The Muzeum Śląska Cieszyńskiego (Museum of Cieszyn Silesia) is a museum

Museum

A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...

 in the town of Cieszyn

Cieszyn

Cieszyn is a border-town and the seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has 36,109 inhabitants . Cieszyn lies on the Olza River, a tributary of the Oder river, opposite Český Těšín....

, Silesian Voivodeship

Silesian Voivodeship

Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centering on the historic region known as Upper Silesia...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. It was founded in 1802 by Leopold Szersznik, a Jesuit priest, and is one of the oldest public museums in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

. The museum focuses on the history and traditions of Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

, especially the region of Cieszyn Silesia

Cieszyn Silesia

Cieszyn Silesia or Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered around the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided between Poland and Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic...

.

The museum is located in the Pałac Laryszów (Larisch Palace), built in 1794.

It is divided in the following sections:

• archaeology
  Archaeology
  Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
  
  : Materials from excavation research on the castle mountain in Cieszyn and in the town centers of Międzyświeć
  Miedzyswiec
  Międzyświeć is a village in Gmina Skoczów, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia.-References:...
  
   and Bielsko
  Bielsko
  Bielsko was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town....
  
  
• ethnography
  Ethnography
  Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
  
  : instruments and objects of daily applications, embroideries, lace and silver decorations of people's apparels, oil paintings, trówły etc.
• photography
  Photography
  Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
  
  : both old photographic instruments and old photographes as well as transparencies
  Transparency (photography)
  In photography, a reversal film is a type of photographic film that produces a positive image on a transparent base. Also known as dias or slide. The film is processed to produce transparencies or diapositives instead of negatives and prints...
  
  
• history
  History
  History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
  
  
• art
  Art
  Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
  
  
• technique

There are also temporary exhibitions.

The exposition is grouped in exactly the same way as the founder, Leopold Szersznik, left it, resembling a cabinet of curiosities

Cabinet of curiosities

A cabinet of curiosities was an encyclopedic collection in Renaissance Europe of types of objects whose categorical boundaries were yet to be defined. They were also known by various names such as Cabinet of Wonder, and in German Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer...

. The interiors are restored to their original style and there is a room which is decorated with arcadian landscapes and cherubs

CHERUBS

CHERUBS is a Non-Profit Organization. It was founded in February, 1995 for families of children born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, a severe and often lethal birth defect. It was founded and currently led by Dawn M...

 riding on goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

back. The stable

Stable

A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

 was built by then owner Filip Saint-Genois d'Anneaucourt in 1831 and is now the museum café

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

.

The museum has regional branches in Górki Wielkie

Górki Wielkie

Górki Wielkie is a village in Gmina Brenna, Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland. It has a population of 3554 . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia and was first mentioned in a written document in 1305....

, Skoczów

Skoczów

Skoczów is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,783 inhabitants . It lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia....

 and Wisła and cooperates with Książnica Cieszyńska in Cieszyn and Muzeum Těšínska

Muzeum Tešínska

Muzeum Těšínska , is a regional museum in Český Těšín, Czech Republic. It focuses on the history and traditions of the region of Cieszyn Silesia. The museum was founded in 1948 by teacher Ladislav Báča....

 in Český Těšín

Ceský Tešín

Český Těšín is a town in the Karviná District, Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. The town is commonly known in the region as just Těšín . It lies on the west bank of the Olza River, in the heart of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia...

, the Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

part of the town.

External links

Official Museum Website