Sunday sees the second day of the Belweder Palace Open Weekend, the historic presidential residence in the heart of Warsaw.

Yesterday saw long queues eager to take a look inside the building, but heavy rain today is expected to hit attendance.

The palace, situated next to Lazienki Park, used to be the presidential residence for many years and now serves as the venue for official functions and a residence for the foreign heads of state visiting Poland.
 
Visitors this weekend can see an exhibition devoted to Marshal Pilsudski, who lived in the Belweder for many years, as well as the stately interiors in which Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II, Czech president Vaclav Havel and other VIPs held meetings with Polish politicians.

In the 19th century, when Warsaw was in the Russian zone during the partitions of Poland, the Belweder Palace was the residence of Prince Constantine, the Tsar’s brother.  In the 1820’s Fryderyk Chopin gave a recital for him and his guests at the Palace. (mk)