Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok (open-air museum)

The Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok (Muzeum Budownictwa Ludowego w Sanoku) is Poland's largest open-air museum by number of buildings and one of the best places to see how the Lemkos, the Boykos and their Polish neighbours lived. The Ethnographic Park covers 38 ha on the right bank of the San at the foot of Biała Góra and holds more than 180 wooden buildings from the 17th to the 20th century.

The museum was founded in 1958 on the initiative of the ethnographer Aleksander Rybicki, and the open-air park first welcomed visitors on 24 July 1966. Its aim is to present the folk culture of the foothills and of the eastern Polish Carpathians — the Bieszczady and the Low Beskids — where, until the 1940s, Boykos, Lemkos, Dolinianie and Polish Pogórzanie lived. After the war and the deportations the Ruthenian population of these lands was dispersed, which is why many houses and churches survive only here. The Sanok museum was the first post-war ethnographic museum in Poland and developed its own school of restoring wooden monuments.

What to see

• The Boyko and Lemko sectors — smoke and chimney cottages, farm buildings, wayside crosses and wooden churches, including a church from Rosolin dating from 1750.
• The Dolinianie and Pogórzanie sectors (western and eastern), and the Głuchoniemcy sector — colonists whom locals called the "deaf Germans" (Walddeutsche).
• The Galician Market Square (Rynek Galicyjski) — a recreated centre of a wooden Galician small town from the early 20th century with a pharmacy, shops and workshops.
• The manor house from Święcany — a gentry residence on a hill — plus a synagogue and the oil-industry, archaeological and pastoral sectors.
• Exhibitions: "The Carpathian Icon", "Folk Costume", the house of the Bogdański family of painters. Permanent and temporary exhibitions are open from 1 May to 30 October, Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–16:30.

In summer the museum hosts fairs, concerts, museum lessons and demonstrations of old customs.

Important in 2026. On the night of 15–16 August 2026 a fire broke out in the eastern Pogórzanie sector: the 17th-century wooden church from Bączal Dolny and a barn from Jasienica Rosielna burned down completely; a house from Niebocko was partly saved. On 20 August the museum reopened — only part of the eastern Pogórzanie sector and the presbytery from Ropa remain closed. The museum's branch, the Church of the Ascension in Ulucz, has been closed for conservation since 23 June 2026.

Practical information

The ticket office is at ul. Rybickiego 3, Sanok, tel. +48 13 463 09 34. Opening hours: April 9:00–16:00; May–September 8:00–18:00; October 8:00–16:00; November–March 9:00–14:00; on Mondays only 8:00–12:00, with free admission. Last entry 15 minutes before closing. Tickets cost 32 zł, reduced 20 zł, children under 7 free; from 1 December to 31 March all tickets are 18 zł. The interiors of houses and churches can be visited only with a guide: a guide for a group of up to 25 people costs 140 zł in Polish and 190 zł in a foreign language (booking on +48 13 493 01 77). Allow 2–3 hours; the paths are unpaved and partly uphill. Passengers of the Rzeszów–Medzilaborce train get free tickets to this museum and to the Historical Museum in Sanok. Information as of October 2026.

Nearby

1.5 km away, in the centre of Sanok, is the royal castle with the Beksiński gallery and the icon collection. 10 km to the south-east are the ruins of Sobień Castle, and 23 km away the UNESCO-listed wooden church in Turzańsk.

At a glance

• Address: ul. Rybickiego 3, 38-500 Sanok
• Opening hours: April 9:00–16:00; May–September 8:00–18:00; October 8:00–16:00; November–March 9:00–14:00; Monday 8:00–12:00. Last entry 15 min before closing. Exhibitions: 1 May–30 Oct, Tue–Sun 9:00–16:30. As of October 2026.
• Season: All year; best from May to October
• Prices: 32 zł, reduced 20 zł, children under 7 free; 1 Dec–31 Mar all tickets 18 zł; free on Mondays (8–12). Guide for up to 25 people: 140 zł (Polish), 190 zł (foreign language).
• Phone: +48 13 463 09 34, +48 13 463 09 04

Official website: skansen.mblsanok.pl

Photos: Michał Bulsa, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Pudelek, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Lech_Darski, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons; Zalasem1, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; Silar, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; I would appreciate being notified if you use my work outside Wikimedia. More..., CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.