Jan Matejko’s Manor House in Krzesławice

Today a district of Kraków, Krzesławice used to be an independent village with its own long history. It was first mentioned in documents in the 12th century, when its generous owner donated the estate to the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre from Miechów in his will.

The manor house itself has been blessed with a long history and eminent residents. The first of them was Hugo Kołłątaj, a political activist of the time of the Enlightenment, and one of the authors of Poland's first constitution (passed on 3rd May 1791). He became the owner of Krzesławice in his capacity as Rector of Kraków Academy, to which the village belonged at the time. It was he who surrounded the manor house with a spacious park. After the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, Kołłątaj was forced to emigrate, and his estates were confiscated. He never returned to Krzesławice, although he was rumoured to have dreamt about it to the end of his days.

The second eminent resident was Jan Matejko, considered by many the greatest Polish painter of the 19th century. He purchased the estate in 1876 for the money he was paid for the painting entitled Bathory at Pskov. Krzesławice was his favourite place to pass his leisure hours. Fascinated with Polish history, he walked from here to the monastery in Mogiła and to the Wanda Mound where, many years later, the monument he designed in the shape of an eagle was erected. Although Matejko planned to develop and expand the manor house, he only added a porch, which remains the artist's only architectural design ever to be completed. This is where Matejko had his study and where he painted numerous works including the vast canvases of Kościuszko at Racławice.

Since 1960, the manor house has been the property of the Society of Friends of the Beaux Arts which turned it into a museum. Paintings by Matejko, including the Roll of Polish Kings and Princes, are on display here as well as some memorabilia connected with the artist: easels, chests for drawings, and everyday utility objects. One room is devoted to Kołłątaj.

On the edge of the manor park stands the 17th-century wooden Church of St John the Baptist and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal transferred here from the village of Jawornik.