1.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
2.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
3.
Sacred architecture
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Many cultures devoted considerable resources to their sacred architecture and places of worship. Religious and sacred spaces are amongst the most impressive and permanent monolithic buildings created by humanity, conversely, sacred architecture as a locale for meta-intimacy may also be non-monolithic, ephemeral and intensely private, personal and non-public. Sacred, religious and holy structures often evolved over centuries and were the largest buildings in the world, while the various styles employed in sacred architecture sometimes reflected trends in other structures, these styles also remained unique from the contemporary architecture used in other structures. With the rise of Abrahamic monotheisms, religious buildings increasingly became centres of worship, prayer, the Western scholarly discipline of the history of architecture itself closely follows the history of religious architecture from ancient times until the Baroque period, at least. Sacred geometry, iconography, and the use of sophisticated semiotics such as signs, symbols, Sacred and/or religious architecture is sometimes called sacred space. Architect Norman L. Koonce has suggested that the goal of sacred architecture is to make transparent the boundary between matter and mind, flesh and the spirit, meanwhile, Richard Kieckhefer suggests that entering into a religious building is a metaphor for entering into spiritual relationship. Sacred architecture spans a number of ancient architectural styles including Neolithic architecture, ancient Egyptian architecture, ancient religious buildings, particularly temples, were often viewed as the dwelling place, the temenos, of the gods and were used as the site of various kinds of sacrifice. Ancient tombs and burial structures are examples of architectural structures reflecting religious beliefs of their various societies. The Temple of Karnak at Thebes, Egypt was constructed across a period of 1300 years, ancient Egyptian religious architecture has fascinated archaeologists and captured the public imagination for millennia. Around 600 BCE the wooden columns of the Temple of Hera at Olympia were replaced by stone columns, with the spread of this process to other sanctuary structures a few stone buildings have survived through the ages. Greek architecture preceded Hellenistic and Roman periods, since temples are the only buildings which survive in numbers, most of our concept of classical architecture is based on religious structures. The Parthenon which served as a building as well as a place for veneration of deity, is widely regarded as the greatest example of classical architecture. Indian architecture is related to the history and religions of the time periods as well as to the geography, the diversity of Indian culture is represented in its architecture. Indian architecture comprises a blend of ancient and varied native traditions, with building types, forms and technologies from West, Central Asia, buddhist architecture developed in South Asia beginning in the third century BCE. Two types of structures are associated with early Buddhism, viharas and stupas, an existing example is at Nalanda. The initial function of the stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of the Buddha, the earliest existing example of a stupa is in Sanchi. In accordance with changes in practice, stupas were gradually incorporated into chaitya-grihas. These reached their highpoint in the first century BCE, exemplified by the cave complexes of Ajanta, the pagoda is an evolution of the Indian stupa that is marked by a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in China, Japan, Korea, Nepal and other parts of Asia
4.
