Smoleń Castle

This is its third or fourth incarnation, the "Sobieskiej Palace" created in the 1730s by removing defensive features and making it a bling mansion. This passed through various private and state owners and in 1989 was bought by Barbara Piasecka Johnson (1937-2013) to house her art collection. Renovation work was halted in 1992 when the sale was disputed, and the legal ructions were still grinding through the courts 20 years later when Johnson died. Nobody else has the money or will to take on such a huge place mired in an ownership dispute, so this grand old pile has fallen derelict.