Warsaw Orthodox Metropolis Museum

What to expect

Świętych Cyryla i Metodego 4, Praga-Północ. The street was created in 1868 alongside the construction of the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene - Warsaw’s Orthodox cathedral standing next door at al. Solidarności 52. The museum is housed in the Centre of Orthodox Culture, in a building from 1927-1930 that spent half a century (1944-2004) occupied first by the German command, then the Security Office, then the police. It was returned to the Church only in 2004.

On the ground floor - a single hall of permanent exhibition, completed at the start of 2016. The museum has gathered over 1,200 exhibits. Orthodox sacred art: icons, crosses from various Christian traditions (the oldest dated to the 5th-6th century - among the oldest objects in any museum on this site), liturgical vestments, religious books, manuscripts. The collection has been systematically built since the 1980s. Director: Fr. Łukasz Koleda.

Context: the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church received autocephaly on 13 November 1924 from Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VII. Piłsudski supported the Church’s independence from Moscow. Today the PAOC has approximately 504,000 faithful. The cathedral at Solidarności is one of only two freestanding Orthodox churches in Warsaw that survived the war without destruction.

On the building’s wall, a plaque commemorates 17 civilians murdered by the Germans on this street on 1 August 1944 - the first day of the Warsaw Uprising.

Tips

• Call before you come - it is a condition of entry. The Centre of Orthodox Culture opens the museum to visitors only after a prior telephone booking on +48 698 942 104. Without a booking you may find the door shut even during opening hours.
• Hours are irregular and narrow: Mon 10-12, Tue 12-14, Thu 11-13, Fri 13-15. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday closed - there is no Wednesday opening.
• Visits outside these hours are possible by prior arrangement - +48 698 942 104 or muzeum@orthodox.pl.
• The number 22 619 24 20 is the telephone/fax line of the Centre of Orthodox Culture office (kontakt.ckp@wp.pl), not the museum’s booking line - bookings go to 698 942 104.
• Free entry.
• Ground floor - potentially wheelchair accessible, but not confirmed. Call ahead.
• The museum has a branch: Museum of Icons (5 Lelechowska Street, Ochota) - in a former boiler house, with reproductions of Jerzy Nowosielski frescoes and Adam Stalony-Dobrzanski stained glass.
• The building also houses a chapel, a student dormitory, and the Brotherhood of the Holy Fire.

Getting there

Metro: Dworzec Wileński (M2) - 100-200 m, the nearest station.

Tram: Stops at the Targowa / Solidarności intersection - lines on al. Solidarności.

Bus: Stops on both sides of ul. Targowa.

Rail: Warszawa Wileńska (suburban rail) - directly adjacent.

Nearby museums

Praga: Praga Museum (50/52 Targowa Street, 500 m south - Museum of Warsaw branch), Neon Museum (25 Mińska Street, Soho Factory, 2 km south). Across the Vistula: Royal Castle (4 Plac Zamkowy, 1.5 km west via Śląsko-Dąbrowski Bridge).