| Commission Palace | |
|---|---|
 The Palace of the Government Commission of Revenues and Treasury at Bank Square | |
 Interactive map of the Commission Palace area | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Location | plac Bankowy 3/5 |
| Current tenants | |
| Construction started | 1823 |
| Completed | 1825; 201 years ago (1825) |
| Inaugurated | 1954 |
| Renovated | 1919–1921 |
| Destroyed | 1939 |
| Client | Ministry of Revenues and Treasury ofCongress Poland |
| Other information | |
| Public transit access |  Ratusz Arsenał |
| Designated | 1994-09-08 |
| Part of | Warsaw – historic city center with the Royal Route and Wilanów |
| Reference no. | M.P. 1994 nr 50 poz. 423[1] |
ThePalace of the Government Commission of Revenues and Treasury (Polish:Pałac Komisji Rządowej Przychodów i Skarbu) is located at 3/5Bank Square inWarsaw. It is sometimes simply referred to as theCommission Palace. Currently it is not the home to the named ministry, but serves as Warsaw's officialcity hall, the seat of theMayor of Warsaw and the office of theVoivode of theMasovian Voivodeship.[2]
In the middle of the 17th Century, a residence was built forChancellor Jan Leszczyński which was probably designed by the Italian architectGiovanni Battista Gisleni. In the second half of the 18th century the palace was owned byJózef Potocki, and then by the Zieliński family. The palace was fundamentally rebuilt from 1823 to 1825 byAntonio Corazzi inneo-classical form as the base of the Ministry of Revenues and Treasury for its ministerFranciszek Ksawery Drucki-Lubecki. There was the Stock Exchange, the Minister's Palace as well as the Ministry building all adjacent to each other.[3]
From 1829 to 1831, Polish romantic poetJuliusz Słowacki worked here as an official.
From 1919 to 1921 the buildings were renovated under the direction ofMarian Lalewicz for the Ministry of Treasury.
During theinvasion of Poland in 1939 the palace was burnt after being hit by German bombs and during theWarsaw Uprising it was almost completely destroyed, however some walls stayed intact.
After the war, it was rebuilt in its neo-classical form under the supervision of architect Piotr Biegański and began its current role.
The three-storey palace is located on a horseshoe-shaped floor plan around a main central courtyard. The six-columnedCorinthianportico dominates. The sculptures in thetympanum of this portico are byPaweł Maliński and represent allegories of wisdom (Minerva), industry (Jason), trade (Mercury), and theVistula andBug rivers. The second level above the running frieze includes cherubs and garlands probably by M. Vincenti.[4]
The side wings of the palace help form the courtyard and are in the style of the main building. Overlooking Bank Square there is only two floors, both wings are also narrower than the main wing. The wings are each of a stepped gable nature.
In front of the one wing is a monument toJuliusz Słowacki, designed byEdward Wittig (actually designed in 1932), and unveiled in 2001 to replace a statue toFelix Dzerzhinsky (by Zbigniew Dunajewski).
Plaques placed on the ground floor of the building between the arcades commemorate:
52°14′35″N21°0′3″E / 52.24306°N 21.00083°E /52.24306; 21.00083