Museums

Erazm Ciołek Palace – National Museum in Kraków

A few steps from Wawel, at 17 Kanonicza Street, stands the Palace of Bishop Erazm Ciołek — a residence built at the beginning of the 16th century, combining a Gothic structure with Renaissance styling. Since 2007 it has housed a branch of the National Museum in Kraków with two permanent galleries.

The palace of Bishop Ciołek

The investor was Erazm Ciołek, Bishop of Płock and secretary to King Alexander Jagiellon; construction ran in 1501–1503. In 1505, at the bishop's initiative, two houses were merged into a so-called curia ampla — a "great court" regarded in the 16th century as the grandest residence on Kanonicza Street. Later owners, Bishop Piotr Tomicki and Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł, added outbuildings and raised the palace to three storeys; in the second half of the 16th century it was surrounded by a defensive wall with an artillery tower.

From prison to museum

From 1805 the building served the Austrian authorities — it housed, among others, a police headquarters and a prison. After the Second World War state institutions occupied it and the palace fell into disrepair. In 1996 it was handed over to the National Museum, in 1999–2006 a full revalorisation took place, and the museum opened to visitors on 18 October 2007. The works restored the monumental two-aisle entrance hall and Renaissance window frames.

Two galleries

The ground floor hosts the exhibition "Church Art of the Former Commonwealth" — icons and works of the Eastern rite from the lands of the old Polish-Lithuanian state. The first floor holds "Old Polish Art, 12th–18th century", with painting, sculpture and applied arts from Romanesque to Baroque. The palace also runs the National Museum's painting and sculpture conservation workshop.

Practicalities

The palace lies on the way from the Main Square to Wawel — combine your visit with a stroll along Kanonicza Street and a walk up the hill. For current opening hours and ticket prices check the National Museum's website, as they change seasonally.