Kiermusy

Kiermusy takes its name from a miller: in 1573 a townsman called Marys Kiermus took over a mill near Tykocin, and for years the settlement was known as Kiermus's Mill. Today a private complex in Old Polish style stands here on the Narew River, 3 km from Tykocin – a manor house, the Karczma Rzym inn, farmworkers' cottages and the Amber Castle (Jantarowy Kasztel) with the Jerzy Hoffman Museum of Polish Arms. It is a place to stay and eat, but the museum and the monthly antiques fair make it worth a stop even for a few hours.

The Amber Castle and the Museum of Polish Arms

The castle is a rebuilt border stronghold standing on the old frontier between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inside is the private, educational Museum of Polish Arms, named after film director Jerzy Hoffman. Some of the props from his screen adaptations of Henryk Sienkiewicz's Trilogy – the classic Polish historical novels – were donated by Hoffman himself.

The exhibition has three parts: a medieval section linked to Sienkiewicz's novel "The Teutonic Knights", a section devoted to the Trilogy, and a castle courtyard with battlements, towers, cannons and a dungeon housing a torture chamber. Characters from the novels, such as Zagłoba and Bohun, appear in the rooms. What sets the museum apart is that you can touch most of the exhibits – just lifting the replica sword of the knight Longinus Podbipięta is a challenge. A curator in the role of castellan guides visitors through the rooms.

The legend of the White Lady

The owners tell how, in May 2003, while the castle was being built, an excavator operator heard a faint female moan as he dug out a huge boulder, and the bucket of his machine cracked. In a crack in the stone he found a gold ring and took it home, but for a week a White Lady haunted his dreams. The ring went back where it was found and is said to lie today in a reliquary in the Knights' Hall. This is a local story, of course, not historical fact.

What else to see

• Ostoja Żubra (Bison Refuge) – Poland's first private European bison breeding enclosure was set up here in April 2008 on 7 ha of woodland; some animals have been moved to the Knyszyn Forest and to the Czech Republic.
• The Oak Avenue and Olympic Avenue, plus an icon exhibition.
• Antiques and folk crafts fair in the Czarcia Polana clearing – on the first Sunday of every month, extended to two days (Saturday too) in season. It has been held for more than 20 years; alongside antiques you'll find Podlasie cheeses, cured meats, honey and pickles from Kruszewo.
• Karczma Rzym, an inn serving regional food.

Practical information (as of October 2026)

According to the official website, the castle is open every summer Sunday from 12:00 to 17:00; organised groups book by phone (office: +48 508 111 552). The site does not publish museum ticket prices. Outside summer, your best bet is to come on fair day or phone ahead. Address: Kiermusy 12, 16-080 Tykocin. It is about 30 km from Białystok and just under 150 km from Warsaw.

Tripto tip

The best plan is the first Sunday of the month in summer: the fair in the morning, the castle in the afternoon and lunch at the inn. The museum alone takes about an hour; with the fair and a meal, allow half a day. Kiermusy lies in the buffer zone of the Narew and Biebrza National Parks, so you can easily round off the day with a walk around Tykocin, a town dating back to the 15th century.