Gold, red, purple, blue, white – the symbols of Holiness, beauty, honor, chastity, mysticism, spirituality, immortality. Saints of the Orthodox religion. And beautiful choral singing. Visiting the Orthodox Art Department in the Łańcut Castle Museum you will go back in time. You will not only see icons, but also a painful history of the post-war South-Eastern Polish areas.

More than 1000 icons

The Łańcut Castle Museum houses the largest collection of icons in Poland. Most of them have been preserved after the deportation of the Ukrainian population living in South-Eastern Poland in the second half of the 1940’s, during the so-called “Operation Vistula”. By the end of the 1960’s, 330 Orthodox temples (out of 650 in the historical Diocese of Przemyśl) in this area were demolished or burned. It is estimated that 15 thousands of icons have been created here in the period from the 15th until the 20th century.

Rescued treasure

During the Polish People’s Republic the Łańcut collections were not exhibited. Their further degradation was prevented by the employees of the castle museum, who gathered and conservated the icons and other elements of the Orthodox temples. In 1990 the exhibitions opened to visitors. In addition to the icons you can see 300 volumes of Cyrillic old prints , for example the carefully renovated Apostle from the Lviv printing house Fedorova from 1574.

Visit the largest icon collection in Poland

Would you like to see this unique art on your computer screen? Take a virtual tour.

The Othodox Art Department is open to visitors at different hours depending on the month. Prior to your visit, check the opening hours on-line.