Rudowski Eclectic Palace from 1899

At the pasaż Karola Rudowskiego in Piotrków Trybunalski stands an eclectic small palace from 1899, formerly the residence of a wealthy merchant family, today the home of a music school.

The residence of merchant Rudowski

The small palace was erected in 1899 for Karol August Rudowski, one of the wealthiest merchants in Piotrków at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Rudowski purchased two plots in 1896 and built a palace on one of them, with the family moving in a year after construction was completed. The merchant also founded a loan fund for industrialists, served as a member of the treasury chamber and the Charity Society, and the street running beside the palace was given his name.

Architecture

The building was erected in the eclectic style, combining elements of neo-Renaissance and Baroque, on a rectangular plan with three rectangular risalits on the front and two semi-circular risalits on the sides. The walls were constructed from ceramic brick, the elevations were plastered and decorated with cement architectural detail. The central, most representative part of the building with the main entrance features a large terrace supported on eight richly ornamented columns.

Subsequent owners and other functions

After Karol Rudowski, the palace passed to another owner from the family, Maksymilian Romuald Rudowski, a lawyer, vice-president of the District Court, and later president of the Supreme Court. After the First World War, the building was let to a commercial school, and during the occupation it housed a merchant school, the only vocational school in occupied Piotrków. After 1945, it successively accommodated a commercial school, construction school, clothing school and Complex of Schools no. 2. The palace came into the ownership of the city thanks to a descendant of the family, Professor Witold Janusz Rudowski, a participant in the Warsaw Uprising, for cultural purposes.

Present function

Since 1989, following renovation, the palace has housed the State Music School named after Ignacy Jan Paderewski. The building stands near the City Centre for Culture, and from here one can walk to Piotrków old town, the royal castle and the Regional Museum.

Practical information

• Address: pasaż Karola Rudowskiego, Piotrków Trybunalski
• Getting there: city centre, near the old town and 3 Maja avenue
• What to expect: historic elevation and external view, the building is an active music school, not a tourist facility