History of Motyl

Motyl (eng. Butterfly) is a settlement in Poland that includes a palace-park complex with farm buildings from the late 19th century. At that time, the estate featured a palace, a water mill, a barn, a blacksmith’s shop, and several other buildings.

Before the Second World War, the property was owned by the Jankowski family. After the war broke out, Nazi Germany took over the property.

Following the end of the Second World War, communism took hold in Poland, and the Jankowski family was once again expelled, with the property being seized by the communist Polish state, the People’s Republic of Poland (PRL).

This was not entirely an independent Polish state since it was under Soviet occupation and a communist regime. The nature of this system was to fight against private ownership, the owning class, and capitalism.

After the fall of communism in Poland we began efforts to reclaim the property. After a long legal battle, around 2010, we managed to recover part of the former estate – the palace-park complex and about 10 hectares of meadows and forested land. Unfortunately, after years of
neglect, we inherited the buildings in a state of ruin.

We are currently working to restore at least part of the former glory and breathe new life into them. There is also a beautiful park covering 1.3 hectares, diverse in both age and species.

Among the linden, beech, maple, and ash trees, we find a monumental pedunculate oak with a circumference of 460 cm(181 inch), growing along the road to the palace.

Current progress