Crowds of Warsaw residents and tourists gathered on Saturday at the Royal Łazienki Park to commemorate the 234th anniversary of adopting the May 3 Constitution — the first written constitution in Europe and the second in the world. The main attraction of the celebrations — an exhibition of a faithful copy of the 1791 document — drew long lines of visitors.
People queued outside the Solomon Hall in the Palace on the Isle, where the copy of the Constitution was on display on loan from the Central Archives of Historical Records. Museum educators explained the historical context of the Constitution’s adoption and the reforms it introduced to fix the political system of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These included abolishing the elective monarchy in favor of a hereditary one, expanding the rights of townspeople and peasants, and establishing the separation of powers and the principle of national sovereignty.
“In an era dominated by absolute monarchies, this law was revolutionary. Poland was ahead of its time,” noted Professor Dariusz Dudek, a constitutional law expert from the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
The May 3 Constitution was a groundbreaking political project that placed Poland alongside the most progressive nations of its time. Rooted in the principle of popular sovereignty, it introduced a separation of powers, eliminated the ineffective mechanisms of noble democracy, and laid the groundwork for a modern rule-of-law state. Its concise yet weighty content drew from the best Enlightenment ideals while charting a uniquely Polish path to constitutional reform.
One of the day’s highlights was the “meeting with the king” — a reenactor in period costume shared stories in the gardens about King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who played a key role in the drafting and passage of the Constitution. Visitors eagerly posed for photos with him.
“It was thanks to the king and the reformers of the patriotic camp that this law, though short-lived, became a permanent landmark in the history of European constitutionalism,” Prof. Dudek emphasized.
In the People’s Republic of Poland, official commemorations of the May 3 Constitution were only restored after 1989. Today, the anniversary is a national holiday and one of the most significant dates on the Polish civic calendar.
Family News Service