Brick Gothic
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Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in the regions around the Baltic Sea, which do not have natural stone resources. The buildings are built using bricks. Buildings classified as Brick Gothic are found in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Sweden and Finland. As the use of baked red brick arrived in Northern Europe in the 12th century, in the 16th century, Brick Gothic was superseded by Brick Renaissance architecture. Many of the old town centres dominated by Brick Gothic, as well as individual structures, have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites. Different from other styles, the definition of Brick Gothic is based on the material, and by a strict definition. In 1158, Henry the Lion founded Lübeck, in 1160 he conquered the Slavic principality of Schwerin and this partially violent colonisation was accompanied by the Christianisation of the Slavs and the foundation of dioceses at Ratzeburg, Schwerin, Cammin, Brandenburg and elsewhere. The newly founded cities soon joined the Hanseatic League and formed the Wendic Circle, with its centre at Lübeck, in rural areas, the monastic architecture of monks orders had a major influence on the development of brick architecture, especially through the Cistercians and Premonstratensians. Between Prussia and Estonia, the Teutonic Knights secured their rule by erecting numerous Ordensburgen, Brick architecture became prevalent in the 12th century, still within the Romanesque architecture period. Wooden architecture had long dominated in northern Germany but was inadequate for the construction of monumental structures, throughout the area of Brick Gothic, half-timbered architecture remained typical for smaller buildings, especially in rural areas, well into modern times. The techniques of building and decorating in bricks were imported from Lombardy, also some decorative forms of Lombard architecture were adopted. In the areas dominated by the Welfs, the use of brick to replace natural stone began with cathedrals and parish churches at Oldenburg, Segeberg, Ratzeburg, Henry the Lion laid the foundation stone of the Cathedral in 1173. In the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the lack of natural stone, Brick architecture here started with the Cathedral of Brandenburg, begun in 1165 under Albert the Bear. Jerichow Monastery, with construction started as early as 1148, plays a key role regarding Brick Gothic in Brandenburg, Romanesque brick architecture remained closely connected with contemporary stone architecture and simply translated the latters style and repertoire into the new material. Nonetheless, they were influenced by the cathedrals of France. Furthermore, special shaped bricks were produced to facilitate the imitation of architectural sculpture, since the bricks used were made of clay, available in copious quantities in the Northern German Plain, they quickly became the normal replacement for building stone. The so-called monastic format became the standard for bricks used in representative buildings and its bricks measure circa 28 x 15 x 9 cm to 30 x 14 x 10 cm, with interstices of about 1.5 cm. In contrast to hewn-stone Gothic, the bricks and shaped bricks were not produced locally by lodges, the use of shaped bricks for tracery and friezes also can be found in some buildings of northwestern Gothic brick architecture
5.
Warsaw Old Town
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The Warsaw Old Town is the oldest part of the capital city. It is bounded by the Wybrzeże Gdańskie, along with the bank of Vistula river, Grodzka, Mostowa and it is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in Warsaw. The heart of the area is the Old Town Market Place, rich in restaurants, cafés, surrounding streets feature medieval architecture such as the city walls, the Barbican and St. Johns Cathedral. The Old Town was established in the 13th century, initially surrounded by an earthwork rampart, prior to 1339 it was fortified with brick city walls. The town originally grew up around the castle of the Dukes of Mazovia that later became the Royal Castle, the Market Square was laid out sometime in the late 13th or early 14th century, along the main road linking the castle with the New Town to the north. Until 1817 the Old Towns most notable feature was the Town Hall built before 1429, in 1701 the square was rebuilt by Tylman Gamerski, and in 1817 the Town Hall was demolished. In the early 1910s Warsaw Old Town was the home of the prominent Yiddish writer Alter Kacyzne, parts of it were bohemian, with painters and artists having their studios, while some streets were a Red-light district housing brothels. In 1918 the Royal Castle once again became the seat of Polands highest authorities, in the late 1930s, during the mayoralty of Stefan Starzyński, the municipal authorities began refurbishing the Old Town and restoring it to its former glory. The Barbican and the Old Town Market Place were partly restored and these efforts, however, were brought to an end by the outbreak of World War II. During the Invasion of Poland, much of the district was damaged by the German Luftwaffe. Following the Siege of Warsaw, parts of the Old Town were rebuilt, a statue commemorating the Uprising, the Little Insurgent, now stands on the Old Towns medieval city wall. After World War II, the Old Town was meticulously rebuilt, in an effort at anastylosis, as many as possible of the original bricks were reused. The rubble was sifted for reusable decorative elements, which were reinserted into their original places. The Old Town Market Place, which dates back to the end of the 13th century, is the heart of the Old Town. Here the representatives of guilds and merchants met in the Town Hall, and fairs, the houses around it represented the Gothic style until the great fire of 1607, after which they were rebuilt in late-Renaissance style. Castle Square is a visitors first view of the reconstructed Old Town and it is an impressive sight, dominated by Zygmunts Column, which towers above the beautiful Old Town houses. Enclosed between the Old Town and the Royal Castle, Castle Square is steeped in history, here was the gateway leading into the city called the Kraków Gate. It was developed in the 14th century and continued to be an area for the kings
6.
