“Good news: you can lie on the grass in Łazienki again! You can do so in the designated rest areas,” Jan Mencwel, a city councilor from the Miasto Jest Nasze association, informed on Friday. This is a response to a change in the regulations announced by the museum's management in mid-August. It prohibited the use of the garden's lawns.
Mencwel wrote on social media that on Thursday he met with Marianna Otmianowska, director of the Royal Łazienki Museum, regarding this matter.
“There you can sit and lie on the grass as much as you want”
“The Director responded to my letter, and the Museum listened to your voices and designated several large 'rest areas' throughout the park. This is where you can sit and lie on the grass as much as you want. I ask you to use these areas. You will find a map of them on the website and soon also at the gates,” the councilor said.
As Mencwel added, the museum is working on designating more such zones. Their designation is intended to allow the soil (and with it the root system of trees) to rest from time to time. “In addition, during the visit I learned, among other things, what species is the oldest tree in Łazienki (ash, approx. 300 years old), and what is the thickest (poplar, yes, poplar!). And why peacocks sometimes peck at cars (because they consider their reflection in the bodywork to be their rival during the mating season),” wrote the councilor.
And he concluded: “I would like to thank everyone for their appeals and voices of support. And the Museum management for meeting them halfway. As you can see – it is possible.”
It is forbidden to sit on the grass
Let us recall: in mid-August the regulations for using the gardens of the Royal Łazienki have been changed. The management has introduced a ban on sitting and lying on the lawns. This decision was made after the storms that swept over the Royal Łazienki. It is known that as a result of sudden weather changes about 100 trees were destroyed.
Royal Łazienki after the stormsRoyal Baths
In the garden regulations available on the website, point III entitled “Respect nature” contains information about the prohibitions in force. As stated, it is forbidden to: “destroy plants, ground cover, lawns, pick flowers, fruit, mushrooms, branches”, “camp, have picnics”, “violate the protection zone of marked natural monuments – the protection zone is 15 m”, “move outside the marked paths and alleys”; and finally, the most important point – it is not allowed to “enter or stay on lawns, especially under tree branches, unless the Museum designates special, clearly marked zones for this purpose.”
The change outraged visitors to the garden, who were used to being able to spread out on the lawns and no one was bothered by it. Jan Mencwel also reacted and wrote a letter to the management of Łazienki appealing to withdraw – in his opinion – “this absurd ban”.
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