The renaissance baronial castle in Baranów Sandomierski

In the place, where today stands Elegantissima – the most refined among all the castles from the historical land of Sandomierz, there was a small knightly defensive mansion in the middle ages, which, according to documents written by Jan Długosz, was owned by the Baranowski family in the 15th century. Later, at the end of the century, this castle went into the hands of the Kurozwęcki family, who at that time were the wealthiest family in Lesser Poland. Even later, the castle was owned by the Tarnowski and Górka families. In 1569, Stanisław Górka sold the wealth of Baranów to foreman Rafał from Leszno Leszczyński of the Wieniawa family – the same man, who dared to demand a divorce of king Zygmunt August with Barbara Radziwiłłówna 20 years earlier.

After the death of Rafał, the wealth of Baranów was passed down in a will to his son Andrzej, the voivode of brzesko and kujawy. However, the scale of the building constructed by his father didn’t match his ambitions, so in 1591, he decided to expand the castle and construct more wings. This resulted in the creation of a residence which looked very similar to what we know today. Up until recently it was considered, that the expansion was designed by the famous architect Santi Gucci ,but during the recent research, this possibility was ruled out, although there still is a theory, that the project was created by someone, who was influenced by Gucci. In the early 16th century, Baranów Sandomierski became the main headquarters of Andrzej Leszczyński, as well as a crucial placed of reformation.