Museums

Open-Air Museum of Wooden Folk Architecture in Dobczyce

A few steps from the castle hill in Dobczyce, among old trees in the Old Town quarter, stand six wooden buildings of the Open-Air Museum of Wooden Folk Architecture. It is the ethnographic branch of the Regional PTTK Museum and a stop on the Wooden Architecture Trail of Lesser Poland, showing what everyday life in a former small town looked like.

What to see

The biggest surprise hides in the shingle-roofed funeral home: inside, the old burial rite has been recreated — hearses, a catafalque with candlesticks, black liturgical robes and banners, with pictures of cemeteries and texts of funeral songs on the walls. Next to it stand two carriage houses, a large and a small one, filled with old carts and sleighs, plus a hen house from 1890 with historic farm equipment. The granary from 1863 houses a recreated smithy.

The Na Zbóju inn

The heart of the museum is the inn from 1830. Its rooms hold a nativity scene with moving puppets, hunting trophies and, in the corners, an alcove room, a kitchen with household equipment and a guild chamber with craft tools. The collections are the result of work by Władysław Kowalski, the museum's first curator, and donors from Dobczyce and the surrounding area.

Practical information

The open-air museum lies at ul. Stare Miasto in Dobczyce, below the castle towering over the dam of Lake Dobczyce. It can be visited during the museum's opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–18:00; closed on Mondays. A visit takes about an hour and combines well with touring the castle and a walk along the Raba river.