The Kurpie Open-Air Museum in Nowogród

One of the oldest open-air museums in Poland — founded in 1927 by the ethnographer Adam Chętnik. Several dozen wooden buildings from the Kurpie Forest are gathered on the escarpment above the Narew.

approx. 20–30 min by car from the apartment

Zdjęcia: fot. Fczarnowski (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0) · fot. jangol2 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0) · fot. Agnieszka Zielewicz (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0)

Cottages, barns, a windmill, a smithy, an inn and roadside shrines paint a picture of a Kurpie village at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The interiors are furnished as they were in the lives of their former owners — with stoves, tools, textiles and paper cut-outs. The Kurpie are known for amber, wickerwork and colourful costume, and the museum shows it all in its natural context.

In season the museum runs demonstrations of vanishing crafts, workshops on paper cut-outs and Kurpie palms, and folklore events — the biggest are “Honey and Wine” and Palm Sunday. The terrace above the river opens onto a view of the Narew valley and the bridge in Nowogród.

It is a good half-day trip, especially with children — close to Łomża, yet a completely different world.

Good to know

  • The museum is open seasonally, usually from spring to autumn — check the hours before you go.
  • Some folklore events have a separate ticket and draw crowds — arrive early.

Official site: skansen.4lomza.pl