- Kings and queens, counts and countesses, lords, ladies and the Teutonic knights, throughout its centuries of history, Poland has created some of the most elaborate palaces and mightiest of castles.

And today it is our honor to take you to see three of its most curious.

(upbeat music) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(mellow music) - [Narrator 1] You can immerse yourself in the very soul of Europe aboard a European waterways luxury hotel barge cruise, europeanwaterways.com.

(mellow music) (upbeat music) - If you have ever wondered how the other half lives, well, today we're going to take you to find out, in castles, in palaces, through centuries of history to meet some of Poland's most fascinating princes, princesses, and aristocratic families.

Today we are featuring Poland's best castles and palaces.

(upbeat music) Wawel royal castle in Krakow, the royal castle in Warsaw and the sunny Wilanow Palace.

All stunning, tangible reminders of the centuries of the Polish monarchy.

But there are thousands of other palaces and castles across Poland that were once home to some of the most important royal, noble and aristocratic families in Europe who witnessed and sometimes even shaped Polish history.

So we are visiting three very different magnificent palaces and castles, each with its own important Polish history.

Lancut Castle near the border of Ukraine, Malbork Castle near the Baltic Sea, and Ksiaz Castle near the border of Germany.

(upbeat music) So here's what I'm curious about in Poland's curious castles and palaces.

Who built the world's largest brick castle?

What is so curious about this beautiful synagogue?

Where can you find an entire theater inside a palace?

Why is there a medieval castle attached to a baroque palace here?

When did a pretty but unhappy princess live here?

And how did the Teutonic knights choose this location for their headquarters?

Who, what, where, why, when, and how?

It's time to get curious about Poland's palaces and castles.

(upbeat music) Our first castle is want Lancut castle, it's one of the most famous palaces in Poland, a stunning, luxurious residents blending baroque and neoclassical styles.

I know, it looks a whole lot more like a palace than a castle, but it was actually built on the foundations of an older defensive castle.

And over the centuries, Lancut Castle belonged to four major Polish aristocratic or noble families, and each left their mark in beautiful ways.

(upbeat music) The palace is massive with more than 200 rooms and spaces, including ballroom, salons, private quarters for the Lady of the house and this unique and very long sculpture gallery.

And many of the rooms are preserved in their original decor.

But there's one room, which even amidst all this extravagance, may surprise you.

This of course is the grand ballroom with these gorgeous chandeliers, and you can see a piano there up on a stage set up for a large performance.

But I'm going to show you something that is pretty unique to any castle or any palace you have ever seen.

Follow me this way into what is a really kind of neoclassical take on the home theater.

Can you believe this?

This was done by Princess Lubomirski around 1783.

She had decided that her family needed their very own theater right here in her castle.

So as you kind of look around, we've got the gorgeous stage, we've got Apollo and the Muses over there, and then everything is kind of mini sized in here.

It's kind of like a little dolls playhouse for a theater.

You've got the gallery up there, and then of course the VIP seating right here in the front.

So let's take a look at that stage again.

And performances here, ah, it's everything from opera to musical theater or as you can see, a piano performance set right here.

And look at the beautiful sets.

You can see we've got all the different flowers and things and things were moved in and out by the servants.

And actually all these centuries ago, the servants would also be in the wings doing the old fashioned sound effects.

So if you needed the sound of rain or thunder, they would have one of those big pieces of metal and they kind of shake it like that.

And it would sound like rain and thunder.

And as you kind of take a look here, we even have a mini version of where the orchestra would play.

(upbeat music) Next, we move on to the formal dining room filled with gifts to the family from the likes of a Chinese emperor, a king of Poland, a president of the Czech Republic, and even one from Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph.

But one of the most incredible spaces in the palace is the library.

This has gotta be the most beautiful library I've ever seen.

It's almost really hard to believe this is all in one private family's home.

About what year was the first version of this library built?

- Okay.

- [Christine] You think it's silly, but I think it's wonderful.

Like that beautiful mustache that he has, that's just a sign of the time period.

Everybody had one like that.

- Everybody.

- What I think is interesting is that when the library was rebuilt during his time period, it was in this English style.

- That's amazing.

That's amazing.

And so many of them are still here.

And there are some that are very, very extra special.

And this particular one is so special, we're putting on gloves for it.

This gorgeous volume contains exquisite hand painted maps from the 17th century depicting the main cities of Poland in fine detail.

- (indistinct).

- Yep.

And one suits collection of art and dedication to preserving Polish culture extends beyond these walls.

So let's head outside to see two magnificent examples of that.

Surrounding the palace are these beautiful French style gardens with beautiful symmetrical designs and a large English landscape park.

More than a 100 acres all designed in the 19th century.

(upbeat music) And within the park are two wonderful curiosities, both housed within carriage houses.

