Museums in Lublin you should visit

Lublin is a city in eastern Poland, located at the Lublin Upland, upon the river Bystrzyca. It used to be a trading settlement, situated on the trail leading from the surroundings of the Black Sea. Not far from Lublin , there is a museum of the „Majdanek” concentration camp – one of the numerous symbols of cruelty to humanity in the times of World War II. However, the city itself also has some interesting museums. In this article you will be able to read about some of the best and most interesting museums in Lublin.

The National Museum in Lublin

The National Museum in Lublin is one of the oldest and largest museums in eastern Poland.

The origins of the museum movement in Lublin date all the way back to the early 20th century and are associated with the activity of Hieronim Lopacinski, who was responsible for organizing two museum exhibits dedicated to art and ancient history.

In 1914, Szymon Piotrowski, the director of the local division of the National Bank, initiated the establishment of of the „Lublin Museum” association.

On May 14th 2020, the museum changed its old name – the „Lublin Museum” to the „National Museum in Lublin”

The Mansion of Wincenty Pol in Lublin

The Mansion of Wincenty Pol in Lublin is the biographical museum of Wincenty Pol located in a classicist mansion constructed in the late 18th century, which is located just outside of Lublin.

Between 1804 and 1810, it was owned by Franciszek Ksawery Pol – the father of Wincenty Pol.

The mansion, which is made of larch, remained in its original location until 1969, and then it was moved to the estate at 13 Kalinowszczyzna street as the first museum object of the open-air museum in Lublin. On December 2nd 1972, on the 100th anniversary of the death of Wincenty Pol, the museum was officially opened for visitors.

The Literature Museum under the name of Jozef Czechowicz in Lublin

The Literature Museum under the name of Jozef Czechowicz is a division of the National Museum in Lublin. The main purpose of the institution is to gather, preserve and share manuscripts and scientific materials associated with the life and creativity of Jozef Czechowicz, as well as other writers from the Lublin region.

The museum was opened on September 9th 1968, on the 29th anniversary of the death of Jozef Czechowicz. For nearly 30 years, it was located in the monumental monastery building at 10 Narutowicza street.

The museum also has countless manuscripts from other writers, including Czeslaw Milosz, Wislawa Szymborska and Julian Tuwim.

The Lublin Countryside Museum in Lublin

The Lublin Countryside Museum in Lublin is an open-air museum, which exhibits monuments of wooden and brick-made architecture, as well as etnographic collections from the area of the former lubelskie region.

In 1960, the Division of Folk Construction was established in the District Museum in Lublin

Originally, the open-air museum was supposed to be located in the Kalinowszczyzna district, but because of numerous difficulties with occupying the land in 1975, the museum gained new land with the surface of approximately 76 hectares in the district of Slawin.

The museum’s exhibit includes the Roztocze section, where visitors can admire the Greek Catholic church from Tarnoszyn, and the Żyrzyn mansion from the mid-18th century with the exhibit of the home of a middle-class landlord.

The „Pod Fortuna” basement

The „Pod Fortuna” basement is a building with monumental polychromes in the Lubomelski stonehouse in Lublin. Up until February of 2018, this complex of basements was managed by the Regional Tourism Organization of Lublin.

The first written documents that mentioned the Lubomelski stonehouse in Lublin originated from 1522. In 1540, Jan Lubomelski organized a major reconstruction of the property. 35 years later, the city was devastated by a great fire. The painting room is located on the first floor of the basements in the eastern part of the stonehouse.