Potocki Palace (3 Shpytalna St.)
Almost in the very center of Ivano-Frankivsk, there is an area enclosed by a brick wall. The wall contains authentic fortress elements that date back to the 17th century, though these are just old stones used in a later reconstruction of the wall. And behind this wall, there is the Potocki Palace with a whole complex of buildings.
Elegant entry gates on both sides are decorated with mascaron compositions of knights on the top of the pylons. Stone ironclads are a typical feature of the Austrian military architecture of the 19 century.
Approximately in 1670, the Krakow Castellan and the Polish Crown Hetman, Andrew Potocki built a house for his family there. The architects Corassini and Benoit designed the palace. In the chambers of Stanislaviv residence, Pototski family hosted high-level guests. The documents have evidence that one of the visitors was the great crown marshals of the Polish troops Jan Sobieski, who shortly afterward became king. In the 1720s, Anna, the wife of Hetman Pylyp Orlyk (the author of first Ukrainian constitution) probably lived there for some time. In 1783, the Austrian emperor Joseph II arrived in the city. And on this occasion, the numerous members of Pototski family came over the city. Obviously, the emperor was hosted in the palace.
In 1801, because of Prot Potocki’s debts, the palace was sold to the Austrian State, which turned the estate into a military hospital. On the location of the Potocki castle, a new building was constructed and it still exists nowadays.
In the first third of the 19th century during the fire the central wing of the building burned down. In the 90s, a two-story surgery was built on the left side of the palace park. The complex of buildings of the Potocki Palace become one of the oldest military hospitals in Europe in the second millennium. In 2004, the military hospital moved out.
In 2013, the entrance gates were restored. During the reconstruction, builders found remnants of the original fortress walls under the foundations of the gate’s pillars. Archaeologists carefully went through each element of the gates and described each one in details. Almost 70% of the original bricks were preserved, and the rest were replaced with similar ones from buildings of the same period. Therefore, the restored gates are considered to be quite authentic. Furthermore, all forged elements of gates are fully preserved. Only some of the lost items of the fence were renovated.
Currently, palace objects are co-owned by the local authorities and private companies. The palace was granted a status of a local landmark. In 2010, the dungeons of the Potocki Palace were restored and now there is an artistic space.