Klementynka Villa in Żywiec

Klementynka, also written Klementynówka, is a former manor house rebuilt as a villa, surrounded by a park, on Paderewskiego Street in the centre of Żywiec. The complex includes an 18th-century building, a 20th-century outbuilding and a park laid out in the 19th century.

From manor house to villa

The construction of the main building is dated to 1720, on the basis of an earlier structure with a stone basement. The manor had defensive features: cellars with walls 2.5 m thick with loopholes, and two stone walls with an earth rampart. In 1887 it was rebuilt as a villa, called “Villa Klementynka” in honour of Klementyna Foltańska. A two-storey upper structure with a turret, a stone viewing terrace and a cast-iron Neo-Renaissance balcony were added at that time. Today it is a single-storey house with a belvedere in the corner.

After 1912 the owner became Antoni Moliński, and after him his son Andrzej, who settled in the villa permanently. In 1927 a water installation, a brick pond fed with spring water and a modernist fountain were set up.

The park

The park, with an area of about 2.3 ha, was laid out in 1885. In front of the manor it has ornamental terraces with flowers, to the north-west of the building a pond with weeping willows, and on the northern slope a wooded part with hornbeams, lime trees, oaks, ash trees and sycamores. Its signature feature is a 40-metre white poplar, recognised as a natural monument.

The whole complex was entered in the heritage register in 1990, and the register wrongly called it “Klementynówka”. The park was entered separately later.

Nearby

From this part of the town it is close to the castle park in Żywiec.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Paderewskiego 10, Żywiec.
• The sources do not say whether the interiors and the park are open to visitors. The complex is clearly visible from the outside, and it is worth checking the rules of access before your visit.