The royal castle is a maginificent example of baroque style - it was built in the XIVth century. In 1569 King Zygmunt III Waza moved his residence to the Royal Castle as Warsaw became the capital of Poland. Between 1598 and 1619 the king had the Royal Castle restyled into a polygon by Italian architects. In XVIIIth. century King Augustus III turned the East wing into Baroque style while King Stanislaw Poniatowski added the Royal library. The Warsaw Royal Castle was used by the Polish government in the 16th century and symbolises the resilience of the Polish and after considerable damage in the Second World War, the entire castle was painstakingly rebuilt during the 1970s, with tremendous attention to detail.

Today, the castle is part of the National Museum and houses many of its original exhibits, along with a total of 37 paintings in its Lanckoronski Collection, where two Rembrandt portraits are particular favourites.

The fascinating interiors of Royal Castle contain many original furnishings, statues, paintings and other objets d'art. Among the paintings are works by Bernando Bellotto and Marcello Bacciarelli. An absolute must, when visiting the castle, are the Royal Apartments and State Rooms. These make for a good trip in their own right. However, couple that with some world-class exhibitions and you've got yourself some solid weekend plans. Here you'll find a few top-notch regular exhibitions as well as one-off presentations of the highest calibre.

The square in front of the castle is a main centre of Warsaw's Old Town, along with the Old Town Square, where many cultural events take place throughout the year.