Lwi Zamek, Gdańsk

Lwi Zamek, known in English as the Lion Castle, is a Renaissance townhouse at 35 Long Street. Its Renaissance manner draws on the revived forms of classical antiquity, while contemporary Dutch design also shaped its appearance. Notice the paired lion sculptures at the main portal: they give the house its name.

Hans Kramer designed the building, which rose in 1569. During the seventeenth century, the Schwarzwald family made this house a gathering place for prominent scholars and artists, and King Władysław the Fourth Vasa stayed here during his Gdańsk visit. War brought near-total destruction in 1945; the house was reconstructed from surviving drawings and plans during the early postwar years.

Much later, the Russian cultural institution occupying the building left after the city ended its lease following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The house then began another chapter as the home of Gdańsk Miasto Literatury, a literary arts centre created with Ukrainian artists and designers. This ornate façade has held politics, learning, royal hospitality, ruin, reconstruction, and creative life within the same walls.