Stained Glass Museum in Krakow: studio tours and hours

At the Stained Glass Museum in Krakow you see a working stained glass studio and watch the masters at work, but only on a guided tour that starts at a set time. The muWi Stained Glass Workshop and Museum (in Polish, Pracownia i Muzeum Witrażu) stands at number 23 on Zygmunta Krasińskiego Avenue, about 550 m in a straight line from Collegium Novum. Museum guides lead the tours in Polish or English, and you need a ticket.

• Address: Zygmunta Krasińskiego 23, 31-111 Krakow
• Tickets: through the museum's online booking system or at the museum ticket desk. Tours run only with a guide, for at least 2 people.
• Time needed: the tour takes 45 minutes.

Stained Glass Museum opening hours and guided tours

As listed in October 2026, the museum is open from Tuesday to Friday, from 11:30 to 13:30 and from 14:30 to 16:30. On Saturdays it is open from 10:00 to 17:00. It is closed on Sundays, Mondays and on church and public holidays.

The museum can be visited only with a guide, whom the museum provides, and a tour starts with at least 2 people. Entry is only at fixed times, not at any moment during opening hours. Tours in English start at 12:00 and 15:00. Tours in Polish start at 12:30 and 15:30.

On Saturdays there are additional tours in Polish at 11:30, 13:30 and 16:30. A tour for children starts at 10:00 on Saturdays and must be booked. Organised groups of 10 people or more can book a tour at other times by email (info@muzeumwitrazu.pl) or by phone.

Tickets are sold through the museum's online tour booking system and at the museum ticket desk. Hours and tour times change; check the current details on the muWi Stained Glass Workshop and Museum website before your visit.

What to see in the Stained Glass Museum

The museum occupies the building of the S.G. Żeleński stained glass studio and calls itself a "living museum", where you get to know a working stained glass workshop. During the tour you watch the masters at work and learn how monumental works in glass are made. New works are still made in the studio under its artistic director, Piotr Ostrowski. The exhibition rooms are interwoven with the stained glass workshop, which has been there since 1902.

• Galeria Młodopolskich Mistrzów Witrażu: the permanent exhibition of stained glass by Young Poland masters. The museum calls it the only place in Poland where you can see stained glass by the four artists below.
• Four artists: the gallery shows stained glass by four artists of the early 20th century: Stanisław Wyspiański, Józef Mehoffer, Wojciech Jastrzębowski and Stefan Matejko, a nephew of Jan Matejko.
• Stefan Matejko: for many years he was the artistic manager of the studio.
• On every floor: designs and examples of finished work from more than a century of the studio's history.
• Glass and cartoons: the rooms show contemporary and older stained glass, as well as stained glass cartoons, the drawn designs for windows.
• The interiors: the preserved original furnishings and layout still give the atmosphere of a studio from the Young Poland period.

The museum also prepares temporary exhibitions and other events, and it runs a wide educational programme for children and young people. It describes itself as the oldest place of its kind in Poland that has worked without interruption. The studio received the Sybilla 2017 award for Apollo w Budowie, a project in which a work to a design by Stanisław Wyspiański was made in front of visitors. That project was named the best museum event of the year.

History of the Stained Glass Museum since 1902

The history of the Krakowski Zakład Witrażów, the stained glass works from which the museum grew, begins in 1902. The idea came from the architect Stanisław Gabriel Żeleński, brother of Tadeusz "Boy" Żeleński. He decided to create the first significant stained glass workshop in the Polish lands. After he travelled around Europe to visit many workshops and gather ideas, he designed a building adapted specially to stained glass work.

The building made for the studio is still its home. Artists who worked with the studio included Stanisław Wyspiański, Józef Mehoffer, Henryk Uziembło, Jan Bukowski, Karol Frycz and Wojciech Jastrzębowski. Work from the studio was shown at Polish and international exhibitions and won awards there. At the Wystawa Sztuk Dekoracyjnych, an exhibition of decorative arts in Paris, the studio won a gold medal for its stained glass for Wawel Cathedral.

Żeleński was killed in 1914, shot in the battle near Grądy. After his death the studio was run by his wife, Izabela Żeleńska née Madejska. She was an able businesswoman and an excellent colourist, and the artistic elite of Krakow met in her atelier on the top floor of the building.

In 1952 the studio was nationalised, and for several decades it was run by various labour cooperatives. In 2000 the young artist Piotr Ostrowski bought it from a cooperative that was going bankrupt. He renovated the interior of the building and brought the stained glass made in the workshop back to its former quality. In 2004 he combined the making of stained glass with education and with promoting the craft to the public, and so the workshop and museum came into being.

Near the Stained Glass Museum on Krasińskiego Avenue

Measured in a straight line, the Capuchin Church is about 450 m from the museum and Collegium Maius is about 600 m away.

Stained Glass Museum in Krakow: questions visitors ask

Can you visit the Stained Glass Museum in Krakow without a guide?

No. Visits are possible only with a guide provided by the museum, and a tour starts with at least 2 people.

When do tours in English start at the Stained Glass Museum?

At 12:00 and 15:00 (as listed in October 2026). The museum is closed on Sundays, Mondays and church and public holidays.

How long does a tour of the Stained Glass Museum take?

About 45 minutes.

Is the muWi Stained Glass Workshop and Museum a working studio?

Yes. The workshop still makes new stained glass, and the guided tour lets you watch the masters at work.

Can you see stained glass by Wyspiański at the Stained Glass Museum?

Yes. His work is part of the permanent exhibition Galeria Młodopolskich Mistrzów Witrażu, which also includes stained glass by Józef Mehoffer, Wojciech Jastrzębowski and Stefan Matejko.

Photo: Zygmunt Put, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.