The best museums Poland

One of the largest panoramic canvases in Europe, gigantic, 15 m high and 114 m long, installed in a dedicated building. The canvas, very symbolic, represents the battle of Racławice which took place on April 4, 1794, the last victory of the Poles over the Russians before their final annexation. The painting was made a century later in Lwów, but it was not until 1980 that Soviet reluctance was overcome and it was exhibited again. Online booking is recommended.

This museum occupies an important place in the Polish "ecosystem". Very modern, it has innovated in its presentation and is highly interactive, making it a model that all major museums today tend to follow as they renovate. It continues to create a sensation and is one of the city's most exciting museums. It tells the story of the 1944 uprising and the activities of the Polish underground state during the Second World War, which are often little-known in the West. Even if you're not keen on historical tours, you'll enjoy wandering through this eye-catching exhibition. The museum was opened in 2004 to mark the ^60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, which began at 5 p.m. on August¹, 1944 and lasted 66 days. The museum is housed in the city's former tramway power station. A true place of national remembrance, dear to the Kaczyński brothers, this museum glorifies the national heroes who tried in vain to liberate their city from the Nazis. The museum is based on an interactive concept, whose patriotic and sentimental aspect may annoy you. However, a visit is a must if you want to understand how contemporary Poles relate to history, nation and religion.

Numerous multimedia documents are collected and arranged with dramatic music and the sound of tanks, in a nightmarish atmosphere that seeks to emotionally recreate the darkness of the period. Some of the panels are not classic museum objects, but rather places of worship, such as the list of the killed, before which Polish visitors come to meditate. If you're a history buff looking to understand the chronology of events, this museum will help. However, it can be easy to get lost in the details presented, as well as in the message the museum wants to deliver, so be sure to concentrate if your aim is to assimilate every detail of this historic event. In fact, if that's your goal, it's a good idea to read up on the insurrection before your visit. This will help you understand the museum's perspective. We recommend Debacle in the camp of the victors - Polish military action 1939-1945 by Wojciech Roszkowski; The Capital of Freedom by Andrzej Kunert, V - symbol of victory; Symbols, signs and patriotic manifestations of fighting Europe 1939-1945 by Tomasz Szarota.

The facts: In 1944, Polish underground authorities decided to launch an uprising in Warsaw against the German occupiers, known as the Warsaw Uprising. Following the uprising, a Polish state operated for 2 months in the capital. The ensuing struggles cost the lives of around 18,000 insurgents and 180,000 civilians. Around 80% of the capital's buildings were razed to the ground by the Germans, both during the uprising and in the subsequent campaign to destroy the city. For a long time, the Communist authorities denied the legitimacy of the uprising and the very existence of the Polish underground state. With democracy established in 1989, the Warsaw Uprising took its place in official memory. That's why one of the main aims of this museum is to promote information about the uprising and to recall its historical reality, long obscured by the Communists.

Symbolically located in the heart of the old Jewish quarter, the museum is comparable in size and historical and cultural importance to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Its inauguration, in October 2014, by the Polish and Israeli presidents, was a colossal event for Poland, which is thus reconnecting with an important page in its history: that tracing the links between Poles and Jews, from the Middle Ages to the tragedy of the Shoah. Designed by Finnish architect Rainer Mahlamaki, the building is one of Warsaw's finest. It features several symbolic elements, including a large breach evoking the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea. Its facade is covered with glass plates featuring Hebrew and Latin letters forming the word Polin, which in Hebrew means "Poland", but also "You will rest here" Persecuted throughout Europe in the Middle Ages, the Jews who arrived in these lands interpreted this word as a good omen, prompting them to settle here. From the ^16th to the end of the ^18th century, Poland was an exceptional haven of tolerance, welcoming up to 80% of the world's Jewish population. The permanent exhibition is extraordinarily rich. Covering an area of over 4,200^m2 and featuring an interactive approach, it tells the story of what was once the world's largest Jewish community, from the year 1000 to the present day, including its most dramatic aspects, such as the anti-Semitism of Polish society, the pogroms and the Shoah. Touch screens, films, reproductions, photographs, archive documents, testimonials and spectacular reconstructions, such as the polychrome dome of the Gwozdziec synagogue, make the chronological narrative dynamic, captivating and utterly moving. Organized into 8 sections, the tour retraces the settlement and flourishing of Jews in medieval Poland, thanks to legislation guaranteeing freedom of worship and autonomy. It then looks at Jewish life in the country from the 16th^{to the 18th} century, as well as the rise of anti-Semitism which, from 1772 to 1914, was amplified under Russian domination. We then discover the immense richness of Jewish culture in Warsaw at the beginning of the ^20th century, erased by the Nazis (who exterminated 3 million Polish Jews) and by the post-war Communist regime. The museum organizes temporary exhibitions, lectures and workshops, and boasts a superb restaurant.