Inside the first carriage house is a collection of treasures that is a bit unexpected.

Here, inside this unassuming former stable is the largest collection of Ukrainian sacred art in Poland.

There are more than a 1000 works of art rescued from 330 Orthodox churches.

It is almost overwhelming to see it all in one place.

But why is it here?

Well, after World War II, the Soviets pushed the Ukrainian population out of Southeastern Poland.

Then they destroyed their Orthodox churches.

Miraculously, some of the art within those churches survived.

And in 1960, these centuries old treasures were collected and brought here, which now create this very unique museum.

(choir singing) Inside this giant carriage house is one of the finest collections of historic horse drawn carriages in Europe.

With more than 140 of them, some used by European royalty.

All of these carriages are beautiful works of art and treasured pieces of history.

And they had some pretty nifty innovations as well.

Of course, the driver would sit up top here and hold the reins to control the horses.

But did you know that every so often, and this was news to me, that the driver would actually have a little rope over his shoulder so that the passenger sitting inside could kind of pull and control him, make him go a little bit faster.

I know, weird.

This particular carriage has a fascinating purpose to it as well.

This was called a sleeper carriage because for this part of Poland, it would take about 17 days to travel all the way to Paris, and you're going to need a nap if you're traveling for 17 days.

So the way it would work is inside the carriage, you could recline back and your head would go here.

But then what about your feet?

If you're super tall, like me?

Well, actually the feet would go all the way and extend here.

Kind of like the ultra luxury first class version of going on a plane with those recliner seats.

My only question though is if their feet went to here, every so often, did they kind of kick the driver to make 'em go faster?

And if you're lucky, you could be invited to tour the gardens in one of these carriages and feel like European royalty for just a little while.

Wait, I didn't just agree to go on a 17 day trip to Paris, did I?

Before we clip-clop away from a Lancut Castle, there is one more important building I want to share with you.

It's just across the street and is a testament to the vibrant Jewish community who once lived here, and it has a connection to the families of Lancut Castle.

Just behind these doors is the great synagogue of Lancut.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Look at all of those beautiful bright colors.

The original synagogue was built near this spot, but unfortunately, it was built out of wood, and so it burnt down.

So in that very important year, 1761, our friends, the Lubomirskis who own the castle, decided to rebuild the synagogue in this much more sturdy and elegant style.

So as you look around the space, you will notice all the beautiful bright colors and all these amazing biblical stories.

If you look all the way to the top of this column here on the right, you will see the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent.

On the back wall, we have the 10 Commandments.

And all throughout the space, if you look carefully, you will see these beautiful gold medallions with little paintings on the inside.

And this is where it gets really curious.

So within these gold medallions, we have symbols of the Jewish holidays all throughout the year.

Now that's not unusual, but what they did here in this particular synagogue really is.

So with each of the holidays, you will see them paired up with a zodiac sign.

And in fact, you can see the best one right here in the corner.

You will see Sagittarius, of course, in December, paired up with Hanukkah.

There are many theories about why the symbols of the Zodiac are included in some synagogues.

One says that the 12 signs of the Zodiac represent the 12 tribes of Israel.

And others suggest that it is simply to represent the divine order of the universe.

(upbeat music) Our next castle is completely different than Lancut.

It is big, it is mighty.

It was once home to the powerful Teutonic knights.

It has a UNESCO status, plus it really looks like a castle.

This is Malbork Castle, the largest castle in the world by land area.

Covering more than 50 acres.

And it is the largest brick castle in the world.

And it was built on this ginormous scale in the 13th century as a headquarters for the Teutonic knights who wanted to make a statement about their power and wealth.

I'd say this gets their message across.

Malbork Castle is actually three separate castles.

Below, the middle, and the high castles.

Of the many areas in this massive compound are the breathtaking St.

Mary's church inside the high castle.

With its vaulted ceiling and statue of the Virgin Mary, this was the main area of worship for the knights.

And St.

Anne's Chapel where the grand masters are laid to rest and one very grand reception hall.

This is the Grand Refractory built around the year 1380.

And this is where the Grand Master would receive and entertain important guests from around Europe.

And look how grand it is.

As you look above us, we see this beautiful stellar vaulting, which is basically gothic arches that meet in the middle and create kind of this tree branch canopy effect.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

Now here today, we don't see a lot of furniture, but back in the 14th century there would've been tables and chairs and maybe one long beautiful table full of delicious food for entertaining those important guests.

And those guests would also see some really beautiful artwork.

On this wall over here, we have three panels, the first two tell about battles and conquests across Prussia.

And the last one there on the end, that tells about a battle and, of course, a conquest in Lithuania.

On the opposite side of the wall, here we have three more gorgeous panels, each talking about battles and conquest in the expansion of the knights throughout Prussia.

