Świątynia Sybilli, Warszawa

Świątynia Sybilli is a wooden neoclassical garden pavilion in Royal Łazienki, designed by Jakub Kubicki. Its Ionic colonnade, sphinx-like lions, and floral interior painting turn a small former gathering place into an evocation of classical antiquity. An artistic Delphi Omphalos copy stands nearby.

Świątynia Sybilli is a garden pavilion in Royal Łazienki, known earlier as the Greek Temple and later as the Temple of Diana. It was built in eighteen twenty-two. Jakub Kubicki designed it.

Its neoclassical manner draws on the balanced, formal language of antiquity. Although it evokes a Greek sanctuary, the whole building is made of wood and once served as an elegant setting for informal garden company. Notice the single circuit of Ionic columns and the four-column porch: they give this modest pavilion a ceremonial air.

Cast-iron lions modelled as Egyptian sphinxes accompany the porch. Within, Adam Byczkowski’s original painted decoration brings flowers and fruit across the walls, a reference to Diana as a goddess of nature and the hunt. The pavilion now accommodates occasional exhibitions. Beside it stands an artistic copy of the Omphalos from Delphi, unveiled in May twenty thirteen and made by the Greek sculptor Christina Papageorgiou.