Housed in a former Carmelite monastery that later served as a prison, the museum traces Lesser Poland from the Stone Age through the early medieval period. The Egyptian mummies and the ancient Slavic collection are the highlights. The walled monastery garden behind the building is one of the quietest corners in the centre and is free to enter.
Archaeological Museum of Krakow
Museum in a former Carmelite monastery housing prehistoric and medieval Polish artefacts
A story
The museum's prize exhibit is the Zbruch Idol, a four-faced limestone statue of the Slavic god Swiatowid pulled from a river in 1848 — one of the few surviving cult images of pre-Christian Slavic religion, though a copy stands here while scholars still debate the original's age.