Opening hours: November-April - closed Mondays, Tuesdays and public holidays; open Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm; May-October - closed Mondays and public holidays; open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm.
The Museum honours Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846-1916), the writer and essayist noted particularly for his historical novels written to "bolster Poles' spirits" during the partitions. His best-known works are the trilogy OGNIEM I MIECZEM / With Fire and Sword, POTOP / The Deluge and Pan Wolodyjowski, KRZYZACY / The Black Crusaders, and Quo Vadis, set in Nero's Rome, for which Sienkiewicz received the Nobel Prize in 1905.
The Museum is housed in a small, eclectic palace built in 1900-1902, which was designed by Hugo Kuder and presented to Henryk Sienkiewicz as a gift from the Polish nation. In 1958, Sienkiewicz's son, Henryk Jozef, and daughter, Jadwiga Kornilowiczowa, arranged that a museum commemorating their father be opened in the palace's interiors. The Museum's first curator was Henryk's daughter-in-law, Zuzanna.
On the ground floor is a mock-up of Henryk Sienkiewicz's living quarters, with a living room used for receiving guests, dining room, smoking lounge and bedroom. The furnished interiors also contain a gallery of portraits of the writer and his family, a collection of hunting weapons and trophies, paintings based on Sienkiewicz's novels, gilded portraits of all the Polish kings, a number of bronze sculptures and photographs of the novelist. Also of interest is a cannonball dating back to the war with Sweden, presented to Sienkiewicz by the Pauline monks from the Jasna Gora monastery.
The first floor, which used to house children rooms, is occupied by an exhibition devoted to Henryk Sienkiewicz's life and literary achievements. On display are his personal effects, such as mementos, diplomas, addresses and medals. The Museum has also an extensive library, including manuscripts and various editions of the writer's works, including translations, monographs and books that once belonged to him.
Permanent exhibition: "Sienkiewicz at Oblegorek"; "Sienkiewicz's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary as a Writer"; "Sienkiewicz's Social and Political Activity in Poland and Abroad".
Muzeum Henryka Sienkiewicza w Oblęgorku
Oddział Muzeum Narodowego w Kielcach
Aleja Lipowa 24
26-067 Strawczyn
Oblęgorek
Region: świętokrzyskie
Phone: (+48 41) 303 04 26
Fax: (+48 41) 303 04 26 w. 21
WWW: www.mnki.pl/sienkiewicz
Email: muzeumoblegorek@mnki.pl
