Koryznówka Manor in Nowy Wiśnicz

In a wooden manor at the foot of Wiśnicz Castle, Jan Matejko spent his engagement, took holidays with his family and drew a little town whose wooden houses no one will ever see again. Decades later, during the Second World War, the same house sheltered Witold Pilecki after his escape from Auschwitz — it was here that he wrote the first notebooks of his report. From the mid-19th century Koryznówka stayed in the hands of a single family, the Serafińskis, which is why its interiors survived intact. Since 1 November 2023, however, the museum has been closed to visitors.

History: the Serafiński home

The manor was built by Leonard Serafiński, who married Joanna Giebułtowska; according to the Tarnów Land Museum it dates from the 1860s. Joanna's brothers, Stefan and Stanisław Giebułtowski — Matejko's school friends — visited Wiśnicz, and that is how the painter came to the house where he got to know Teodora, the hostess's youngest sister and later his wife. He regarded Leonard Serafiński as a friend and spiritual guardian. Leonard's daughter Stanisława Serafińska recorded those years in her "Family Memories", written at Koryznówka.

The Matejko few people know

Wiśnicz inspired works far less famous than "The Battle of Grunwald": drawings of the wooden houses that surrounded the market square until the fire of 1863, sketches of the ruined castle of the Kmita and Lubomirski families, and caricatures of the household. The Serafiński family kept these mementoes for generations and, between the wars, displayed them publicly and lent them to exhibitions. The museum showed the manor's original, unchanged furnishings — the very thing that made the place exceptional.

The war and Pilecki's report

During the occupation the manor was home to Ludmiła and Tomasz Serafiński, who were active in the Home Army underground. They sheltered people hiding from the Germans, among them Cavalry Captain Witold Pilecki. In 2008 a plaque commemorating "Witold" was unveiled in front of the house. After the war Tomasz Serafiński began opening the Matejko collection to visitors in summer, and the family carried on this work.

From family home to museum

Renovation began in 1976, completed with the help of Professor Alfred Majewski's team, who were then rebuilding Wiśnicz Castle. In 1981 the family opened the Museum of Jan Matejko Memorabilia, which from 1985 became a branch of what is now the Tarnów Land Museum. More recently the museum bought the manor from the Serafiński heiress with funds from the Lesser Poland region, which should open the way for design work and a renovation, after which the house is to welcome visitors again.

Tripto tip

• Status: the branch has been closed since 1 November 2023 until further notice; check the Tarnów Land Museum website before you travel (tel. +48 14 610 06 40).
• The shingle-roofed manor with its open porch stands close to Wiśnicz Castle, so you can see it from outside when visiting the castle.
• Allow time for the Kmita and Lubomirski castle and the market square in Nowy Wiśnicz; Koryznówka works best as an addition to that trip.