Wielopolski Palace
The Wielopolski Palace in Kraków, Poland, today houses the Kraków City Council and the office of the city president. It is located between All Saints Square and Deputies Street, the official address of the City Hall.
The palace was built from 1535 to 1560 for Hetman Jan Tarnowski. After Tarnowski’s death in 1561, it passed to the Ostrogski and Zamoyski families. From the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s it was owned by the Wielopolski family, who allowed parts of the building to be used for public events. The palace hosted theatre performances and art exhibitions, including Piotr Michałowski’s painting studio.
In 1850 the building was badly damaged by a Kraków fire, and the Wielopolski family sold it. Wojciech Kowalski repaired the structure, and in 1857 he leased it to Ferdinand von Winter, a Viennese entrepreneur, who ran a popular café there called Café Winter. The interiors were redesigned for masquerade balls and musical evenings, and the rooms were later leased to a photo studio run by Ignacy Mażka and Napoleon Gross.
Kraków Municipality bought the palace in 1864. Restoration work, led by architect Paweł Barański, took place from 1865 to 1868. A new Council Chamber was created on the second floor, with furniture by Filip Pokutyński. The hall walls were decorated with carved busts of Polish kings, and a gallery of portraits of the city’s presidents was added. The first floor housed municipal offices and the mayor’s office.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:55 (CET).