Rydzyna Castle The " castle in Rydzyna " was built at the beginning of 15th century by Jan of Czernina . At the end of the 17th century Italian architects Joseph Simon Bellotti and Pompeo Ferrari erected the present Baroque castle on its ancient foundations . The first owners of the castle were the Leszczyński family . Together with a park and surrounding areas , it was one of the most splendid palaces in Great Poland . Italian Heritage . The residence was built by Giuseppe Simon Belotti from Lugano , at the and of 17th century . Not only was he an architect but also a manager of stucco workshops and a supervisor of decorative works made by Italian plasterers and sculptors . Belotti designed the Leszczyńskis ’ Palace in ‘ palazzo in modo fortezza ’ style , following the example of Poggio Reale by Sebastiano Serlio ( Serliano ) . Another Italian artist who settled in Poland , Michelangelo Palloni from Florence , decorated ceilings in the palace in Rydzyna with splendid frescos . At the beginning of the 18th century Pompeo Ferrari came to Rydzyna . He was a talented architect from Rome , laureate of the St . Lucas Academy . He settled here for the rest of his life and after his death in 1736 was buried in the parish church . Pompeo Ferrari designed the Rydzyna palace reconstruction which was the beginning of the famous urban planning of Rydzyna , whose aim was to join the palace and the town in a harmonious composition . Apart from that he was a designer of other magnificent buildings in Wielkopolska ( Great Poland ) . Other artists under the artistic patronage of the Leszczyński family were three brothers Catenazzi from Morbio Inferiore in Mendrisiotto , ( in Ticino , Switzerland ) . The splendid heritage of the past has been carefully protected in Rydzyna , where people always remember creators of beauty . Leszczyński Residence . From 1704 – 1709 it was the residence of Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński . In 1709 , during the Great Northern War , the castle was partly burnt by the tsar ' s soldiers . However , wall - paintings and stucco works in the representative rooms , made by Italian artists , were not destroyed completely . After this period Stanisław Leszczyński was forced to abdicate the Polish throne and was exiled to France . After years , as Duke of Lorraine , he became a famed as a charitable and wise sovereign . His daughter Maria became queen of France and was the grandmother of King Louis XVI . Sułkowski Residence . Stanisław Leszczyński sold his estates in Poland to Aleksander Joseph Sułkowski . The new owner improved the castle . The Silesian architect Karl Martin Frantz changed roofs , added Rococo decorations and the monumental main gate . He also rebuilt the parish church and the town . The son of Aleksander Joseph , Prince August , continued the expansion . Classical ornamentation was added to the Ballroom . The outbuildings and Orangerie were added to the north of the palace . At the end of the 18th century the residence of the Sułkowski princes , with open - air theater and high school of Piarist Fathers , was the most important cultural and educational center in Great Poland . Under Prussian Rule . After the second partition of Poland in 1793 , the architectural development in Rydzyna ceased . Two of the Sułkowskis of Rydzyna were covered with glory : brave and talented Joseph Sułkowski , the aide - de - camp of Napoleon , killed in action at Cairo and his cousin Anthony Paul - the fourth Sułkowski owner of Rydzyna - whose name is inscribed on the Arch de Triomphe in Paris . The last Prince Sułkowski died childless in 1909 . The Castle was taken over by Prussian authorities . In 1919 the Versailles Treaty gave it back to Poland . Rydzyna Castle after 1919 . In accordance with the statutes of the Sułkowski family that had been established by Prince August in 1775 with the approval of the Polish Parliament , the Educational Foundation of the Sułkowski family was restored in 1924 . In 1928 boarding school for boys - the Sułkowski School , was established under the direction of professor Tadeusz Łopuszanski , who had very interesting and innovative ideas about education . World War II until present day . During the German occupation , 1939 – 1945 , a " Hitlerjugend " ( see National Political Institutes of Education ) school was placed in the castle . At the end of January 1945 the Castle in Rydzyna was burnt by the Red Army . The severely damaged Castle awaited a new owner until 1970 , when was taken over by The Association of Polish Mechanical Engineers ( S . I . M . P . ) and rebuilt according to documents and photographs from before World War II . The work was completed in 1989 . In 1994 the castle was awarded by the prestigious international organization Europa Nostra in recognition of the excellence of the restoration work . Original equipment and furnishing from the Castle were lost before World War I . The main Baroque rooms were completely restored to their original grandeur according to the historic documentation . In the castle collections there are : old furniture , historical drawings , remembrances of the Sułkowski family , nature collections e . g . : tropical butterflies , hunting trophies . In the library one can find documentation connected with the previous owners of the Castle , The Sułkowski Grammar School and The Association of Polish Mechanical Engineers .