Museum of Polish History

The Museum of Polish History in Warsaw (Muzeum Historii Polski) is one of Poland's largest museums, housed in a huge new building inside the Warsaw Citadel. Its mission is to tell a thousand years of Polish history with a focus on the country's traditions of freedom. The main permanent exhibition is still being installed, but it's already worth a visit for the temporary exhibitions, the cinema and events, and the free rooftop terrace, which has one of the best views of the Vistula and the Warsaw skyline.

The museum and its building

The museum was founded on May 2, 2006. Over the years several sites were considered, including the Saxon Palace and Wilanów, before the government chose the Citadel in 2015, right next to the new Polish Army Museum. The Citadel itself is a 19th-century Russian fortress built to control Warsaw after the 1830–31 uprising. Construction started in 2018 and finished in August 2023, and the building was designed by the Warsaw studio WXCA.

The building covers more than 44,000 square meters, with four floors above ground and two below. The museum welcomed its first visitors on September 29, 2023, and its collection now numbers more than 52,000 objects.

The permanent exhibition (status in October 2026)

The permanent exhibition is still under construction, and the museum says it will open in 2027. Until then, only temporary exhibitions are open. Once finished, it will cover about 8,000 square meters, with around 3,600 original objects and 400 copies and replicas arranged in six galleries:

• Piast and Jagiellonian Poland (to 1573)
• The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1573–1795)
• Under the Partitions (1796–1914)
• Independent Poland (1914–1939)
• Fighting Poland (1939–1945)
• Poles and Communism (1945–1990)

What you can see now

• "Za czym kolejka ta stoi? PRL w muzycznym zwierciadle" (September 3 – December 6, 2026): a temporary exhibition about everyday life in Communist Poland told through its music. It's bilingual in Polish and English, and the audio guide includes audio description.
• Rooftop viewing terrace: free during opening hours, weather permitting. Because the elevators are out of service, it's currently reachable only by 158 steps.
• Kino Cytadela: film screenings on weekends.
• Talks, workshops and historical walks. Check the museum's program online.

Is it worth visiting?

If you're in Warsaw before the permanent exhibition opens, come for the architecture, the terrace view and the current temporary show. Plan about 1.5–2 hours. Pair it with the Polish Army Museum, about 100 m away, and a walk around the Citadel to see the Gate of Executions and the Tenth Pavilion prison museum. Once the permanent exhibition opens in 2027, this is set to become a must-see.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

• Hours: Monday and Wednesday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m.; closed Tuesdays. Monday opening is announced for the run of the current exhibition, through December 6. The ticket desk closes an hour before the museum, and last entry to the exhibition is one hour before closing. The museum is closed on November 1 and December 24–26 and 31.
• Tickets for the current exhibition: PLN 20, reduced PLN 10, family PLN 30. Admission is free on Fridays and national holidays, with free passes available only at the ticket desk. You can pay by card.
• Address: Cytadela Warszawska, ul. Gwardii 1, 01-538 Warsaw.
• Contact: +48 22 255 76 27 (weekdays 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.), info@muzhp.pl.

How to get there

The museum is in the Żoliborz district, about 2 km north of the UNESCO-listed Old Town and roughly 11 km from Warsaw Chopin Airport. Take metro line M1 to Dworzec Gdański and enter the Citadel through the Żoliborz Gate on ul. Dymińska 13, which is open 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and step-free. Trams and buses stop at Most Gdański and Park Traugutta, near the New Town Gate. Drivers can reach the underground garage only from the riverside Wybrzeże Gdyńskie, heading toward the center, and parking costs PLN 6 per hour.