Rydzyna

Rydzyna, a town situated 7 kilometers to the south-west from Leszno, was formely located at the trading route between Wrocław and Poznań. Rudzyna was the summer residence of the Leszczyński family, but it quickly upgraded into the role of their main headquarters. Between 1795 and 1709, after the election of king Stanisław Leszczyński, it became a royal residence. Although the king had plans to rebuild the city, he couldn’t finish the project. After being elected again and the abdication, he was forced to sale his fortune. But the works were continued byb Aleksander Józef Sułkowski and his son August. Thanks to them, in the 1780s Rydzyna became a renowned cultural and educational center in the region of Greater Poland.

The town and the residence create a compositional whole. The representative walking avenue connects the castle with the market square, leading all the way to the town hall. The project of the reconstruction of Rydzyna, created by Karol Marcin Frantz, was fulfilled between 1738 and 1762. On the axis of the castle avenue towers the several-story town hall, built in 1752.
In the northern part of the town you can admire the baroque-styled evangelical church and a wooden, 18th century windmill under the name of „Józef”. Inside that windmill you can see the exhibit of the Farming and Milling Museum. The castle in Rydzyna was created from the reconstruction of the gothic castle from the 15th century, completed between 1682 and 1695 by Józef Szymon Belotti, who was a royal architect for king Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki and king Jan III Sobieski.