Rogalin Palace

Rogalin Palace (say "ro-GAH-leen") is the former country seat of the aristocratic Raczyński family on the Warta River, about 20 km south of Poznań. Now a branch of the National Museum in Poznań, it combines three highlights in one visit: palace rooms linked to a Polish president in exile, a painting gallery crowned by Jan Matejko's huge "Maid of Orleans", and some of the oldest oak trees in Europe. Unlike many Polish palaces, it also stays open through the winter.

History of the palace

The palace was built in 1770–1776 for Kazimierz Raczyński as a late-Baroque residence set entre cour et jardin – between a forecourt and a formal garden. Later neoclassical touches are attributed to the royal architects Dominik Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer. Edward Raczyński laid out the landscape park and, in 1820, built the Church of St. Marcellinus, a copy of the Roman Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France, with the family crypt beneath it.

In 1910 Edward Aleksander Raczyński added a gallery building in a restrained Secession style to house his painting collection. During World War II the Germans used the palace as a Hitler Youth school. After the war it became part of the National Museum in Poznań. In 1990 the last heir, Edward Bernard Raczyński – a diplomat who served as President of Poland in exile in London – handed the palace and park to the Raczyński Foundation, while the museum continues to run them. Major restorations took place in 2007–2009 and 2013–2015. Since 2018 the palace complex has been a Historic Monument of Poland, extended in 2020 to include the surrounding former estate.

What to see

• The palace (main building) – the Raczyński family's state rooms; an audio guide is included in the ticket.
• North wing – the London Study, a reconstruction of a room from Edward Bernard Raczyński's London apartment with its original furnishings, plus a gallery of family portraits.
• Painting gallery – more than 250 works collected by Edward Aleksander Raczyński. The star is Matejko's monumental "Maid of Orleans"; you will also find Jacek Malczewski, Julian Fałat, Olga Boznańska and Leon Wyczółkowski, alongside European paintings bought in Paris and Munich.
• Coach house – 19th-century carriages and travel gear, 18th-century barouches and children's sleighs.
• South wing "Mysterious Places" – guided tours only.
• French garden and park with the church-mausoleum.

The Rogalin oaks

Rogalin is famous for Europe's largest cluster of ancient English oaks: around 1,400 veteran trees grow along the Warta valley between Świątniki and Rogalinek. The three best known, named Lech, Czech and Rus after the legendary brothers who founded the Polish, Czech and Ruthenian nations, stand in the palace park. Rus has a girth of roughly 9 m (30 ft), and recent core-sample estimates suggest it may be more than 800 years old. The trees have been protected since 1948, but some are dying because of falling groundwater and wood-boring beetles. A clone of Rus, grown by scientists in nearby Kórnik, has been planted by the palace.

Opening hours (as of October 2026)

• Museum: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; ticket office 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Closed Mondays.
• Closed for the rest of 2026 on November 1, November 17 (staff training) and December 24, 25, 26 and 31; also closed January 1.
• Garden and park: in October 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. (5:30 p.m. after the clocks change), November to February 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
• Daily ticket numbers are limited, so buying online through tobilet.pl is recommended.

Tickets

• Combined ticket (palace, gallery, London Study, portrait gallery, coach house): PLN 45 standard / PLN 30 reduced.
• Palace only PLN 20; painting gallery PLN 20; north wing PLN 8; coach house PLN 8.
• Garden and park: PLN 5, free with any exhibition ticket.
• Children under 7 go free, and visitors aged 8–26 pay just PLN 1 per exhibition.
• Every Tuesday entry to the museum, garden and park is free (collect a ticket at the office).
• A full guided tour in English for up to 25 people costs PLN 500 including tickets.

How to get to Rogalin

Rogalin lies on regional road 431 between Mosina and Kórnik, roughly half an hour's drive from central Poznań. Poznań has an international airport and direct trains from Berlin and Warsaw. Free parking for cars and coaches runs along road 431 and behind the grocery store on ul. Poznańska; there is also a paid lot along the chestnut avenue. The museum is wheelchair accessible, with adapted restrooms and disabled parking. Address: ul. Arciszewskiego 2, 62-022 Rogalin.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours for the palace, gallery and coach house, plus an hour to walk to the oaks and the church. Combine Rogalin with Kórnik Castle, a short drive east, for a full day of Greater Poland's best heritage – but note that Kórnik closes for the winter, while Rogalin stays open.