Czartoryski Museum

The Czartoryski Museum in Kraków (say "char-to-RIS-kee") is the branch of the National Museum in Kraków that holds Leonardo da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine – one of only a handful of Leonardo portraits in the world. Set in a cluster of historic buildings on Pijarska Street, right by St. Florian's Gate in the Old Town, it grew out of the first museum on Polish soil and also displays a Rembrandt landscape, ancient art, armor and a cabinet of extraordinary curiosities.

From a princess's garden temple to Kraków

The story begins in 1801, when Princess Izabela Czartoryska opened the Temple of the Sibyl in the family residence at Puławy, followed by the Gothic House – a patriotic museum created after Poland had been partitioned by its neighbors and wiped off the map. After the failed November Uprising of 1830–31, part of the collection was dispersed, but most of it was rescued and taken to Paris, to the Hôtel Lambert. In 1870 Prince Władysław Czartoryski decided to bring it to Kraków, where the museum opened in 1876.

World War II was the darkest chapter. Hidden at Sieniawa, the collection was looted by German forces in September 1939; Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man is still missing today. In December 2016 the Czartoryski Foundation sold the collection and its buildings to the Polish state for €100 million, and after a long renovation (the museum was closed from 2010) the galleries reopened in December 2019.

What to see at the Czartoryski Museum

The visit runs through three connected buildings: the Palace, the "Klasztorek" (Little Monastery) and the former City Arsenal.

• Lady with an Ermine (c. 1489–1490) – Leonardo's portrait of Cecilia Gallerani hangs on the second floor, in Gallery 7. Unlike the Mona Lisa, you can usually stand close to it without fighting crowds.
• Rembrandt's Landscape with the Good Samaritan (1638) – in the room dedicated to art from Rembrandt's era.
• Palace rooms – themed halls on the Jagiellonian, Vasa and Saxon kings of Poland, Oriental art, Italian Gothic and Renaissance painting, and Limoges enamels.
• The Klasztorek – a re-creation of the spirit of Puławy, with an armory, a medal cabinet and the princess's famous "relics": a chair associated with Shakespeare, stones said to come from the tomb of Romeo and Juliet, a reliquary linked to El Cid and Chimène, a quill certified as Voltaire's, and a cast of Chopin's hand.
• The Arsenal – a gallery of ancient art with classical sculpture, Etruscan sarcophagi, Greek vases and Egyptian antiquities.

The Czartoryski Library on St. Mark's Street is a separate branch and is currently closed to visitors during expansion work.

Tickets: book a time slot

Tickets are sold for a specific date and entry time, so buy them online in advance through the museum's ticket site (bilety.mnk.pl), especially in summer and around holidays. If the online allocation runs out, a few slots may still be available at the branch box office. Note that the National Museum's 12-month pass does not cover the Czartoryski Museum.

Opening hours and ticket prices (as of October 2026)

• Address: ul. Pijarska 15, 31-015 Kraków.
• Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00; closed Mondays. Last admission is one hour before closing – earlier than at other branches. No separate winter schedule is published; holiday closures are announced on mnk.pl.
• Prices: standard 65 PLN, reduced 50 PLN, family 130 PLN, school pupils and students 1 PLN, children under 7 free.
• Free Tuesdays: the permanent exhibitions are free on Tuesdays, but free slots go quickly.
• On site: the cloakroom is compulsory and free (backpacks and large bags must be checked; suitcases are not accepted); photography without flash is allowed.

Is it worth visiting?

For most art lovers, yes – seeing a Leonardo in a calm, intimate room is rare. Allow 1.5–2.5 hours for all three buildings. Kids tend to enjoy the armor and the Egyptian and Etruscan pieces. The branch has tactile guide strips, and staff help at the entry turnstiles. For the quietest experience in front of the Lady, book an early slot.

How to get there

The museum sits on the northern edge of the Old Town, about 5 minutes on foot from the Main Market Square via Floriańska or św. Jana Street, and roughly 10 minutes' walk from Kraków Główny, the main train station. Kraków Airport is linked to the main station by train. The historic center is a restricted, paid parking zone, so arrive on foot or by public transport.

Nearby

St. Florian's Gate and the surviving stretch of the city walls are steps away, the Barbican stands just outside, and the Cloth Hall on the Main Square houses another National Museum branch with 19th-century Polish painting.