Ujazdów Castle Ujazdów Castle ( ) is a castle in the historic Ujazdów district , between Ujazdów Park ( " Park Ujazdowski " ) and the Royal Baths Park ( " Łazienki Królewskie " ) , in Warsaw , Poland . Its beginnings date to the 13th century , and it was rebuilt several times . Like many structures in Warsaw , it sustained much damage in the Warsaw Uprising ( 1944 ) . Reconstructed 30 years later ( 1974 ) , it now houses Warsaw ' s Center for Contemporary Art . History . The first castle on the spot was erected by the Dukes of Masovia as early as the 13th century . However , in the following century their court was moved to the future Royal Castle in Warsaw , and the Ujazdów Castle fell into neglect . In the 16th century , a wooden manor was built there for Queen Bona Sforza . It was at Ujazdów Castle , on January 12 , 1578 , that Jan Kochanowski ' s blank - verse tragedy " The Dismissal of the Greek Envoys " received its premiere during the wedding of Jan Zamoyski and Krystyna Radziwiłł . The ruins of the castle of the Mazovian princes were then incorporated into a new fortified manor built by King Sigismund III Vasa for his son , future King Władysław IV Vasa . However , there is little evidence that the residence was ever used by the young prince , who spent much of his youth either at his father ' s court . Between 1659 and 1665 , the building housed the mint of Titus Livius Boratini , who there struck his famous " boratynka " , a type of " solidus " coin . Again neglected , in 1674 the castle was bought by Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski and then rented to King August II , who ordered the construction there of a new royal residence . The castle , incorporating much of the earlier constructions on the site , was built by Tylman of Gameren , a notable 17th - century architect and engineer . The gardens surrounding the castle , later divided into two separate parks , were refurbished . About that time the Łazienki " Eremity " and Łazienki Palace were built . The castle ' s design was further modified by King Stanisław August Poniatowski , who in 1764 commissioned Jakub Fontana , Dominik Merlini , Jean - Baptiste Pillement and Efraim Schroeger to refurbish it . The eastern and western façades were made taller by the addition of a second floor , while the post - Gameren outbuildings were also rebuilt to the height of the main building , thus creating a large courtyard . About that time , the castle was also included in the so - called Stanislavian Axis , a line of parks and palaces planned in the southern outskirts of Warsaw much like the Saxon Axis in the city center . The palace ' s reconstruction was almost complete by 1784 , when work was abandoned and the building donated to the Polish Army . Consequently , between 1784 and 1789 the castle was yet again rebuilt , this time by Stanisław Zawadzki , who converted it into military barracks . The outbuildings were enlarged substantially . Since that time the building housed the Lithuanian Foot Guard Regiment and the 10th Foot Regiment . During the Kościuszko ' s Uprising the castle was the main centre of conscription for the 20th Foot Regiment . After the Partitions of Poland , during the Prussia n occupation of Warsaw , the building was abandoned . After the proclamation of the Duchy of Warsaw it was again restored to the army and was converted into a military hospital . However , the plans of converting it to the Central Military Hospital of the Polish Army were postponed by the Congress of Vienna which awarded the Congress Poland to Russia . On April 1 , 1818 the hospital was officially opened . It had place for up to 1000 wounded soldiers . After the outbreak of the November Uprising the hospital was enlarged to 1250 beds and an additional annex with place for 600 was opened in the nearby Łazienki complex . After the fall of the uprising , the Russian garrison of Warsaw was significantly strengthened , while the Polish military units were disbanded . A new central military hospital was built next to what became the Park Ujazdowski and the castle became more of a barrack for the Russian military personnel . Around 1850 the outbuildings were again rebuilt by Jerzy Karol Völck , but were partially demolished 20 years afterwards . After the outbreak of World War I the building was again converted to a provisional hospital by the Russians . Captured by the German army in 1915 , on April 10 , 1917 it was transferred to the Polish Legions and became the main military hospital for Polish units fighting alongside the Central Powers ( the more modern Ujazdów hospital located nearby remained a German - only hospital ) . After Poland regained her independence in 1918 , the internal design of the castle was yet again modified . Since 1920 ' s it housed several parts of the Warsaw NCO school . The main staircase was restored to its 18th century representative design . An interesting feature of the staircase was a set of stone tablets placed there May 15 , 1927 , commemorating the names of all known Polish military medics who perished in wars between 1797 and 1920 . Additional tablets commemorated Karol Kaczkowski , Zdzisław Lubaszewski and a sculpture by Edward Wittig commemorating all military medics . After the Polish Defensive War of 1939 , the Red Cross organized a school for WIA soldiers . The castle was burnt out and damaged by the Germans following the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 . After the war the building was to be rebuilt as the Central Military House . However , the works did not start as the walls of the castle were demolished by the Communist authorities of Poland . In 1975 however , the works on reconstruction of the castle to its 18th century design were given a green light and the project by Piotr Biegański was chosen . It houses Warsaw ' s Center for Contemporary Art ( Centrum Sztuki Współczesnej ) since 1985 . Centre for Contemporary Art . The Castle currently houses the Centre for Contemporary Art , with its collections and temporary exhibition s , concerts , and educational workshops . The Centre has organized over 600 exhibitions since 1990 . Since 2010 the Centre ' s director is an Italian , Fabio Cavallucci .