Staszic Palace

Staszic Palace (Polish: Pałac Staszica, IPA: [ˈpawat͡s staˈʂit͡sa]) is an edifice at ulica Nowy Świat 72, Warsaw, Poland.

The history of the Staszic Palace dates from 1620, when King Sigismund III of Poland ordered the construction of a small Eastern Orthodox chapel, as an appropriate burial place for the former Tsar Vasili IV of Russia and his brother, Dmitry Shuisky, who had died in Polish custody after having been captured several years earlier during the Polish-Muscovite War of 1605-18.

On 11 May 1830 the diplomat and polymath, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, unveiled Bertel Thorvaldsen's monument to Nicolaus Copernicus in front of the palace.

In line with the ongoing Russification of Warsaw, architect Mikhail Pokrovsky remodelled the palace in Russo-Byzantine style.

After Poland regained independence in 1918, in 1924–26 the palace was brought back to a Polish neoclassical style by architect Marian Lalewicz, similar to its original design.

Copernicus with armillary sphere , in front of the Staszic Palace