Filmowe Soplicowo (Pan Tadeusz Film Village)

The coach house, stable, barn, henhouse, granary and storehouse from the set of Andrzej Wajda's "Pan Tadeusz" did not end up on a scrapheap after filming. Built by highland carpenters, they were moved from the set near Józefów outside Warsaw and re-erected in Cichowo, in the Krzywiń district of Greater Poland. That is how Filmowe Soplicowo came into being in 1999 – an open-air museum made of genuine film sets designed by Allan Starski, Oscar winner for "Schindler's List". "Pan Tadeusz" is Adam Mickiewicz's national epic, and Soplicowo is the gentry estate at its heart.

From film set to open-air museum

The buildings were reconstructed to look like a gentry farmstead from Mickiewicz's time. The opening was attended by the director, the set designer and members of the cast, including Grażyna Szapołowska, Alicja Bachleda-Curuś and Marek Kondrat. Over the years more cottages and farm buildings were added, and since 2011 also the Sopliców Manor. Today it is a visitor complex with the "Stajnia" inn, the "Gerwazy" guesthouse and a restaurant in the manor. The site is looked after by Marek Pinkowski, who also runs an "Academy of Film Animals" here.

What to see

• The farm buildings from the film set: coach house, stable, barn, henhouse, granary and storehouse.
• The animal film stars and farm animals – among them Bukietka the cow and Roman the donkey, jokingly called "director of the museum office".
• Birds of prey – eagles and falcons.
• Sopliców Manor – a newer part of the complex, not an original film set.

Interesting facts

The Krzywiń Cultural Society holds exhibitions and outdoor events here devoted to Mickiewicz, Polish cinema and old Polish traditions. Mickiewicz really did spend time in the area: in September 1831 he went hunting in nearby Bielewo as a guest of Kalikst Bojanowski. From 2007 to 2011 a miniature park railway with a gauge of just 241 mm ran in Cichowo; since 2012 a new train with a 1:6 scale model of an SM42 locomotive runs on a 280-metre loop in the former manor park.

Tripto tip

The open-air museum is a private complex, and published opening times and admission rules are often out of date – phone the operator before you go (Soplicowo 5, 64-010 Krzywiń). See the film-set buildings first and the manor afterwards; that makes it easier to tell the real props from the newer attractions. Combine your visit with a walk in Cichowo's manor park, home to a roughly 350-year-old "Benedictine" lime tree with a girth of 590 cm. Allow 1–2 hours, longer with children and the animals.