Cathedral
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A cathedral is a Christian church which contains the seat of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. The counterpart term for such a church in German is Dom from Latin domus ecclesiae or domus episcopalis, also Italian Duomo, Dutch Domkerk, when the church at which an archbishop or metropolitan presides is specifically intended, the term kathedrikos naos is used. In addition, both the Catholic Church and Orthodox churches have formed new dioceses within formerly Protestant lands for converts, consequently, it is not uncommon to find Christians in a single city being served by three or more cathedrals of differing denominations. In the Catholic tradition, the term cathedral correctly applies only to a church houses the seat of the bishop of a diocese. The abbey church of a territorial abbacy serves the same function, the Catholic Church also uses the following terms. A pro-cathedral is a parish or other church used temporarily as a cathedral, usually while the cathedral of a diocese is under construction, renovation and this designation applies only as long as the temporary use continues. A co-cathedral is a cathedral in a diocese that has two sees. A proto-cathedral is the cathedral of a transferred see. The cathedral church of a bishop is called the metropolitan cathedral. The term cathedral actually carries no implication as to the size or ornateness of the building, nevertheless, most cathedrals are particularly impressive edifices. The building is now under renovation and restoration for solemn dedication under the title Christ Cathedral in 2018, in the ancient world the chair, on a raised dais, was the distinctive mark of a teacher or rhetor and thus symbolises the bishops role as teacher. A raised throne within a hall was also definitive for a Late Antique presiding magistrate. The history of cathedrals starts in the year 313, when the emperor Constantine the Great personally adopted Christianity, in the third century, the phrase ascending the platform, ad pulpitum venire, becomes the standard term for Christian ordination. During the siege of Dura Europos in 256, a complete Christian house church, or domus ecclesiae was entombed in a bank, surviving when excavated. Otherwise the large room had no decoration or distinctive features at all, in 269, soon after Dura fell to the Persian army, a body of clerics assembled a charge sheet against the bishop of Antioch, Paul of Samosata, in the form of an open letter. Characteristically a Roman magistrate presided from a throne in a large, richly decorated and aisled rectangular hall called a basilica. The earliest of these new basilican cathedrals of which remains are still visible is below the Cathedral of Aquileia on the northern tip of the Adriatic sea. The three halls create a courtyard, in which was originally located a separate baptistery
7.
Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
8.
Jesuit Church, Warsaw
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Jesuit Church, otherwise the Church of the Gracious Mother of God is an ornate church in Warsaw, Poland. Immediately adjacent to St. Johns Cathedral, it is one of the most notable mannerist churches in Polands capital and its beautiful slender tower may be seen from the Old Town Market Place. The Jesuit Church was founded by King Sigismund III Vasa and Podkomorzy Andrzej Bobola at Piotr Skargas initiative, in 1609, the main building was constructed between 1609 and 1626 in the Polish Mannerist style by Jan Frankiewicz. In 1627 the church was encompassed with three chapels, and in 1635 Urszula Meyerin, a supporter of the Society of Jesus, was buried within. Meyerin funded a silver tabernacle for the church and she was also King Sigismund IIIs mistress, and was politically influential. Her grave was plundered and destroyed by the Swedes and Brandenburg Germans, in the 1650s, a vestibule was added to the interior of the temple in 1633, and a choir was added three years later. An altar made of silver was installed by Cardinal Charles Ferdinand Vasa in the 1640s, the interior of the church was damaged and looted in 1656. In later years the building more and more splendid, with rich baroque furnishings. When the order of Jesuits was dissolved in 1773, the church changed several times. For some time it was a church, later it was demoted to the role of the magazine of church furnishings. The Jesuits did not get the back until the end of the First World War. In the 1920s and 1930s the church was renovated, during World War II, after the Germans suppressed the Warsaw Uprising, they razed the Jesuit Church to the ground. All that remained of the edifice was a great pile of rubble. Between the 1950s and 1973, the church was rebuilt in a architectural style. The facade is Mannerist, although the interior is completely modern, because very few of the original furnishings of the church were preserved
9.
