Konopka Palace in Wieliczka

Locals also call it the Saltworks Palace, and with good reason: its story has revolved around salt from the start. It was built in the 1780s by the brothers Jan and Piotr Konopka, merchants in the salt trade; later it housed mine officials, and today its restored walls hold the Kraków Branch Archive of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN). It makes a good stop on a walk between the Saltworks Castle and the graduation tower.

History: from salt merchants to saltworks officials

The Konopkas were active in the Commercial Salt Company, and Jan Konopka was also consul and mayor of Wieliczka. Their residence was part of a large estate: besides the two-storey palace on a high terrace, with broad steps up to the entrance, it included a courtyard, farm buildings, a porter's lodge, a coach house, a brewery, gardens and a park with a pond. Originally late Baroque, the palace probably gained its classicist features during a renovation in the 1830s.

In 1804, after Jan Konopka's death, his heirs sold the estate to the Higher Saltworks Office. The building became part of the mine administration, with flats for senior officials and a trading house. One resident was Feliks Piestrak, head of the Wieliczka Mining School in 1909–1912 and 1918–1924. The residential use lasted long after the Second World War.

Ruin, fire and rescue

In the 20th century the palace housed the Municipal Public Library, but the building kept deteriorating. By the mid-1980s some rooms had to be propped up with wooden posts, and in 1987 an electrical fault started a fire; a year later the library moved out. The old cellars gathered legends and were the target of secret expeditions by pupils from a nearby school. The complex was entered in the heritage register in 1985.

The palace was saved by its conversion for the Institute of National Remembrance, carried out in 2001–2004 according to the IPN. A key role was played by Janusz Kurtyka, director of the Kraków branch and later IPN president, who placed the archive here. On 13 August 2010, which would have been his 50th birthday, a memorial plaque funded by the NZS 1980 Association was unveiled on the façade.

What to see

• The symmetrical façade with a central projection under a triangular pediment and a Polish-style broken roof.
• The terrace and broad steps leading to the main entrance, with a fountain on the square in front.
• The Janusz Kurtyka plaque, showing Our Lady of Katyń.

Tripto tips

The palace stands at plac Mieczysława Skulimowskiego 1 in the north-eastern part of Wieliczka, close to the Saltworks Castle and the Salt Mine. It is a working archive, so on ordinary days you see it from outside – 15–20 minutes is enough. The building has opened to visitors during the Małopolska Heritage Days, so keep an eye on their programme.