Pod Baranami “Under The Rams” Mansion

This city residence was established in the 16th century by amalgamating two mediaeval houses. It owes its present shape to the numerous transformations and changes of both façades and interiors. The last and most profound of those was begun in the spirit of late classicism in the mid-19th century. It was then that a new balcony was appended, and supported on console brackets with the heads of rams. This is how the ancient sign of one of the houses that used to stand here – two rams with a single head – returned to the building.

The cellars and rooms of the ground floor have preserved Gothic cross-ribbed vaulting from the 15th century. In mid-16th century, the mansion’s courtyard was enclosed with a partially open, arcaded gallery in Renaissance style. The rooms of the first floor have preserved a rich classicist decoration in the style of Louis XVI from the second half of the 18th century.

During its several hundred years of history, the mansion – referred to as “a palace” in Polish – has belonged to many families of magnates including Ostrogskis and Radziwiłłs. Since 1822 – apart from the period from 1939 to 1990 – it has remained the property of the Potocki family. The numerous guests who sojourned in the Mansion include Tsarevich of Russia Alexei, son of Peter the Great, the candidate to the Polish Throne, Prince Józef Poniatowski (in 1809), the Duke of Warsaw Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (in 1810), and the Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph I (in 1880) and his son, Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (in 1887).

In spring 1956, the Cabaret Piwnica pod Baranami – The Vaults under the Rams was set up by Piotr Skrzynecki (1930-1997) and commenced its performances.