Now by contrast, if you look over on this wall, you will see a much smaller mosaic right there above the doorway.

But actually this one is the most important.

It tells the story about the coronation of the Virgin Mary.

And this is very important, of course, because everything the knights did and even the castle was all in honor of her as she was their patron saint.

And this brings us to the name Malbork Castle.

It comes from the castle's original name Marienburg, meaning Mary's castle.

To tell us more about the Teutonic knights and the castle is Dr.

Gregory Leighton.

- [Gregory] So the Teutonic knights were one of the three major military orders of the Middle Ages.

You can think of them kind of as the youngest of orders like the Knights Templar or the Knights Hospitaller.

And they were founded in the late 12th century in the Holy Land during the time of the Crusades to the East.

And their main purpose at first was to be a hospital to take care of primarily German pilgrims and crusaders.

And they were founded in 1190 at the Siege of Acre.

And in 1198, in the late 12th century, they were militarized.

So they were like able to fight the perceived enemies of Christianity, and that was their main purpose, hospitality and warfare.

- [Christine] The Teutonic Knights chose this location here along the northern edge of Poland for the Crusades across the Baltic region, where their mission was to convert the Pagan-Baltic tribes and to gain territory and wealth.

So the Teutonic knights were invited or summoned to Prussia in the early decades of the 13th century by Conrad of Masovia.

He needed help protecting his borders from raids by the Prussians, non-Christian people.

They also secured the rights to have the possession of any lands that they would conquer beyond this border.

We can think of the Teutonic knights expanding to the north and further east.

- [Christine] These were the northern crusades, which essentially wiped out pagan and indigenous religions across Northeastern Europe.

This new regime has been described as the Germanization of the Baltics.

From that time period moving on to a very different time period here.

When was the castle a residence for the Polish royalty?

- Okay, the towns in Prussia, that many of which the order had founded, rose up and rebelled against them with support of the Polish King because they asked themselves, "Why do we need the Teautonic order ruling us?

There's no enemies of Christianity to fights here, and we are still paying them lots of taxes."

So 1457 the grand masters were evacuated from Malbork Castle, and that marked a period of about three centuries of the residency of the Polish kings.

- [Christine] So in the Middle Ages, the castle began as a German castle under those Teutonic knights.

Then it became part of the Kingdom of Poland as the King's royal residence.

Then it became part of Prussia and the German Empire.

In fact, the image of this powerful castle was used in Nazi propaganda as a symbol of German strength and heritage.

Then in 1945, the Soviets destroyed nearly half the castle in a battle against the Germans.

Then finally, after the war, Malbork becomes part of Poland again, and massive restorations and reconstruction of this mighty castle ensued.

Looking back on all this history, I know it's a bit of a controversial topic, but I think it's interesting is the fact that, okay, is the heritage here German or is the heritage here Polish?

- This is a very open-ended and good question.

When the castle was first being restored and there was campaigns to protect it, it was seen as an example of German heritage, of the greatness of Germany.

But of course, after the World War II, the castle was seen as a symbol of German oppression or occupation.

Yeah, and this is a legacy that still can remain today among some people.

Malbork essentially has a very complicated heritage that is hard to untangle.

- [Christine] Next, from a military fortress to a pretty for a princess palace, we go to southwest Poland for Ksiaz Castle, perched prettily on a hill overlooking the Polish region of Silesia.

In fact, the castle is known as the Pearl of Silesia, and this pearl is surrounded by gorgeous rose gardens, carefully balanced on terraces overlooking the valley, and it is surrounded by nearly 8,000 acres of parkland.

Wow, a princess can get her workout out here for sure.

There are 400 rooms, including the baroque rooms and salons, the green room and the white salon, the knight's hall and the honorary courtyard where you are watched over by mythological gods.

(upbeat music) There are many beautiful rooms and areas here inside the castle, but this one is truly special.

This is the Maximilian Hall, and this is where the entertaining and beautiful balls and celebrations were held right here in the center of the castle.

So many beautiful details to look at.

And let's start with that.

Gold, gold and more gold.

It was completed in 1722, and it is a beautiful example of Silesian baroque.

As we see here, we've got these two fireplaces and this gorgeous black Italian marble.

And then if you look up, you can't help but notice these beautiful chandeliers.

They're more than 300 years old, and we're just recently renovated.

Up, up, up to the ceiling we go.

And we can see here we have a gorgeous ceiling mural with allegories.

We've got Athena and the muses, which would've been perfect for the guests to kind of gaze up and enjoy.

But what I really love are all the balconies.

So we have one balcony over here.

This led to the princess' side of the castle.

She might look down and say hello to her guests, and then, you know, if they were lucky, she would come down the stairs and come and mingle with them.

