Pałac podskarbiego wielkiego koronnego Jana Jerzego Przebendowskiego w Leźnie koło Gdańska w pierwszej połowie XVIII wieku

In the 18th century and throughout most of the 19th century an awe-inspiring Baroque palace – the biggest in Royal Prussia – was erected in Lezienko, now part of the village of Lezno near Gdansk. It was dismantled in 1884, and in its place a new, much smaller Neo-Renaissance palace was built; it has survived until now and functions as a hotel. The palace was built for the richest magnate in Royal Prussia, the Grand Treasurer of the Crown Jan Jerzy Przebendowski. In the National Historical Archive of Belarus in Minsk, in the complex of the post-Radziwiłł files, there are materials from the 18th century concerning the estates in Lezno – for example, the inventory of the palace made in 1730 and the register of the construction costs. Both sources are published in this article. According to the sources, the construction work on the palace commenced in 1717 and was suspended in 1726. It cost 183 926 Polish zlotys and 6 cents (23 000 of thalers). In the light of the inventory of 1730 there is no doubt that some rooms in the Lezno palace had not been finished yet. Even in the rooms which were prepared for use, there was no furniture, tapestry or carpets. The reason for this was the fact that at the end of his life, Jan Jerzy Przebendowski (who died in 1729) spent more time in his estates in Greater Poland and Warsaw, where he had a large, fabulously equipped palace. It was not until the subsequent owners of Lezienko, Dorota Henrietta Bielińska née Przebendowska (the treasurer’s daughter) and Ignacy Przebendowski with his wife Felicyta Przebendowska née Wielkopolska undertook to finish the work on the palace to make it suitable to reside. Later, in the second half of the 18th century and in the 19th century the palace belonged to the families of the Grabowskis, Helffensteins and Hoenes. It is beyond doubt that the old palace in Lezienko was to satisfy the lust for prestige of one of the most affluent magnates of the crown – Jan Jerzy Przebendowski. The majority of subsequent owners, who owned several villages, were not in a position to maintain the huge building. Thus, the palace had to give way to a more modest mansion.