Museum of Ancient Metallurgy of the Świętokrzyskie Region in Nowa Słupia

In antiquity the Holy Cross Mountains were — outside the Roman Empire — the largest iron-smelting centre in Europe. In bloomery furnaces, one-off clay constructions, the inhabitants of these lands of the Przeworsk culture smelted metal, setting up hundreds or even thousands of furnaces at a time. Their work is traced by the Museum of Ancient Metallurgy of the Świętokrzyskie Region named after Mieczysław Radwan in Nowa Słupia, opened on 29 May 1960 as a protective pavilion over the site of smelting furnaces discovered on the road to Święty Krzyż. Efforts to establish it had been made since 1956 by the Museum of Technology and Industry NOT in Warsaw; in 1967–1968 the museum was extended and given the name of Mieczysław Radwan, a metallurgist and researcher of ancient metallurgy.

What you will see

The exhibition presents the technology of ancient Holy Cross metallurgy, its territorial range and products made with historical methods. Relics of bloomeries — the original archaeological sites — have been preserved here, and reconstructions of figures bring the work of ancient smelters closer. Part of the permanent exhibition is the neighbouring Cultural and Archaeological Centre, opened in 2011.

The Dymarki festival and practical information

Since 2017 the museum has co-organised the Archaeological Festival People of Fire and Iron, known as the Dymarki Świętokrzyskie, held every August — iron is then smelted with methods from two thousand years ago. After the museum was transferred to the Nowa Słupia commune in 2016, the building was rebuilt with EU funding: the new, multimedia facility was opened in 2021, adapted also to the needs of visitors with disabilities. The museum is open all year round, every day.