Museum sights in Kraków
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Museum
This museum presents Małpolska’s history from the Palaeolithic period up until the early Middle Ages. Also on show is an absorbing collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts, including both human and animal mummies, and 4200 iron coins from the 9th century. The gardens, laid out with rose bushes, magnolia trees and contemporary sculptures, are a lovely place for a stroll afterwards. Make sure you ask for an audioguide.
reviewed
-
B
Salt Mine
Just outside the administrative boundaries of Kraków, some 14km southeast of the city centre, Wieliczka (vyeh- leech -kah) is famous for its ultra-deep Salt Mine, which has been in continuous operation for 700 years and can be visited. It’s an eerie world of pits and chambers, and everything has been carved by hand from salt blocks. The mine was included on Unesco’s World Heritage List in 1978.
reviewed
-
C
Wawel Cathedral & Museum
Poland's most important church is the 1364 Gothic beauty that sits atop Wawel Hill. Admire the central silver Shrine of St Stanislaus and the many chapels that ring the sanctuary, before descending into the tiny Poets' Crypt and the mazelike Royal Crypts. Finally, you can climb the 70 wooden steps to the top of the Sigismund Tower to see the great Sigismund Bell.
Opposite the cathedral is the Cathedral Museum, which displays various ecclesiastical treasures and royal funerary regalia.
reviewed
-
D
World of Senses
World of Senses, which has 40 interactive models that teach visitors how the five senses function (and can deceive us).
reviewed
-
E
Ul Szeroka
From the Galicia Museum in Kazimierz, walk north along ul Dajwór to ul Szeroka, traditionally the centre of the Jewish quarter. Short and wide, it looks more like an elongated square than a street and is often packed with tourists and coaches.
reviewed
-
F
Pharmacy Under the Eagle
Operated by Tadeusz Pankiewicz until the final deportation, the ghetto's only pharmacy was a sort of safe haven, where Jews could receive medical care and news from the outside world. It's now a museum that recalls ghetto events and the pharmacist's heroic deeds.
reviewed
-
G
Wyspiański Museum
Dedicated to the key figure of the Młoda Polska (Young Poland) movement, this museum reveals how many branches of art Stanisław Wyspiański explored. A painter, poet and playwright, he was particularly renowned for his stained-glass designs, some of which are in the exhibition.
reviewed
-
H
Former Town Hall of Kazimierz
The former town hall of Kazimierz was built in the late 14th century in the centre of a vast market square (Plac Wolnica is all that's left). It was significantly extended in the 16th century, at which time it acquired its Renaissance appearance. The Ethnographic Museum is here.
reviewed
-
I
Nowa Huta Museum
Two blocks north of Plac Centralny, the Nowa Huta Museum is more like a glorified tourist office, but there is a small, well-curated exhibit space. Rotating exhibits incorporate multimedia to explore the neighbourhood’s controversial history and contemporary development.
reviewed
-
J
Crown Treasury & Armoury
The treasury's prize possession is the Szczerbiec, or 'Jagged Sword', used at Polish coronations since 1320. Otherwise, most of the good stuff was plundered and pillaged by various occupying armies. The adjacent armoury features an enormous collection of weapons from crossbows to cannons.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
Princes Czartoryski Museum
Spend a few hours perusing the impressive range of European paintings, ancient artefacts and Turkish weapons. The most famous masterpieces are Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci and Landscape with the Good Samaritan by Rembrandt, but there are loads of treasures to discover.
reviewed
-
L
Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Painting
The Gallery of 19th-Century Polish Painting, with works by Józef Chełmoński, Jacek Malczewski, Aleksander Gierymski and the leader of monumental historic painting, Jan Matejko, has been moved to the Royal Castle at Niepołomice, 20km east of Kraków, for three years while Cloth Hall is renovated.
