Tourists visiting Krakow are familiar with the Market Square, Wawel Castle and the cathedral, the Vistula boulevards and Kazimierz. Some visit the Rakowicki Cemetery or Kościuszko Mound, but few go further, for example to Nowa Huta. And if they do make it here, they rarely visit Jan Matejko’s former estate. The Jan Matejko Manor House in Krzesławice, located near the Nowa Huta Reservoir, is an interesting idea for an unusual visit to Krakow.
he property at 25 Melchiora Wańkowicza St. in the present-day district of Wzgórza Krzesławickie near the Administrative Centre of the Arcelor Mittal Poland steelworks and the Nowohuckie Reservoir is hyphenated as the Jan Matejko Manor House in Krzesławice. In reality, it is more like Jan Matejko’s country house, as the „manor house” bears no resemblance to the full-fledged manor houses in the vicinity, such as the Branickis’ manor house in Kraków-Branice at 3 Sasanek Street or the Badenis’ manor house in Wadów and the Popiels’ manor house in Ruszczy.
Jan Matejko’s „manor house” was in fact always a small cottage located in a village near Krakow. It owes its 'manor’ appearance mainly to its post-war reconstruction.
Most of the old furniture we can see in the interior are deposits from the Jagiellonian University museum. In the manor house you can admire some original works by Jan Matejko, the painter’s obituary and… a palm leaf from a funeral wreath sent by Henryk Siemiradzki for Matejko’s funeral. Among the interesting collections are portraits of Teodor Cybulski and his wife, as well as a Poczet polskich królów, made according to sketches by Jan Matejko.
Today, visiting Jan Matejko’s manor house in Krzesławice unhappily painted yellow is possible every day. The manor house is open at really odd opening hours and days: from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays (11 a.m. on Sundays). What is the price list? The cost of a ticket to visit Jan Matejko’s manor house in Nowa Huta is 18 PLN for a normal ticket and 14 PLN for a concessionary ticket.
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