The Mazovian Village Museum in Sierpc

Amazing Trip into the Past

The open-air museum is away from the hustle and bustle of the town, in a picturesque corner of Sierpc, on the small river of Sierpienica. Getting here really feels like a journey into the past. In 2012 the place had been selected, by the readers of “National Geographic Traveller,” for one of the Seven New Wonders of Poland. The old times village can not only be seen but also felt with all senses. Peasant farms and village workshops are alive and vibrant, near the cottages grow flowers and historic varieties of fruit trees, farm animals actually live all around. The charm of this place made it probably the most frequently filmed open-air-museum in the country. Scenes for such well known Polish features as “Szwadron” (Squadron), “With Fire and Sword” and “Pan Tadeusz” (Sir Thaddeus) had been shot in here.

The buildings layout in the museum is characteristic for the linear village – typical for the Mazovia region after the enfranchisement of peasants. In addition to the little farms you will also see, among others, the tavern, smithy and the blacksmith house and the 17th century manor complex with a landscape park and a chapel, and the 18th century church with the bell tower. Authenticity of the reconstructed village is even strengthened by the vast farmlands stretching all around it.

The cottages’ interiors are also museum exhibitions, on the ongoing basis replenished with the details typical for the given time of year. So inside the rooms there appear items and arrangements related to the upcoming holidays or the seasonal tasks, such as goose feather processing or sauerkraut production.

The facility carries out a ton of attractive museum lessons, demonstrations, workshops, and offers educational packages for pre-schoolers, school children and youths, students, seniors and other groups of guests. Really large area of the museum (more than 50 hectares!) allows for the organisation of the periodic outdoor events, related to the calendar of agricultural seasons and to the holy days schedule. Every Sunday, from May to September, there are demonstrations of the historic farm works. So you can try some freshly made butter, reap grass with a scythe, watch the wicker maker and the blacksmith do their work. You can also go horseback riding, bake sausage on a bonfire, dance to the music of a folk band and taste the regional cuisine. In the exhibition halls there are interesting permanent expositions: “A Selection of Folk Art Sculptures from the Collection of the MWM Museum in Sierpc,” “Noblemen Transportation in the MWM Museum in Sierpc” and “The Interiors of the Noblemen Mansions at the End of the 19th and the Beginning of the 20th Century” . In short, there is a little something for everyone.