::: Social Event :::

On the 27th of July (Wednesday) there is a social event planned. It will be organized in Rogalin, a village about 30 kilometers from Poznań. The buses will leave from the Conference Center at about 6 p.m.

Historical background

In the period 1768-1939 the country seat belonged to Raczyński family. In 1768 the estate was purchased by Kazimierz Raczyński, a general starost of Wielkopolska and crown marshal. During the German occupation in 1939-1945 most of the works of art were stolen and the interiors were devastated. After the World War II it became a division of National Museum in Poznań. In 1991 Edward Bernard Raczyński who was the president of Poland in exile endowed Polish nation with all property. He also established a Raczyński Family Foundation.

Venue

The palace complex, one of the greatest in Wielkopolska, consists of a palace connected to two annexes with galleries, an honour courtyard, a coach-house, a stable, a building of riding-school, a charring yard, the Rogalin’s gallery and a chapel. The Baroque-Classical palace was built by stages. The construction began in the years 1768-1776 in time of Kazimierz Raczyński and the works went on until 1815. The original design is attributed to Jan Fryderyk Knobel, Dominik Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer. In 1774-76 the main part was constructed and then built up in classical style after 1784. The annexes were interconnected with the palace with two semicircular galleries. The riding-school was erected about the year 1820. The stable and the coach-house date from 1768-1776. The Rogalin’s gallery is situated in a building constructed in 1920-12; there are many works of art of painters such as: Paul Delaroche, Claude Monet, Jan Matejko, Jacek Malczewski. In the museum in the palace building there are works of art of Bacciarelli, Canova and Thorwaldsen. The chapel was constructed in 1817-20 in the neoclassical style and it is a copy of Roman temple Maison Carree in Nimes.

The park of a total area of 37 ha consists of French, English and Landscape Park. The park was created in the second half of 18th century. The French park is situated next to the palace. In the vast English park there are three huge famous oaks "Lech", "Czech" and "Rus" of circumferences accordingly: 9,3 m, 6,7 m and 6,2 m. In June 1997 Rogalin Landscape Park was established. Its aim is to protect the old valley of Warta River in the south of Poznań. There are two wildlife sanctuaries: "Krajkowo"" and "Blue carnation in Grzybno". "Krajkowo" is one of the biggest sanctuaries of this kind in the province. It encompasses 160,46 ha of old river-beds and marshy meadows with the biggest lair of grey heron in Wielkopolska situated between Heron Marsh and Small Marsh and Warta River. The protected area is one of the most interesting nature monuments in Poland. It extends along the flooding route of the valley of Warta together with its numerous old river-beds and backwaters. It is known mainly because of abundant occurrences of old, grand oaks - living monuments of nature. This is the biggest natural cluster of so many grand trees that are remnants of the former forest. Today marshy meadows are a mainstay for many birds endangered by the extinction, old river-beds and reservoirs are spawning grounds for many fish species, and the oaks themselves are a mainstay for many species of insects and arachnids scarce in Poland and even in Europe. There are more than 1450 oaks, among them 950 under protection (the biggest cluster in Europe).

The delegates will have a possibility to visit the gallery, a coach-house and an English room of Edward Bernard Raczyński. A nice walk in the park and the old valley of Warta River will help to have an appetite for some examples of traditional Polish (and not only) food that will be served on a recreational clearing accompanied by life music of flute and bassoon trio.