Slightly to the west of the Rynek, this superb square has been faithfully rebuilt, with red and blue Baroque facades. Formerly the town's salt market square, it now houses a 24-hour flower market. The square was built in the ^13th century and, until 1827, was known as the "Polish Market". The name was changed to Blücherplatz in the ^19th century, when a monument to Field Marshal von Blücher was erected on the square. Beneath the square, a large WWII bunker houses a cinema theme park.

Located next to the National Museum, in the same building, this museum traces the history of the Polish army from its origins to the Second World War, with a display of uniforms and weapons. In the garden, you'll find an impressive collection of heavy equipment: tanks, armored vehicles and even aircraft, all in a state of near-abandonment. It's an opportunity to discover life-size war vehicles. Admission to the open-air exhibition is free.

This beautiful seventeenth-century palace owes its name to the fourteenth-century statue of St. Christopher that adorned its façade. It is the seat of the Historical Museum of the City of Krakow, which includes documents and memorabilia related to the history of the city, a collection of paintings by Krakow artists, as well as old clocks and armor. Its main attraction is its collection of szopkis, the famous Christmas cribs which are the subject of a competition every December, the winner of which joins the ranks of those exhibited here.

The building was constructed in the ^17th century by Antoni Van Obberghen in pure Flemish style. The facade decorations were designed by Wilhelm Van Der Meer and Abraham Van Der Block. Decorative elements include the Gdańsk coat of arms and a statue of the Roman goddess Minerva.

The large arsenal was used for its intended purpose until the ^19th century. The building was almost destroyed during the bombing of Gdańsk in 1945. Rebuilt in 1965 in supposed ^17th-century forms, it now houses the Academy of Fine Arts.

You can take the funicular to the top of Góra Parkowa (741 m), from where you have a superb view of the whole region, including the Beskid Mountains and the Tatras. It is possible to walk back down to the town. At the top, there are cafés with terraces, also at high prices. Of course, don't forget to bring your wool, sunglasses and sun cream, in summer as well as in winter!

Above the castle, a small mountain continues its ascent to the sky. As a reward, it has been planted with three crosses in honor of the population of Kazimierz Dolny, decimated by the plague in 1708. This is the highest point in the city, and from here the view that stretches across the Polish countryside and the small town below is most impressive. A very good spot to watch the sun gently set over the roofs.

Built between 1824-1833 and in 1859, the salt works and the graduation building in Ciechocinek, used to drain the water from the salt works, constitute an admirable architectural ensemble. The buildings are arranged in a horseshoe shape, based on 7,000 wooden panels wedged into the ground over a total length of 1,741.5 meters. During the salt production process, healing particles naturally diffuse into the surrounding area, which is known for its remarkable microclimate, rich in iodine and bromine, allowing for natural inhalation.

Erected in the middle of the city, this skansen takes the form of a small rural village that gives a glimpse of the traditional countryside architecture in the Toruń region in past centuries. There are farms, forges, beehives, water and windmills, as well as objects and utensils of everyday life. In the summer, extras in traditional costume bring the past to life a little more. To add to the immersion, a bastion of the 19th century fortifications and a Prussian arsenal from 1824 guard the entrance.

This ethnographic park, or skansen, is a superb reconstruction of a rural village divided into four sections, each dedicated to the architecture and ethnic groups that inhabit the region. There's an ^18th-century wooden Orthodox church, farmhouses, a manor house and examples of gypsy encampments. Folklore events are held regularly during the summer months. Also worth seeing is the reconstruction of an Eastern Galician village (same opening hours, 16 zl).

This open-air museum is a collection of preserved old houses, most of which date from the 17th century. Over the years, authentic reconstructed buildings have been added, transforming the hamlet into a very successful and atmospheric traditional village. In spring and summer, Skansen hosts folk festivals and re-enactments of old-fashioned rural life that are well worth a visit. We recommend it.

The Old Synagogue, one of the oldest in the country, was built in its Gothic style at the end of the 15th century when the Jews settled in Kazimierz and was restored in 1959 when it was decided to turn it into a museum. Since then it has housed the Museum of Jewish History and Culture. A separate room is dedicated to the history of the extermination of the Jews, including a series of photographs of life in the Jewish quarter before and during World War II.