercial contacts influenced Poles’ particular interest in the nature, art and architecture of the Orient. This phenomenon was reflected in gardens where many species of ornamental and exotic plants from that region were planted and grown. These sites also included valuable Turkish tents and decorative pavilions in the form of mosques, minarets, kiosks and baths. The exhibition presents their most important examples to remind about the unique importance of Turkish influences for the heritage of the Polish gardens.

One of the main manifestations of Turkish influence in the Polish gardens are plants imported from the areas of the former Ottoman Empire from the 16th century onwards. They were dominated by tulips distinguished by their exceptional beauty and diversity. Imperial fritillaries with flowers resembling a royal crown were also appreciated. Mediterranean plants such as citrus, fig and rosemary played an important role; they used to be collected due to their wide use in medicine and cooking. The realistic models on display show sixteen plant species that are still commonly grown in Polish gardens today.

The next part of the exhibition presents images of Turkish tents exhibited in the gardens of the palace in Wilanów, Powązki and Puławy. Tents were brought to Poland as trade gifts or spoils from war expeditions. Due to their enormous value, they were set up in the gardens for special occasions or temporarily, in the summer season. During grand celebrations and outdoor performances, they evoked the atmosphere of the distant Orient. Tents of this kind were made by tent masters of cloth, canvas and leather. Their internal surfaces were decorated with intricate patterns of silk threads, tapes, embroidery and applications. The basic structural elements were poles with spines or panaches with horse tails, balls or crescents.

Finally, visitors can get acquainted with the most interesting examples of pavilions designed by eminent architects such as Szymon Bogumił Zug and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many garden structures referring to the themes of broadly understood oriental style were erected in Poland. They reflected the image of the architecture of the Middle East, inspired by travel accounts and illustrated lexicons, templates and catalogues. They used to feature mosques and minarets, kiosks and baths. These objects were most often erected over ponds or in places overlooking the water, because the Ottoman Empire was conceived as a maritime state. They not only fulfilled the compositional role of the gardens, but were also used as places to admire the views, have rest and entertainment.

The exhibition was prepared on the occasion of the 17th International Congress of Turkish Art (ICTA), co-organised by the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów and the University of Warsaw. The congress took place from 18 to 21 September 2023.

The Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów is actively involved in activities aimed at environmental protection and sustainable development. That is why most of elements of the exhibition were made of environmentally friendly materials. After the exhibition is finished, they will be used by the Museum again or recycled. We will thus significantly reduce the consumption of natural resources and the amount of waste, and consequently the negative impact on the environment.


Duration: 18 September–17 December 2023

Place: Palace, display ground floor near the bookstore

Admission: included in the palace ticket

Download free publication for the exhibition:


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The exhibition was co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the task “Co-financing the final part of the documentation and exhibition project, devoted, among others, to the old manuscripts of the Polish-Lithuanian Tatars”



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2023-08-30
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