Museums

PTTK Regional Museum in Olkusz

On the corner of the Olkusz market square, in a 16th-century town house called Batorówka — where, according to tradition, King Stephen Báthory once stayed — operates the Antoni Minkiewicz PTTK Regional Museum, the oldest museum in Olkusz.

Already since 1911

The institution opened in 1911 on the initiative of activists of the Polish Tatra Society (PTK) — one of the pioneers of regional museology in what was then Western Galicia. After the Second World War the collections were reassembled by Bronisław Czarniecki. The seat is a town house with Gothic elements, carefully restored; its name commemorates King Báthory's stay.

A mining town in miniature

The museum holds more than 2,000 objects in the fields of ethnography, mining, history and numismatics. Olkusz's mining past — one of the more important centres of silver and lead extraction in old Poland — is documented by mining tools, lamps, stone mortars and an ore-washing sieve, as well as a collection of minerals and ores from Olkusz mines. Worth attention is the model of the mining areas and adits as they were in the 18th century and a fragment of Olkusz's municipal book from 1631 with the town's seals and coats of arms. Ethnography is represented by votive figures and sculptures by local folk artists.

Practicalities

The museum is at 20 Rynek, in the very centre of town. Combine your visit with a stop at the Firefighting Museum of the Olkusz Region on Floriańska Street and a walk through the medieval town layout with the St Andrew basilica. Check current opening hours and ticket prices before your visit — the institution is small and its hours vary.