Rising in all its embellished grandeur behind the Neptune Fountain,
the Artus Court is perhaps the single best-known house in Gdańsk. The
court has been an essential stop for passing luminaries ever since its
earliest days, and a photo display in the entrance shows an enviable
selection of famous visitors, from King Henry IV of England to a host of
contemporary presidents. It was comprehensively destroyed during WWII
but was painstakingly restored from old photographs and historical
records.
Built in the middle of the 14th century, the court was
given its monumental facade by Abraham van den Block in the 1610s.
Inside, there’s a huge hall topped by a Gothic vault supported on four
slim granite columns, decorated with hunting murals and dominated by a
vast painting depicting the Battle of Grunwald. Wealthy local merchants
used the building as a communal guildhall, holding meetings, banquets
and general revelries in the lavishly decorated interior.
The
plainly renovated upper floors hold a selection of historical exhibits,
including a photographic ‘simulacrum’ of how the great hall would have
looked at its peak, a breathtaking spectacle.
One unique feature
of the interior is its giant Renaissance tiled stove, standing in the
corner of the hall and almost touching the ceiling. It’s reputedly the
highest stove of its kind in Europe containing 520 tiles, 437 of which
are originals.
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