The tenement house “Under the Prophets” at 8 Narutovycha Street is the most striking urban building of Biała Podlaska from the late 19th century. Red brick, white stone, a turret with a helmet on the chamfered corner, and above the corner — busts of two “prophets,” as Poland calls the great Romantic poets, Adam Mickiewicz and Juliusz Słowacki. The house got its name from them.
Who Built It
The house was completed in 1898 by order of Franciszek Rosinski, owner of the Klonowica estate. However, the decorative cartouches above the first-floor windows bear the initials of the architect Karol Iwanicki, so researchers suggest that he might have been the first owner. It was an income house: apartments were rented out, and the building was meant to decorate the main street of the county town, which at that time lived off trade and the Warsaw–Terespol railway.
Architecture
This is a two-story building in the French Neo-Renaissance style. Between the floors runs a wide ornamental frieze, which also divides the vertical divisions of the facade. The facade is topped with a molded cornice, and above the chamfered corner rises a turret with a helmet. The building is listed as a monument. Wooden villas from the late 19th to early 20th centuries have also been preserved on Narutovycha Street, so it is worth walking along it entirely.
Mural about Aircraft
In 2017, a mural dedicated to the Podlasie Aircraft Factory (PWS) appeared on the northern wall. It operated in Biała from 1923 to 1939 and produced military machines — licensed Potez XXV and its own designs, including the fighter PWS-1 and the trainer PWS-26. Among the founders and designers of the enterprise was Stanisław Ruzicka de Rozenwert, owner of the palace in Cielesnica. After September 17, 1939, the factory’s equipment was looted by Soviet troops.
How to Get There
The building stands in the center of Biała Podlaska, at 8 Narutovycha Street; it can only be viewed from the outside. You can get to the city by train from Warsaw or by bus from Lublin; for Ukrainians, this is Poland, so a passport is required. On the same street is the Church of Saint Anthony, nearby is the Church of Saint Anna and the Radziwiłł castle complex. From here begins the blue trail to Hanna on the Bug.
