Muzeum Instytutu Radowego Towarzystwa Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie w Hołdzie

What to expect

The Radium Institute Museum is housed in a building that Maria Skłodowska-Curie personally opened on 29 May 1932 – the only structure in Warsaw she directly helped bring into existence. The clinical building of the Radium Institute at ul. Wawelska 15 was funded by a public campaign called “Dar Narodowy” (National Gift), launched in 1923. Curie donated one gram of radium to the institute, funded by the American Polish community.

Do not confuse it with the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum on ul. Freta – that one is large, well-known, and devoted to her life in her family home. The museum on Wawelska is an entirely different place: intimate, run by the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Society in Tribute (an NGO founded in 1994).

Two rooms: the Bronisława Dłuska Historical Hall (ground floor) – named after Marie Curie’s sister and the Institute’s first director, with an exhibition on the founding of the Radium Institute plus a library. The Education Room – temporary exhibitions and biographical films about Curie and the development of radioactivity research, available in Polish, English, and French. The original rooms of the former Institute are preserved, including an apartment prepared for Curie that she never occupied – she died in 1934, just two years after the opening.

In the garden stands “Maria” – a sycamore maple declared a natural monument in 2012 (232 cm circumference, 19 m tall). Legend says Curie planted it on opening day – photographic analysis showed she actually planted two hornbeams that day, while the sycamore was already growing there.

Tips

• Call before visiting (22 570 91 40). This is not a staffed reception – hours may vary and the website is sometimes unreachable.
• Tickets: 10 PLN standard, 5 PLN reduced.
• Disabled access from ul. Wawelska is available by prior phone arrangement.
• Wartime context: In August 1944, SS-RONA soldiers murdered patients and staff inside the building, then set it ablaze. The building was reconstructed in 1946.
• The tree “Maria” in the garden is worth seeing – access during opening hours, but ask the staff.
• A visit takes 30-40 minutes. This is an intimate exhibition, not a multi-gallery museum.

Getting there

Tram: Wawelska stop (lines 1, 15) – 2 minutes walk.

Bus: Wawelska stop (lines 143, 157, 167, 172, 182, 187) – 2 minutes walk.

Metro: Pole Mokotowskie station (M1) – about 10-12 minutes on foot.

By car: Paid parking zone. Street parking on Wawelska can be difficult during rush hours.

Nearby museums

PIG Geological Museum (15 min walk to Rakowiecka) – minerals, fossils, and the history of the Earth. A different angle on science, but the same neighbourhood.