Burial Crypts Found at Poland's Oldest Museum

Crypts below the courtyard and Medieval fortifications
The finds were unearthed beneath the museum's inner courtyard, historically known as the "courtyard of executions". Some of the most important discoveries are burial crypts of Carmelite clergymen and remnants of the Legacka Tower that were part of medieval city walls in Krakow.

Mikołaj Orzechowski, Deputy Director of the museum, said that they retrieved all articles and packed them back up into their place in the facility. Also unearthed were remains of the 19th-century drainage canal by our garden.

History: Journey from Museum to Renovation
The Archaeological Museum, which opened in 1850 during the Partitions of Poland, was founded by the Kraków Scientific Society (TNK), an association of patriotic Polish intellectuals that largely operated underground, defying the ban on Polish patriotic organisations imposed by Austria-Hungary. The TNK was able to save the museum and even increase it by portraying itself as an educational organisation. From the start, it had the legal power to seize any chance finds from across the area.

The findings—nonetheless pending publication—have already influenced the museum's renovation plans. A new entry will now bring guests into the crypts, and a glass pavilion is being considered near the Legacka Tower rubble to expose the medieval structure.

The refurbishment will see the museum gain extra exhibition space as well as be made more accessible, particularly for those with disabilities. This major reboot was initiated in 2024 and is planned to be finished by 2028.