Kossak Family Manor in Górki Wielkie

The Kossak Manor in Górki Wielkie (say "GOOR-kee VYEL-kyeh") is the partly rebuilt ruin of an 18th-century country house in southern Poland's Cieszyn Silesia region, where the Kossak family of artists and writers lived from 1922. Its best-known resident was novelist Zofia Kossak, a wartime rescuer of Jews honored as Righteous Among the Nations. Together with a park, her small museum and a restored granary, the site now forms the "U Kossaków" (At the Kossaks') cultural center, at the foot of the Silesian Beskid mountains.

History

The brick manor was built in the first half of the 18th century by Hieronim (or Erdmann) Marklowski on the site of an older larch-wood house, with Rococo decoration and a tall mansard roof. The estate later passed to the Habsburgs and their Cieszyn Chamber, and a granary more than 300 years old and a distillery belonged to the farm.

In 1922 Tadeusz and Anna Kossak, who had left Poland's former eastern borderlands, leased and then bought the manor; a year later their widowed daughter Zofia joined them. The house became a cultural hub, visited by writers such as Jan Parandowski, Maria Dąbrowska and Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, while scoutmaster Aleksander Kamiński ran an instructor school here. In 1939 the family had to leave, the German occupiers turned the house into a farming school, and in 1945 it burned down.

During the war Zofia Kossak co-founded Żegota, the underground Council to Aid Jews, and Yad Vashem later awarded her its Righteous Among the Nations medal. After returning from exile in 1957 she lived in the estate's small gardener's cottage. The manor ruins were partly rebuilt in 2010, and in 2022 the family donated the ruins, park, museum and granary to Cieszyn County.

What to see

• The manor ruins with a rebuilt wing: under the roofed walls is an interactive exhibition on the Kossak family's artistic legacy, plus space for exhibitions and talks
• The Zofia Kossak-Szatkowska Museum in the gardener's cottage: open since 1973, it reopened in early October 2026 after a 10-month renovation; exhibits include her typewriter, manuscripts, photographs, first editions and the Yad Vashem medal
• The granary, renovated in 2025, now with a performance hall, workshop rooms and a café
• The park with mature trees, good for a short stroll

Visiting tips

Allow an hour to 90 minutes for the ruins, park and museum. Check the center's events calendar: fall 2026 brings concerts, plays and workshops, with tickets sold online. Exhibits are in Polish, so some background reading on the Kossak family (painters Juliusz, Wojciech and Jerzy Kossak were Zofia's relatives) adds a lot.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, if you are interested in Polish literature, World War II rescue history or the Kossak painting dynasty. For a general sightseer it is a pleasant, quiet stop on the way into the Beskid mountains rather than a destination in itself.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Stary Dwór 12, Górki Wielkie (Brenna municipality)
• Contact: +48 514 667 136, kontakt@ukossakow.pl; center office open Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. (as of October 2026)
• Museum hours and prices after the October 2026 reopening were not published in the sources we checked; confirm before you go

Getting there

Górki Wielkie lies in Cieszyn County between the towns of Skoczów and Brenna. Katowice Airport (KTW) and Kraków Airport (KRK) are the nearest international airports; a car is the easiest way to get here. Combine the visit with the mountain resort of Brenna or the border town of Cieszyn, with its market square and Castle Hill.