Royal Castle, Warsaw
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The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency that formerly served throughout the centuries as 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 sixteenth century until the Partitions of Poland. Initially the complex served as the residence of the Dukes of Masovia, and since the century, the seat of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In its long history the Royal Castle was repeatedly plundered and devastated by the invading Swedish, Brandenburgian, Prussian and Tsarist armies. The Constitution of 3 May 1791, the first of its type in Europe, in the 19th century, after the collapse of the November Uprising, it was used as an administrative centre by the Tsar and was re-designed for the needs of the Imperial Russian administration. During the course of World War I it was the residence of the German Governor-General, in 1920-1922 the Royal Castle was the seat of the Polish Head of State and between 1926 and World War II the building was the residence of the Polish president, Ignacy Mościcki. Reconstruction of the carried out in 1971-1984 was led by the Civic Committee. It was afforded by mainly US donations, in 1980, the Royal Castle, together with the Old Town was registered as a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today it is a historical and national monument, and is listed as a national museum visited by over 500,000 people every year, the Royal Castle, due to its iconic appearance and its long history, is one of Warsaws most recognizable landmarks. In the 1339 the Papal Legate in Warsaw heard a case brought by the King of Poland, Casimir III the Great and he claimed that they had illegally seized a slice of Polish territory — Pomerania and the Kujawy region. The documents in this case are the earliest written testimony to the existence of Warsaw, at that time a fortified town surrounded by earthen and wooden ramparts, and situated where the Royal Castle now stands, it was the seat of Trojden, Duke of Masovia. At the end of the 13th century, during the Dukes Conrad II of Mazovia reign, the next duke, Casimir I, decided to build the first brick building here at the burg-citys area the Great Tower. Its facade, which was standing in 1944, was knocked down by the Germans. The character of the new residence and its size decided the change of the buildings status, and from 1414 it functioned as a Prince Manor. When the Masovia region was incorporated in the Kingdom of Poland in 1526, the edifice, which until then had been the Castle of the Dukes of Masovia, became one of the royal residences. From 1548 onwards Queen Bona Sforza resided in it with her daughters Izabela, who became Queen of Hungary, Catherine, later to become Queen of Sweden, in 1556–1557 and in 1564 the King of Poland, Sigismund II Augustus, convened royal parliaments in Warsaw. In 1569–1572 King Sigismund II Augustus started alterations in the Castle, the Curia Maior was altered so as provide a meeting place for the Parliament, with premises for the Chamber of Deputies on the ground floor, and the Senate Chamber on the first floor. This was one of the first attempts in Europe to create a building that would be used solely for parliamentary purposes, a new Renaissance—style building, known as the Royal House, was erected next to the Curia Maior
10.
Anna Jagiellon
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Anna Jagiellon was Queen of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in her own right from 1575 to 1586. She was a daughter of Polish King Sigismund I the Old, despite multiple proposals, she remained unmarried until the age of 52. She was elected, along with her then-fiancé Stephen Báthory, as co-ruler in the 1576 royal election of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and their marriage was a formal arrangement and distant. Báthory was preoccupied with the Livonian War, while Anna spent her time in Warsaw on local administrative matters, after Báthorys death in December 1586, she had an opportunity to claim the throne for herself, but did not even attempt it. Instead, she promoted her nephew Sigismund III Vasa, establishing House of Vasa on the Polish–Lithuanian throne for the eighty years. Anna Jagiellon was born on 18 October 1523 to the Polish king and queen, Sigismund I the Old and she spent most of her childhood in Kraków. Twice, from June 1533 to November 1536 and from April 1540 to June 1542, Anna and that meant that the three sisters grew closer, but grew more distant from their elder brother Sigismund II Augustus. Her early life was rather mundane and she embroidered and sewed, played chess and dice, was involved in works of charity and fulfilled her obligations as a princess. She also received an education – she was fluent in Italian and knew Latin –, the issue of marriage of the three Jagiellon sisters was