Royal Łazienki Museum, the Palace on the Isle, photo: Wikimedia Commons
Royal Łazienki Museum, the Palace on the Isle, photo: Wikimedia Commons

As part of the fifth edition of Free November, Wilanów Palace Museum, the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Wawel Royal Castle, and Royal Łazienki Museum have made their collections open to visitors free of charge for the duration of the month. Guests to Wawel Royal Castle will be able to see the most valuable painting in Polish collections, Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci.

Free November is part of the Available Culture (Kultura Dostępna) programme of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The action is especially addressed to children, youth, and seniors. It has three main aims: cultural education, increasing the accessibility of national cultural institutions, and increasing participation in culture.

For Free November, the four royal residences not only offer free entrance to their historical interiors, but also many accompanying events. Their programmes include museum lessons, guided tours, workshops, lectures and games for children.

 

Wilanów Palace Museum, photo: Przemysław Jahr/Wikimedia commons
Wilanów Palace Museum, photo: Przemysław Jahr/Wikimedia commons

The programme of the Museum of King Jan III’s Palace Museum at Wilanów includes weekend sightseeing every Saturday and Sunday at 11 o’clock concentrating on the history and design of the palace’s interiors. Children as well as adults will be able to participate in music and dancing workshops titled Games and Plays from the Royal Yard. History and science lessons, cooking workshops, calligraphy workshops for children and youth, and free thematic walks for adults are in the programme as well.

Bathroom of Marshal Lubomirski’s wife, Wilanów Palace Museum, photo: Zbigniew Reszka/ The Wilanów Palace Museum
Bathroom of Marshal Lubomirski’s wife, Wilanów Palace Museum, photo: Zbigniew Reszka/ The Wilanów Palace Museum

Royal Łazienki Museum will host 200 free museum lessons for schools about Stanisław August’s royal collection, meetings with visitors entitled Kings and Art and sightseeing tours of the Palace on the Isle and the Old Orangery by night (every Saturday in November, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.). The programme also features poetry salons and photography workshops for children. Concerts at the Paderewski Festival and the DeMusica Festival are part of the Free November prepared for music lovers. In addition, a symposium entitled Away from Warsaw: Provincial Republic will tale place on the occasion of the 252ndanniversary of King Stanisław August’s coronation.

The Royal Castle in Warsaw has prepared free museum lessons for students at every level of education dedicated to the artistic patronages of Stanisław August and his art collections. The museum also invites families to weekend workshops – activities for families with children from the ages of five to nine.

Dragons Den (Smocza Jama) under Wawel Royal Castle, photo: wikipedia.org
Dragons Den (Smocza Jama) under Wawel Royal Castle, photo: wikipedia.org

Wawel Royal Castle’s exhibitions – the State Rooms, the Crown Treasury and Armoury, Lost Wawel, and the Ogiński Tapestries from Słonim – will be open free of charge for visitors. The most valuable painting in Polish collections, Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci, is also on display. The museum will also host free activities like museum lessons and workshops for children and adults.

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