Welcome to H15 Luxury Palace - a place where history beautifully blends with modernity.
Join us on a unique journey through the old and modern Krakow.
In the beginning
The first references to the four buildings that comprise the group at 15 Św. Jana Street date back to 1544. Originally having a single floor, the buildings were expanded to include additional floors in the following decades. From the very start, the adjoining but independent buildings served a variety of functions: they housed a stable, a bakery, a soap manufacturer and a brewery, to name but a few. Between 1666 and 1722, all the townhouses were merged together, and Prince Józef Czartoryski and his brother Kazimierz became the first owners of them all.
The palace
Later, in 1744, the buildings were converted into a palace. In the second half of the 19th century, they became the property of the Lubomirski family, and the property was renamed the Lubomirski Palace. The current look is due to a reconstruction that took place in 1873-1874, undertaken by Maximilian Nitsch, a Krakow-based architect, commissioned by Princess Lubomirska. As part of the reconstruction, the former palace was extended, the tenement houses were connected, and a second floor and a neo-Baroque façade were added.
A centre of urban life
In their palace, the Lubomirski family amassed a vast collection of valuable paintings and furniture.
It served as one of the centres of social life in old Krakow, hosting a number of art exhibitions and many other things.
Following the end of the Second World War, it became the seat of the French Institute, and so it remained until 1999.
Today
Between 2016 and 2020, the building had a major makeover and extension, with the outbuildings growing in size to include new sections. This coincided with conservation and restoration work, resulting in the discovery of polychrome in the rooms on the first floor and elsewhere. The renovation included the 18th-century gate as well as the Baroque portal with the Lubomirski coat of arms: Szreniawa. The Baroque stucco has also been preserved, adorning a large hallway that is now used as a lobby, and, to a considerable extent, the great halls on the first floor. The work resulted in the construction of a five-star H15 luxury palace hotel in 2020.