neglected by both their father and their mother. Sigismund II Augustus did not attend to the issue of his sisters marriages, in 1550, Bona attempted to negotiate marriage with Charles Victor or Philip, sons of Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, or Ernest of Bavaria. Finally in January 1556, Queen Bona managed to arrange a marriage for Sophia Jagiellon, a month later, Bona Sforza departed to her native Italy leaving her two unmarried daughters alone in Warsaw. After about a year, Sigismund II Augustus brought his sisters to Vilnius where they became close to his third wife Catherine of Austria, even though Anna was already in her mid-thirties, Sigismund investigated marriage proposals. John agreed, but asked for Annas younger sister Catherine and it was against custom for a younger sister to marry first, therefore their wedding was postponed. However, at the last minute, only John arrived to the wedding in Vilnius, the court demanded that John married Anna, but John insisted on Catherine. Sigismund II Augustus, who needed Swedish troops and money in the Livonian War, though it must have been humiliating for Anna, she agreed and Catherine married John on 4 October 1562. Anna moved to the Royal Castle in Warsaw as Vilnius was not safe due to the Livonian War, there she lived alone with a court of about 70 people, she spent her time praying, embroidering or sewing, and corresponding with her sisters. Her brother visited her annually when he attended sessions of the sejm in Warsaw. Even though Anna was already in her forties, marriage continued to come in
11.
Sigismund III Vasa
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He was the son of King John III of Sweden and his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland. Elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sigismund sought to create a union between the Commonwealth and Sweden, and succeeded for a time in 1592. After he had deposed in 1599 from the Swedish throne by his uncle, Charles IX of Sweden. Shortly after his victory over his enemies, Sigismund took advantage of a period of civil unrest in Muscovy and invaded Russia. In 1617 the Polish–Swedish conflict, which had been interrupted by an armistice in 1611, while Sigismunds army was also fighting Ottoman forces in Moldavia, King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden invaded Sigismunds lands, capturing Riga and seizing almost all of Polish Livonia. Sigismund, who concluded the Truce of Altmark with Sweden in 1629 and his Swedish wars resulted, moreover, in Polands loss of Livonia and in a diminution of the kingdoms international prestige. Sigismund remains a controversial figure in Poland. His long reign coincided with the apex of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealths prestige, power, on the other hand, it was during his reign that the symptoms of decline leading to the Commonwealths eventual demise surfaced. However, the question of whether the Commonwealths decline was caused by Sigismunds decisions or had its roots in historical processes beyond his personal control and he was commemorated in Warsaw with Sigismunds Column, commissioned by his son and successor, Władysław IV. Sigismund was born on 20 June 1566 to Catherine Jagiellon and the Grand Duke John of Finland at Gripsholm and his parents, at the time, were being held prisoner by King Eric XIV, but despite the Protestant domination of Sweden young Sigismund was raised as a Roman Catholic. In 1567 Sigismund and his parents where released from prison, and in 1568 Erik XIV was deposed, from 1568 Sigismund was the crown prince of Sweden. His mother was the daughter of Polish king Sigismund I the Old, in 1587 Sigismund stood for election to the Polish throne after the death of his uncle, King Stephen Bathory. He was supported by his aunt Queen Anna, Hetman Jan Zamoyski and it seemed that the issue of who would be King of Poland had been settled when Maximilian III invaded Poland to claim the crown. Hetman Jan Zamoyski defeated Maximilian at the Battle of Byczyna and took him prisoner, however, at the request of Pope Sixtus V, King Sigismund III released Maximilian, who surrendered his claim to Poland in 1589. King Sigismund also tried to maintain peace with his neighbor by marrying Archduchess Anne Habsburg in 1592. It was always his intention to maintain an alliance with Catholic Austria against the Protestant forces, when his father died King Sigismund III asked the Sejm to be allowed to claim his inheritance as the rightful King of Sweden. When he promised to respect Lutheranism as the religion of Sweden. Sigismund was crowned King of Sweden in 1594 and he appointed his uncle, Duke Charles, to rule as regent on his behalf in Sweden while he remained in Poland, since Sweden and the Commonwealth were only in a personal union, not united in one state
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