Originally built in the mid-15th century, this space - which is incorporated into Kraków's defensive walls - once stored the city's armoury, munitions, cannons and gunpowder. In the 1800s it was rebuilt and expanded into its current neo-Gothic state to hold the vast library and collections of the Czartoryski Princes, until the collection was moved across the street to ul. Św. Marka 17 in the 1960s. Since then Kraków's former Arsenal has been used to showcase various segments of the famous Czartoryski collection, and other collections of the Kraków National Museum. In fact, the Arsenal currently hosts two separate exhibits, with separate entrances, requiring separate tickets. One is the Ancient Art Gallery - a part of the Czartoryski Museum and accessible only via the main building of the Czartoryski Museum (by way of the Monastery), with a Czartoryski ticket (for more on that exhibit, see our page on the Czartoryski Museum). The second is the Arms & Armour exhibit - permanently relocated here from the main branch of the Kraków National Museum, with its main entrance directly underneath the Carpenter's Tower, one of four surviving defensive towers in Kraków.

Arms & Armour ('Broń i Barwa')

This newly modernised exhibit, now fittingly in the city Arsenal, showcases over 700 military relics dating from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, and originating from Poland, Europe and the Orient. In addition to conveying the history of weaponry, however, this exhibit demonstrates how arms and armour were an integral part of everyday life, indicated the social status of the owner, reflected the fashions of the day and were closely connected to decorative arts and crafts. With beautiful displays and new perspectives, the designers have taken pains to show the place of weaponry and armour in culture, art and tradition as an inextricable part of the material and intangible culture of humankind.

Average visiting time: 1hr.