reviewed
-
M
National Museum - Main Building
The so-called Main Building of the National Museum in Kraków houses three permanent exhibitions - the Gallery of 20th-Century Polish Painting, the Gallery of Decorative Art, and Polish Arms and National Colours - plus various temporary exhibitions. The excellent painting gallery includes art from 1890 until the present day.
reviewed
-
N
Krzysztofory Palace
The palace at the corner of the Rynek Główny is the headquarters of the History of Kraków Museum. Once an aristocratic town house, the building now recounts the city's history from 1257 to WWII. The museum features a bit of every- thing related to the city's past, including armour, paintings, folk art and costumes.
reviewed
-
O
Archdiocesan Museum
This 14th-century town house holds a collection of religious sculpture and painting, dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Most visitors come to see where Karol Wojtyła (the late Pope John Paul II) lived from 1952 to 1967. The exhibit includes plenty of personal paraphernalia, such as the papal skis, as well as a treasury of gifts that he received.
reviewed
-
P
Museum of Pharmacy
Museum of Pharmacy is one of the largest museums of its kind in Europe and arguably the best. Accommodated in a beautiful historic town house worth the visit alone, it features a 22,000-piece collection, which includes old laboratory equipment, rare pharmaceutical instruments, heaps of glassware, stoneware, mortars, jars, barrels, medical books and documents.
reviewed
-
Q
Museum
This museum presents Małpolska’s history from the Palaeolithic period up until the early Middle Ages. Also on show is an absorbing collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts, including both human and animal mummies, and 4200 iron coins from the 9th century. The gardens, laid out with rose bushes, magnolia trees and contemporary sculptures, are a lovely place for a stroll afterwards. Make sure you ask for an audioguide.
reviewed
-
R
Galicia Jewish Museum
This excellent museum and research centre commemorates Jewish victims of the Holocaust and celebrates Jewish culture in Galicia past, present and future. The centrepiece is 'Traces of Memory', a moving photographic exhibition that depicts modern-day remnants of the once- thriving Jewish community in the southeast of the country. You can also watch testimonies of survivors on video and peruse some seminal temporary exhibits, such as 'Polish Heroes: Those Who Rescued Jews'.
reviewed
-
S
Ethnographic Museum
The Renaissance building on Plac Wolnica was once the town hall of Kazimierz, but now it houses the Ethnographic Museum. It has one of the largest collections in Poland, including the reconstructed interiors of traditional Polish peasant cottages and workshops. There are also plenty of folk costumes, craft and trade exhibits, alongside extraordinary Nativity scenes, and religious artwork. Temporary exhibits take place at the branch around the corner at ul Krakowska 46 (adult/concession 6/3zł).
reviewed
-
T
Wawel Cathedral & Museum
Poland's most important church is the 1364 Gothic beauty that sits atop Wawel Hill. Admire the central silver Shrine of St Stanislaus and the many chapels that ring the sanctuary, before descending into the tiny Poets' Crypt and the mazelike Royal Crypts. Finally, you can climb the 70 wooden steps to the top of the Sigismund Tower to see the great Sigismund Bell.
Opposite the cathedral is the Cathedral Museum, which displays various ecclesiastical treasures and royal funerary regalia.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
U
Royal Chambers
The Royal Chambers, also known as the State Rooms, is the largest and most impressive exhibition; the entrance is in the southeastern corner of the courtyard, from where you’ll ascend to the 2nd floor Proceed through the apparently never-ending chain of two-dozen rooms and chambers of the castle, restored in their original Renaissance and early Baroque style and crammed with period furnishings, paintings, tapestries and works of art.
reviewed
-
V
Salt Mine
Just outside the administrative boundaries of Kraków, some 14km southeast of the city centre, Wieliczka (vyeh- leech -kah) is famous for its ultra-deep Salt Mine, which has been in continuous operation for 700 years and can be visited. It’s an eerie world of pits and chambers, and everything has been carved by hand from salt blocks. The mine was included on Unesco’s World Heritage List in 1978.
reviewed