Rogalin

Rogalin is primarily famous for its 18th-century Polish Baroque palace, built by Kazimierz Raczyński, and the adjacent Raczyński Art Gallery. The latter houses a permanent exhibition of paintings by the Polish and foreign artists of international renown including Paul Delaroche and Claude Monet as well as the famous Jan Matejko's large-size painting Joanna d'Arc (see a fragment below). The gallery was founded by Count Edward Aleksander Raczyński.

Rogalin is also known for its putatively 800-year-old oak trees (Polish: Dęby Rogalińskie), named after the legendary brothers Lech, Czech, and Rus.

The historical St. Marcellinus Church, with the mausoleum of this family, was built in Rogalin in 1817–1820 by Edward Raczyński (1786–1845). Its design was inspired by the Roman temple Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France.^[3]

The last owner of the estate was Count Edward Bernard Raczyński, who in 1979–1986 was President of the Polish Republic in exile. In 1991, Count Raczyński bequeathed his estate in Rogalin (including the family palace, gallery, library, and church) to the Raczyński Family Foundation, and its president is the Director of the National Museum in Poznań.^[4] After the death of Count Raczyński in 1993 his sarcophagus was deposited in the Raczyński Mausoleum, under the church in Rogalin.

In 2018 the palace, park, and church were granted special protection as a Historic Monument, which in 2020 was extended to cover the well-preserved aristocratic land estate: the surrounding floodplain meadows, forests, and fields.^[5].

To celebrate 200 years of the church with the mausoleum of the Raczyński family, in 2021 a network of environmental pilgrimage routes was created: the Rogalin Ways, leading to it from Radzewice, Radzewo, Mieczewo, Kamionki, Daszewice, Poznań-Głuszyna, Puszczykowo, Mosina, and Rogalinek.^[6]

Much of the surrounding landscape forms the protected area of recognized natural and ecological value known as the Rogalin Landscape Park.