Panorama of Racławice

Address Jana Ewangelisty Purkyniego 11, 50-155 Wrocław

A 114-metre-long, 15-metre-high cylindrical panoramic painting depicting the 1794 Battle of Racławice — the Polish-led peasant army's victory over the Russian Empire during the Kościuszko Uprising. The painting was completed in 1894 by Jan Styka and Wojciech Kossak in Lwów (now Lviv) and displayed there until 1944.

Tickets are timed and include an audio guide; visits start every 30 minutes with a short rotating presentation in front of the painting. The illusion of three dimensions — real terrain in the foreground blending into the painted scene behind — is remarkably effective even now. Allow 45 minutes plus queueing in summer.

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A story
The painting was rolled up and hidden in 1944 when Lwów (where it was first displayed) was annexed to Soviet Ukraine. Polish authorities took it westward to Wrocław but for political reasons — the panorama celebrates a Polish victory over Russia — kept it hidden away in storage for over 40 years. It finally went back on display in 1985, four years before the end of Communist rule.