Museums

Museum of Icons in Supraśl

On the grounds of the five-hundred-year-old monastery in Supraśl, in the former Palace of the Archimandrite, operates the Museum of Icons — a branch of the Podlaskie Museum in Białystok with one of the largest icon collections in Poland. The exhibition was prepared with multimedia, and the visit leads from understanding the role of the icon in Orthodoxy to the contemplative mood of the darkened halls.

Icons stopped at the border

The Podlaskie Museum holds about 1,200 icons — a large part are works stopped by customs officers during smuggling attempts across the eastern border and handed over to the museum after court proceedings were closed. The permanent exhibition "Icon. Image and Word — Between the Transient and the Eternal" opened in February 2007; it comprises about 300 icons, sacred objects and unique frescoes in 9 halls, whose decorations refer to the interior of an Orthodox church, a hermit's cave and a village cottage. The artistic concept was prepared by the museum's director Andrzej Lechowski, and the refurbishment and exhibition cost PLN 4.5 million.

Written, not painted

The oldest icons on display come from the 18th century. Alongside them you will see 16th-century Supraśl frescoes, rescued after the Second World War thanks to, among others, Michał Bałasz, a roadside shrine and the "holy corner" — a home altar in the window frame of an old Podlaskie cottage. In one of the cells a monk writes icons in front of visitors, and in a separate room you can try it yourself. Three films are shown: on writing icons, the history of the monastery and the churches of Podlachia.

Practicalities

Address: 1 Klasztorna Street, Supraśl. From April to August open daily except Mondays 10.00–17.00; tickets PLN 12 / PLN 6, free admission on Thursdays.