The restaurant pavilion, formerly known as the Palace, located at the back of a tenement at 5 Chmielna Street, is an example of a place that, despite the passage of years and changing times, still retains traces of its former glory. Although inconspicuous on the outside, it hides a rich history and architectural details that testify to its former grandeur.
The history of the place begins with the townhouse, erected between 1860 and 1861 to a design by Piotr Frydrych. Initially, it was a two-storey building with a nine-axis front, in classicist style. In the 1890s, the townhouse was rebuilt for the Grand Hôtel Garni, which opened on 3 June 1893. The building quickly gained a reputation as the first Garni-class hotel (today’s B&B – bed & breakfast) in Warsaw, offering its guests comforts and luxuries on the model of foreign guest houses.
The Grand Hôtel Garni was characterised by elegant interiors, gas lighting, a library with works in various languages and a variety of services, including information and passport services. Attention to tidiness and cleanliness was a priority for the hotel’s manager, Stanislaw Postek, which manifested itself, among other things, in the removal of the stables and coach house from the courtyard, where an elegant restaurant pavilion with a fountain was created.
The restaurant pavilion was built between 1894 and 1895 to a design by Stefan Szyller, one of the most famous architects of the era. Its silhouette is described HERE. The building is distinguished by its triaxial façade, two-storey structure and rich decorations. Prominent among the decorations are Ionic columns and floral ornaments. Above the triad of arcaded openings filled with glazed doors leading out onto the terrace are sculptures of women by Hipolit Marczewski, symbolising the Harvest, Fishing, Hunting and Winemaking. The entrance staircase and terrace were decorated with a baluster balustrade and lit by candelabra wrought-iron lanterns.
The pavilion has served various functions over the years. In its heyday it housed an elegant catering establishment, and later the headquarters of the Society of Friends of Fine Arts and the Cabaret Under Aegis. Unfortunately, the building was severely damaged in 1944, and its partial reconstruction introduced changes that obliterated some of its former splendour. The stucco decoration on the window keystones and frieze was removed from the upper part of the façade. The balustrade attic crowning the building was transformed into a full balustrade on the terrace of the upper floor. Among other things, the side outbuildings were also destroyed. The pavilion itself was incorporated into the new building.
The restoration pavilion in 1902 and 2024. Source: “Stefan Szyller 1857-1933 Warszawski Architekt Historycyzmu”, Małgorzata Omilanowska, “Historia pro Futuro” Foundation Publishing House, Warsaw 1995 and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
Today, after many years of abandonment and neglect, the pavilion at 5 Chmielna Street has found a new life as the home of a Georgian restaurant. Despite many changes and transformations, the building still retains traces of its former glory. The front elevation of the building has been depleted of its original window pediments and crowning cornice, but the courtyard still attracts attention with its Neo-Baroque gable crowning the risalit of the staircase and Corinthian pilasters. The building has recently undergone renovation, but will the pavilion of the former Szyller restaurant get the renovation it has been waiting for for years?
Source: sekretywarszawy.pl
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