Royal Castle, Warsaw

The Royal Castle in Warsaw (Zamek Królewski w Warszawie) is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from the 16th century until the Partitions of Poland. In its long history the Royal Castle was repeatedly devastated and plundered by Swedish, Brandenburgian, German, and Russian armies. The Constitution of 3 May 1791 was drafted here by the Four-Year Sejm.

In the 19th century, after the collapse of the November Uprising, it was used as an administrative center by the Tsar. Between 1926 and World War II the palace was the seat of the Polish president, Ignacy Mościcki. After the devastation done by Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising, the Castle was rebuilt and reconstructed.

In 1980, Royal Castle, together with the Old Town was registry in UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today it is a historical and national monument, and is listed as a national museum. At the end of 13th century, during the Duke's Conrad II of Mazovia reign, the wooden-earthen gord called Smaller Manor (Latin: Curia Minor) was built. The following duke, Casimir I, decided to build here the first brick building at the burg-city's area the Great Tower (Latin: Turris Magna). Between 1407 and 1410, Janusz I of Warsaw built a storeyed gothic brick castle, called Bigger Manor (Latin: Curia Maior ).

From 1526 (when the last Masovian Dukes – Stanislaus I and Janusz III died) it became the Royal Residence. Between 1548–1556 the castle was the residence of Queen Bona Sforza, wife of Sigismund I the Old. The following Polish monarch, Sigismund II Augustus, between 1568–1572 was realizing building's reconstruction project, for example renaissance Royal House was added to the Bigger Manor, according to Giovanni's Battista di Quadro project. Jakub Parr, an architect from Silesia, was taking part in this works as well.

In 1979, the historic Gateway Theatre in the Jefferson Park community area of Chicago was purchased by the Copernicus Foundation with the intention of converting it into the seat of the Polish Cultural and Civic Center. Because of the building's historical significance, its interior was kept intact while the exterior was remodeled and a Neo-Baroque clock tower was added to give it the resemblance of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. It is a visual tribute to Chicago's large Polish populace, the largest such presence outside of the Republic of Poland.