Standing at the top of the lovely Łazienki Park, this Neoclassical palace (Pałac Belwederski in Polish) became a symbol of the revival of Poland’s existence as a state after the First World War, and inspired Ankara’s Polish embassy, described in Patricia Daunt’s book, The Palace Lady’s Summerhouse. Dating from 1740 but rebuilt in 1819–22 by Jacob Kubicki, the porticoed house survived the Second World War intact.

Used by Poland’s last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski and the Tsar’s brother Grand Duke Constantine, stormed during the November National Insurrection in 1830, and Marshal Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935), father of the Second Polish Republic’s base between 1918 and 1922 and 1926 to 1935, it became a presidential residence in 1989.