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Goluchow - Southern Wielkopolska.
About 1560 Rafal Leszczyñski built a renaissance fortified manor house, which was subsequently altered into a two-winged chateau with an arcade overlooking the courtyard. It was in Goluchow where, in 1555, Calvinists from Malopolska met with Czech Brethren from Wielkopolska to discuss the union of the two faiths. In 1581 a charter was written down in Goluchow granting the Czech Brethren a parish church together with its possessions. At the beginning of the 17th century the chateau was enlarged. However, after 1695 this splendid building fell into disrepair. After it was sold by the Leszczynskis it kept changing hands until in 1853 the estate was bought by Tytus Dzialynski from Kornik for his son Jan. In 1856 Jan Dzialynski began work on the restoration of the castle. It was completed by his wife Izabela Dzialynska nee Czartoryska. The castle, rebuilt in the years 1872 - 1885, housed a museum famed for its magnificent collection of Greek vases, paintings, military accessories and objects of ancient craft, among them enamel utensils from Limoges. Exhibits from all over Europe were kept in the Lambert Hotel in Paris before being displayed in Go³uchów. Until 1939 it was one of the biggest private museums in Europe.
The castle is surrounded by a picturesque park created in the second half of the 19th century on the initiative of count Jan Dzialynski, whose ideas were for decades carried out by Adam Kubaszewski.
Until the Second World War Goluchow remained the property of the Czartoryskis. During the war the museum was looted and the monumental church in the vicinity of the park gate was destroyed. Since 1951 the castle has been part of the National Museum in Poznan.
The castle in Goluchow belongs to the most famous and best preserved ancient residences in Poland. Its story, bound with the fates of the renowned Leszczynskis, Dzialynskis and Czartoryskis families, is part of Polish history and culture.
The castle belongs to the most magnificent monuments in the region. Built about 1560 in place of the old fortified manor house, the castle was largely rebuilt in the years 1872 - 1875, when it assumed its new shape designed by Zygmunt Gorgolewski and Maurycy Ouradou. Its facade is in the style of the French castles on the Loire. Many authentic architectural details purchased by Izabela Dzialynska in antique shops all over Europe were used for its decoration:
late gothic and renaissance fireplaces, portals, shutters, etc. The castle houses a museum, where a collection of Greek vases, works of craft, paintings and woven fabrics can be admired. At present the castle is part of the National Museum in Poznan.