Museums

Museum in Racibórz

The Museum in Racibórz occupies two adjoining monuments near the Market Square: the former Gothic church of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Spirit from 1327 at 1 Gimnazjalna Street and the building of the former People’s Bank on Chopina Street. The institution was officially founded in 1927, but its roots go back to 1819, when teaching aids began to be gathered at the Royal-Evangelical Gymnasium. Today the collections hold around 30,000 objects in archaeology, history, ethnography, art and artistic crafts.

Crypts and the last Přemyslid

The former church preserves ducal crypts, including the tomb of Valentine, the last Přemyslid of Opava-Racibórz, who died in 1521. One record-breaking exhibit is a Gothic stove regarded as the oldest in Poland — a rarity in European medieval residential architecture.

The Egyptian lady

The greatest attraction is the mummy of a twenty-year-old Egyptian woman named Dżed-Amonet-ius-anch — “the goddess Amonet said: she shall live”. She died almost 3,000 years ago and reached Racibórz in the 19th century as an engagement gift that never arrived at its addressee, ending up in the museum instead. Beside her are kept canopic jars from the period of the 11th–7th century BC.

In practice

The displays occupy both buildings, so plan your visit with time to spare. Current opening hours and ticket prices are published at muzeum-raciborz.pl. The museum lies within walking distance of the Racibórz Market Square with its town houses and castle — a perfect plan for half a day in this town on the upper Oder.