Oblęgorek

Description

fot.Paweł Pierściński

It differs somehow from other stops on the Zagnańsk-Samsonów-Bobrza-Oblęgorek itinerary as it is not exclusively associated with metallurgical industry. Oblęgorek owes its fame to the Henryk Sienkiewicz Museum. In 1900, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his literary work, Henryk Sienkiewicz could move into a little palace situated in a scenic park. It was acquired from its owner thanks to donations of the writer"s compatriots.
The eclectic building with a round tower was raised in the years 1900-1902 according to the project by architect Hugon Kudowa, while the park was designed by the autor of the Warsaw Botanical Garden. Henryk Sienkiewicz lived in Warsaw, but he used to bring his family to Oblęgorek each summer in the years 1902-1914. Here were written many fragments of his popular novel entitled W pustyni i w puszczy (In Desert and Wilderness). In 1948 the writer"s children turned the palace over to the state in order to create a museum, which was opened ten years later. Very faithfully were recreated the rooms on the ground floor, while the upper floor housed a display of biographic and literary character; it presents the writer"s literary achievements, jubilee gifts, manuscripts and his novels translated into many languages. The best proof of the writer"s international acclaim was the Nobel Prize granted to him for his great novel Quo vadis in 1905.