Royal Castle in Warsaw - Museum

The Royal Castle in Warsaw (Polish: Zamek Królewski w Warszawie) is a castle residency that formerly served throughout the centuries as the official residence of the Polish monarchs. Initially the complex served as the residence of the Dukes of Masovia, and since the sixteenth century, the seat of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth: the King and Parliament. In its long history the Royal Castle was repeatedly plundered and devastated by the invading Swedish, Brandenburgian, Prussian and Tsarist armies. Burned and looted by the Nazi Germans following the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and almost completely destroyed in 1944 after the failed Warsaw Uprising, the Castle was completely rebuilt and reconstructed. Reconstruction of the castle carried out in 1971–1984 was led by the Civic Committee, responsible for the reconstruction of Warsaw. In 1980, the Royal Castle, together with the Old Town was registered as a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.