The first mentions of a settlement in the area can be traced to the 13th century, when a village named Milanów was founded by the Benedictine monastery of Płock.

In the 17th century the village was bought by the family of Stanisław Leszczyński, who started the construction of a new palace; however, the works were stopped by The Deluge when the forces of Sweden captured the area and plundered it completely.

By his order, Tylman van Gameren and Augustyn Wincenty Locci erected the new baroque-style palace[2][3] and St. Anne's Church.

In 1863, after the fall of the January Uprising, the Russian authorities introduced a new administrative division, stripping the key of the rest of villages and making Wilanów a capital of all the communes located south of it.

The area became one of the most important providers of food for ever-growing Warsaw and in 1890 a horse-drawn railway was opened for transport of grain and passengers.

After World War II the palaces in Wilanów, Natolin and Morysin were nationalised by the new communist authorities of Poland.