First references about Dołęga come from the 17th century. Until 1782, the village belonged to the estate of Diocese of Cracow and formed part of the so-called Radłów estate. The first manor house in Dołęga was built in approx. 1820, when the village was bought on an auction of the Austrian religious property seized by the government by private owners. The present manor house was founded in 1845 by Teofil Pikuziński. In 1863, there was an assembly point of the insurgents in the manor house, and a field hospital for the injured sneaking through the foreign cordon. According to some sources, Aleksandra Gunthera, general Marian Langiewicz, and general Zygmunt Hauke-Bosak stayed in this place. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, Stanisław Wyspiański, Adam Asnyk, and Włodzimierz Tetmajer were guests of the owners of the manor house. The property was not divided into sub-parcels after the World War II and until the 1970s remained a property of Jadwiga nee Wolska Tumidajska who inherited it from her ancestors. In 1973, the last owner of the complex donated it to the State, with an intention to adapt it for a Museum. In the years 1975-1981, a full-scale renovation of the manor house was carried out, and it its interiors, a museum - branch of the District Museum in Tarnów - was organised.

 

 

The manor house is located within a flat landscape in the fork of Vistula and Dunajec, and surrounded by trees - remains of the manor house park. It is a single-storey building, erected on a rectangular floor plan, with two wings from the east and a wooden porch from the west. The main suite of rooms, with the porch, houses dining room, drawing room, and studio. It was intended for the eyes of guests. The wings were a private space of the hosts: in the eastern one, there were bedrooms, and in the western wing - kitchen and pantry. It is covered by a gable roof laid with wood shingles. The manor house is made of larch wood, and built with the use of a log structure. Originally, it was covered with weatherboards. The façades are plastered white. The front façade features 5 axes with the porch on the central axis, resting on two columns. Its windows are framed by decorative wooden surrounds and comprised of 6 panels. In front of the manor house, there is a circular lawn. Inside, a couple of old tile stoves from the mid-19th century have survived. It is a typical example of a Polish gantry rural residence from the 19th century. As part of the exposition, the drawing room can be seen, contemporary furniture, as well as photographs, paintings (among others by Wyspiański) and memorabilia from the inhabitants. In the dining room, apart from valuable historic furnishings, it is possible to see, among other things, lithographs by Napoleon Orda. Most of the exhibits in the study-bed room comes from the period of the January Uprising: uprising banner and weapons, among other things. The bedroom of Jadwiga (the last owner), equipped with Art Nouveau furniture, is decorated with paintings by Stanisław Wyspiański. In traditionally arranged interiors, the room of Prof. Michał Siedlecki (married to a daughter of the owner, Franciszek Wolski), an eminent biologist, traveller, and sea researcher, draws particular attention. In the yard, there is a small open-air museum. Remains of the manor house landscape park from the 1st half of the 19th century have survived. In the park, there are three trees of monumental size.

 

Accessible from Tuesday to Sunday, during the opening hours of the Museum.

 

compiled by Olga Dyba, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Krakow, 7-07-2014.