Over on this side, we have the balcony, which led to the prince's side of the castle and his apartments.

He would do the same, greet from there and then come down.

But what I really love, you know you're part of an aristocratic family or even a royal family when you don't have the entertainment down here at ground level.

But instead, we have three different balconies right here.

And that is where the court musicians would play and they would play their beautiful music, which would descend down here below for everybody to enjoy and dance around with.

(upbeat music) And over the years, many different noble or royal families entertained here.

And over the centuries, the castle changed hands, not just between families, but between countries, kingdoms and empires.

This courtyard is a really incredible place to talk about the layers of history and this centuries of history.

So kind of as we look up, we see lots of stonework and this tower.

This is the oldest part of the castle?

- [Mateusz] The tower, is actually a heart of the castle.

- Okay.

- And since 700 years, it's the best address in the neighborhood.

Tower was built by Prince Bolko I from the royal Ksiaz dynasty at the end of 13th century.

- And you told me earlier a great little phrase that the castle's kind of like an onion.

- Yes, because every century, each of centuries added the new ink, new part of the castle.

So if someone wants to study history of architecture, will find every style here.

- [Christine] And each of those time periods is stamped right here in this courtyard.

Way at the top here we have three.

Who do we have up there?

- Yes, it's the Polish royal eagle, white eagle, royal crest, the Polish Ksiaz dynasty, and then two Czech lions from the Luxembourg dynasty.

And then we have a Habsburg coat of arm because the kingdom of Bohemia, as we know became part of the Holy Roman empire of German nation.

- It's amazing all these different countries merging together in the history of the castle.

- Yeah, the borders were changing, but it's still the spiritual heart of Silesia.

No matter who is in power, Ksiaz Castle is the spiritual heart of our region, of our land.

- Aw, what a beautiful way to put it.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) - [Christine] In that final most modern period of the castle, we get a princess who lives on the top floor.

This is Princess Daisy, an English aristocrat who married the owner of the castle, who was a prince and a member of one of the wealthiest European noble families of the time.

Now, they were not a happy couple at all.

In fact, they end up divorcing.

But Princess Daisy has been compared to Princess Diana because she used her status for good.

Among her many charitable works was campaigning for safe drinking water for the region.

In between all that, she also worked on making the castle as pretty as can be, including in her private suites.

Welcome to my humble home.

I wish.

This was Princess Daisy's apartment.

She lived here from 1891 until 1922, and this would've been her sitting room.

Now when you see this much pink, you just know that a princess must have lived here.

So one of the most amazing, wonderful features about this sitting room is right over here.

So Princess Daisy was a musician and an artist and a writer, and she had a beautiful singing voice.

So she used to play here on the piano and kind of overlook the grounds here out the window and sing.

In fact, she had such a good singing voice, she wanted to record her arias, but her husband wouldn't let her.

No comment there.

Another fun feature of the sitting room here is found encased here in the glass.

This is one of her diaries, but there's a note in here that says, "If anybody reads my diary, I'm going to come back as a ghost and haunt you."

So let's step away from the diary.

Something else I really love in this room.

Now you look here and you think, well, Princess Daisy was a princess, so this must have been one of her tiaras, right?

No, this was a belt.

Now look closely here.

Look how tiny it is.

She was known for having this teeny tiny waist.

In fact, a 16 inch waist.

Yeah, that hurts just thinking about it.

(whimsical music) So from a palace for Polish nobility full of art, its own mini theater.

Can you believe this?

A surprising museum of orthodox art and a treasured synagogue, to a mighty brick fortress built for a mighty Christian army full of chapels and chapter rooms all dedicated to their patron saint with a mixed heritage that is both Polish and German, to a pearl of a palace fit for a princess who liked pink, who entertained in a gilded hall named for the ruling family who lived here, Poland's palaces and castles have so much to be curious about.

Thank you for joining us on our educational journey, and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and hows of Poland's beautiful castles and palaces.

As they say here, do widzenia.

(whimsical music) I think that'll be great.

(Christine gasps and laughs) About the who, what, where, why, when, and hows of Poland's beautiful... I'm so sorry, we ran outta space.

I know, sorry.

This is like a... You don't pay me enough for this.

Okay.

Closed caption funding provided by- - [Narrator 2] Eden Andalou Aquapark and Spa, an all-inclusive luxury resort in Marrakesh.

Moroccan inspired suites, authentic cuisine, all set in a desert oasis.

- [Christine] "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

(dramatic music) - [Narrator 1] You can immerse yourself in the very soul of Europe, aboard a European waterways luxury hotel barge cruise.

Europeanwaterways.com.

(mellow music) (upbeat music) - [Christine] Still curious?

Go to curioustravelertv.com and find our links to follow us on social media.

(upbeat music)