History

The Zacisze manor house was completed on 16 August 1784, as inscribed on the ceiling beam in the front chamber. The building was originally a townhouse, a rare example of a “town mansion”, designed in the 18th century in a traditional form. After 1840, the estate was purchased by Maurycy Kulczycki, an impoverished member of the gentry. The property remained in the hands of the Kulczycki family for nearly 100 years. Next to the “lord’s house,” the 1893 inventory lists other buildings, including an outbuilding, kitchen, and barn. These structures were destroyed before WW2. After Maurycy’s death in 1878, the estate and the house were taken over by his second wife Józefa Kulczycka née Chylińska. After her death in 1894, the manor house became the property of Julian Kulczycki, and later of his wife Helena Kulczycka née Pudłowska. Until the 1970s, the house had belonged to a private owner. In the mid- 1970s, the property was purchased by the State Treasury and thoroughly refurbished. In the years 1981-1995, the manor housed the Tadeusz Kościuszko Museum, a branch of the Regional Museum. The exhibited items were related with Tadeusz Kościuszko’s life and activitiy in Poland and North America, with particular emphasis on the Battle of Racławice. In the second half of the 1950s, the building was refurbished several times, and now it is the seat of the Miechów Regional Museum.

Description

The house is located within the boundaries of the town of Michów, approx. 800 m from the main market square, in one of the roads leading to Racławice and Skalbmierz. There are a few old deciduous trees left on the premises. The manor house is a one-level, two-bay structure with a vestibule in the middle axis. It has a rectangular plan. It stands on a quarry stone foundation. It is covered with a hipped, shingled roof with two “lids” in the north roof plane. At the longitudinal façades, there are two porches supported by hewn pillars with small attic projections. It has a wooden log structure of larch. Inside, there are beam ceilings with boarding. Rectangular window openings, double, four-leaf windows. Single- and double-leaf panelled door joinery inside. The interior boasts two preserved 18th-century masonry stoves.

The site is accessible in the hot season from 15 April to 30 October during the opening hours of the museum.

Author of the note Olga Dyba, 14/07/2014

Bibliography

• Dyba O., Gaczoł A., Dwory. Kraków 2004.
• Śledzikowski T., Polska zabytki drewniane. Kraków 2004.
• Małkowska-Holcerowa T., Miechów. Willa „Zacisze”. Dok. naukowa, Kraków 1956 (PKZ Oddz. w Krakowie).