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17913 May 1791 · Warsaw

Constitution of 3 May 1791

Jan Matejko's 1891 painting of King Stanisław August and deputies in procession after adopting the constitution
Archival image: Jan Matejko. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Meeting in the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the parliament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth adopted Europe's first modern written national constitution, abolishing the single-member veto and strengthening the state. Russia and Polish magnates opposed to reform went to war against it, and the partitions of 1793 and 1795 erased the Commonwealth from the map until 1918. The day remains a Polish national holiday.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Royal Castle, WarsawCastle rebuilt after 1945, with the Senate chamber where the constitution was adopted.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Temple of Divine Providence, WilanówChurch vowed in 1791 to honour the constitution and consecrated only in 2016.Map ↗

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