Staszic Palace

Staszic Palace features a neoclassical facade topped with a massive, heavy dome that dominates the skyline along Krakowskie Przedmiescie. Stanisław Staszic commissioned the building in the early nineteenth century to serve as the headquarters for the Society of Friends of Learning. During the Russian occupation, authorities stripped the building of its original classical appearance, masking it with an ornate Byzantine-style exterior to erase the national identity of the institution. A statue of Nicolaus Copernicus sits on a plinth just outside the entrance.