Olender Ethnographic Park in Wielka Nieszawka

At Mennonitów 14 in Wielka Nieszawka, about 10 km from Toruń, stands the first open-air museum in Poland devoted to the Olęderzy — settlers who tamed the Vistula marshes and floods. On 5 hectares the landscape of a village from the turn of the 20th century has been reconstructed, with buildings moved here from the Lower Vistula Valley.

Who were the Olęderzy?

They were descendants of Mennonites from the Netherlands who fled religious persecution in the 16th century and found refuge in Poland. As pacifist Protestants exempt from serfdom, they settled along the Vistula and became famous for their skill in subduing the river.

Masters of the fight against water

The Olęderzy built flood embankments, dug drainage ditches and planted willows — a single willow could draw up to 60 litres of water a day from the ground. They raised their houses on artificial mounds called terpy and set their homesteads perpendicular to the river at a slight angle, so that floodwater flowed around them on two sides.

What you will see in the park

Arcaded houses with bright, well-lit interiors, granaries, cellars, wells and wicker fences make up a complete village. The bedrooms were in the attic — a practical solution in this flood-prone land. The only structure in its original location is the tidy Mennonite cemetery.

In practice

The park is a branch of the Ethnographic Museum in Toruń. You can arrive by car (free car park), by bike (a path from Toruń), by city buses 151 and 152 (Wielka Nieszawka Wiślana stop) — or, in summer, by raft on the Vistula. The site is accessible to visitors with disabilities; audio guides and picnic spots are available. Current hours and prices are on the museum's website.