Old Orangery, Lazienki

The Old Orangery was built in the 1780s for Stanislaw August Poniatowski, the last Polish king, to over-winter citrus and other tender plants, and into one wing of it was fitted a court theatre. That theatre survives essentially as built - painted interior, boxes, a trompe-l'oeil audience of spectators frescoed on the walls, and, more unusually, its original wooden under-stage machinery for moving scenery and producing effects. Very few eighteenth-century theatres anywhere in Europe kept that equipment; most were rebuilt or burned. The rest of the building holds the Royal Sculpture Gallery, casts and originals collected under the king, and the long plant hall is still used for orangery display. It sits in Lazienki, the park the king laid out around his palace on the water, which is the other reason to come and which has red squirrels and free peacocks in it.

What you actually see

• The court theatre of the 1780s - painted boxes and a frescoed audience on the walls.
• Original stage machinery - wooden under-stage mechanisms, rare anywhere in Europe.
• The Royal Sculpture Gallery - casts and originals from the king's collection.
• The plant hall - still used as an orangery.

When to go

All year. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The theatre is often viewable only from the entrance or on a timed tour, and it closes for performances. Photography is restricted. Lazienki itself is very busy on summer Sundays when the Chopin concerts run.

Nearby

The Palace on the Isle and the rest of Lazienki are around it.